A Guide to Horror: Science Fiction Horror

[espanolbot]

By me

Comments

[mrstatham]

I was wondering about the placement of Jurassic Park, to be honest, and I think that is perhaps one of the few that actually sets out to specifically lampshade the idea that this kind of progress *is* bad, but then backs it up with sound reasoning.

As Ellie points out, they've chosen bunches of the plants in the park ostensibly because they look good - they don't seem to have paid much thought to the idea that, as Malcolm suggests, just because they *can* do something, does it mean they should? And I always liked that idea, that maybe Hammond and Gennaro aren't particularly evil people - especially in the film - but they're kind of blind to the real weight of what they're doing. As Malcolm specifically states - dinosaurs had their chance, just like we will have had ours at one point - and it isn't like Hammond has set out with the altruistic goal of restoring creatures that we have wiped out, like the dodo or something along those lines. The book goes even further in stating the kind of dishonesty that the Park has going on, since it states that Hammond has some breeds tailored at the genetic level to make them more interesting to park-goers.

So.. Yeah. I think JP kind-of subverts that 'luddite' perspective you're talking about because it backs up it's argument with a good bit of reasoning - that not only did a higher power - whatever higher power that may be, be it god or simply nature - said that the dinosaurs' number was up, but that people cannot actively control these creatures. It's an argument the film only touches on briefly, but the book shows that the Park staff actually have no idea how many creatures they have. The film goes on to show that they can't properly maintain the creatures because they don't know what makes them ill. So I don't think Crichton was against the idea of technology moving forward, but I think he was very much worried about the idea as Malcolm presents it, like a kid playing with his father's gun.

[espanolbot]

Although I do agree largely with what you said, I still feel that there's every possiblity that Jurassic Park could have actually worked, within the universe it was set, but rather than the creatures themselves proving to be beyond the control of humanity, like, say SHODAN, GLaDos or HAL, the entire concept feel apart due to non-SF reasons.

Namely, despite "sparing no expense" everywhere in the park, from the cars to the food, the one place Hammond decided to skimp is to hire the dude who charged the lowest fee to control his computers for him. Just saying, if he'd paid Nedry the same respect he paid everything else the entire thing wouldn't have fallen apart... unless Nedry just greedy and it probably wouldn't have helped.

They talk and act as if the entire thing was doomed from the start because of the shear size of the undertaking Hammond had decided to perform... when it wasn't the Awesome Power of Genetic Engineering that resulted in Jurassic Park's failure, it was due to the more mundane greed of one IT dude.

That said, I'm not entire sure how the thing could have been handled responsibly, other that in a "don't do it" sense. I mean, just because it's a radical idea that hasn't been tried before doesn't mean it'll kill people.

People back in the day thought that having electrical wires in houses would cause it to randomly arc out of the walls and fry people, or that giving people cowpox to immunise them to smallpox would result in them growing horns (seriously). The Jurassic Park staff might have been doing it or a kind of frivilous reason, but they also made every measure to ensure that the dinosaurs didn't run amoke unless someone tried to make it happen on purpose.

[mrstatham]

Well, that depends. In the film, I think Nedry is meant to be the best of the best, only he thinks he's underpaid. I don't think Nedry actually *is* underpaid - Hammond is clearly aware that he has some kind of financial problems, but it's hardly his duty to solve the man's every problem.

And also - Malcolm is absolutely right - The JP staff might have *thought* they covered all their bases, but if you recall - even the film has a scene where Grant discovers dinosaur eggs out in the actual park, because of the frog DNA used. So Nedry's sabotage really doesn't help, but the fact of the matter is that the Park is already getting out of control; We see this at the beginning where they don't really have any idea of how to handle the Velociraptors beyond locking them in the bunker-type enclosure they're in.

The book really reinforces the idea that the staff don't have a clue what's going on; They have sensors in the park that can tell them how many of each animal there is, so they know if, say, one dies or goes missing. But then the brilliance of that is the twist that the park staff are only asking the computer to search for the number of animals they expect to have. When asked to put in a larger number, it turns out there are potentially hundreds more dinosaurs than the staff assumed. So even without Nedry, Malcolm's point that 'life finds a way' is still very much valid.

[donnblake]

Obviously a lot of subgenres overlap, but there are definitely strong similarities between Sci-fi horror and cosmic horror. The main difference is that in the former, the threats are more within human control- frequently created by humans, and often able to be dealt with by humans by the end of the movie (at least until the sequel, of course).

[nezchan]

I wonder, would you consider stories about man-made or man-exacerbated plagues to be part of the genre? It's definitely an offshoot of fears about biotechnology (and bioweapons before that), but maybe it could be considered more of a subgenre of its own along with natural plagues, such as The Survivors, etc.

[espanolbot]

I'd still say sfh, but on the harder science side than, say, Event Horizon. :)

Though I guess if it's a post-apocalyptic type story, such as Survivors, it'd lean more towards science fiction than, for example, When the Wind Blows.

[cyberghostface]

The whole bit about Victor realizing that the monster is hideous is kind of explained in the book:

His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!--Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips... I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.

[bariman]

A very early description of the "Uncanny Valley" effect, perhaps?

[silverzeo]

What does that make "Limitless"?

[espanolbot]

Riff on Faust but with pharma companies instead, extrapolating from what drugs have been already established to be able to do, so science fiction.

The fact that the guy doesn't really learn his lesson and has a sorta happy ending makes it stand out from other depictions of the sub genre though.

[silverzeo]

Then what about "Prometheus" or even "Chronicle" for that matter?

[espanolbot]

Prometheus: Cosmic Horror/SFH, a riff on the Lovecraft mythos through the lens of the Len franchise. With the Engineers as the Old Ones, and the black good as the Shoggoths.

Chronicle: SFH... I'd put it in the "vengeful teen with supernatural powers" corner of the horror genre inhabited by Carrie, Firestarter, Akira and a couple of others. It's also a very dark take on the superhero genre, but the SH genre is one that isn't particularly tied to any genre specifically due to how spralling it is.

I liked both movies a lot personally.

The Bioshock games and Rocky Horror also count as SFH, but at different ends of the seriousness/silly scale.

[shadowpsykie]

hmmm i think an argument can be made about some of those not being explicitly about luddites.

a saw some of these things not so much about "Science is baaaaad" but more like, Science can't do everything. or people using science and not understanding the potential consequences of thier actions

Books like The Island of Doctor moreau seems like people who abuse science.

Jurassic Park, the invisible man, and The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde seems to me along the lines of a story where people (maybe with aluristic reasons) don't think oif the consequences of what thier actions may produce. I mean really? You want to create a potion that separates the good from the evil in you.... but then puts it where? it separates it but it doesn't eliminate or extract it. In Jurassic park they are bringing in creatures and plants from an eco system that is extinct into a completely different ecosystem. Hell TODAY people tell us we shouldn't bring pets, animals, insects from other regions because the effect on the eco system is unpredictable (trout anyone?)

yeah i see some of these stories as not Science is Bad, but like, Humans trying to relie on science, or humans try to control something that just cannot be controlled, is bad,

and because this is the perfect opportunity for me to post my favorite movie line :D

http://youtu.be/KHGHkGmOmD4

[donnblake]

Actually, in Jekyll and Hyde, I believe his original *plan* was to create an evil side of him that could indulge all his vices, leaving his original side 'pure'.

[shadowpsykie]

even more of a train for it to fall into another category. it's more of a story about wanting to get away with " sin"

[espanolbot]

My absolute least favourite take on the "humans rely on science too much trope" comes into play in the adaptation of the comic Surrogates, which is based in a world where people have access to some GitS-ish remote controlled robotic bodies, which were originally intended for people who use wheelchairs or the like to be able to go live a "normal" life without being tied down by their disability.

However, with growing crime and terrorism levels, the robots became increasingly used by everyone as a means of staying safe in their own home, which eventually morphed from a safety thing to a fashion thing, as people realised, like internet avatars, they could custom their robot proxies to look whatever they want. This is in addition to more basic models being used by the armed services in place of ordinary soldiers, due to the robots being bulletproof, cheap to massproduce and capable of being controlled from another continent.

But at the end of the story, the hero choses to have every prosthetic body in the world deactived at the flip of a switch, on the basis that he believes that people have come to rely on them too much, rather than dealing with life's problems directly. This is treated as a happy ending...

...despite, you know, all the people who needed those bodies for medical reasons now being potentially trapped in their homes, all the crashed cars and planes caused by their drivers suddenly getting forcibly logged off etc. etc. etc.

Whether or not that was intended to be a metaphor for how people rely on technology to be a shield between them and the world these days or not, I still believe that the choice the hero made was a selfish and DANGEROUS one considering the lives he potentially might have risked by doing it.

[icon_uk]

See also "Logan's Run", where the hedonistic residents of the City, who had never had to deal with anything important because the city computers catered to all their needs, and who only lived until 30 (In the film, it was 21 in the original book) when they voluntarily submitted themselves to suicide (with the belief they would be reincarnated) suddenly find themselves with no city, no computer guidance and absolutely NO experience at dealing with the real world where climates are not controlled, food has to be grown, medical diagnosis and treatment will no longer be provided by the computer and any machinery you want has to be maintained.

I remember watching the end of that movie as these pretty, brainless young things wearing flimsy tunics and skirts gather with wonder around the only old person in the world (it seems) and despite it being apparently a positive ending thinking "Come the first winter, you guys are SO dead I don't even have the words for it."