Bump in the Night - Sci-Fi & Fantasy

I first saw “The Dark Knight” over a month ago. The film was captivating as few have the potential to be, not because of its intense action sequences, skillful acting, or remarkable artistic design, but because of its unflinching exploration of human nature and the depth of its moral dilemmas. The world had never seen a superhero movie like this before - a movie that challenged them intellectually and spiritually, that left them deep in thought long after the final credits. As the lights came up in the theater, I was struck by a sudden and indignant thought: where is our dark knight?

Science fiction and fantasy have mirrored superhero comics for far longer than most people realize. In the 1920s, they were essentially one and the same - fantasy first gained widespread popularity in the pulp magazines and “graphic novels” of that decade, not the written format that is most common today. Read any sophisticated comic book, and you will realize that the themes between the covers are almost identical to those in sci-fi/fantasy: pushing the boundaries of humankind, good vs. evil (and the true nature of each), fate, responsibility towards your fellow (wo)man, overcoming adversity to accomplish the impossible, and so on. Until recently, both fantasy and superhero comics were maligned arts (science fiction has fared somewhat better, in my opinion), considered to be appropriate only for children and the chronically immature. The popularity of movies based on these genres in the last few years has begun to open them up to a larger audience. But until this July, labels like “escapist” and “juvenile” still endured.

Then “The Dark Knight” came along, and everything changed - or at least started to change. Today, people are excited about comic book superheroes. They’ve realized that they can be something more - something deeper - than pure entertainment. Hopefully the release of “Watchmen” (one of Time magazine’s top 100 English language novels since 1923) next March will only continue to emphasize that message. But in fantasy land, we’re still struggling for recognition. Perhaps this is because fantasy films have yet to stray far from genre stereotypes (elves, dragons, massive battles, etc.). One notable exception is “Pan’s Labyrinth,” a fantasy film so atypical that even I didn’t know what to make of it on first viewing - and whose promise has yet to be echoed in any more recent films.

What do you think? Are we in need of a “Dark Knight”? And if we are, which authors, titles, or subgenres is he or she most likely to come from?

A couple of weeks ago, I read Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett, one of the masters of sci-fi/fantasy parody. Although the book is primarily a lighthearted comedy, its satire of the roles of women in fantasy stuck with me (into the first week of school, when I was forced to make the difficult choice between feigning attention in class and doodling aimlessly on my notebook). Fantasy is a descendant of the traditional fairy tale, in which the “damsel in distress” is an all too common theme And while females have garnered more substantial parts in recent decades, it is rare for a woman to escape the roles of sidekick, vulnerable person in need of protection, or love interest with laughably impractical clothing, especially in mainstream films. Boys coming of age - becoming “men,” and thus supposedly stronger and smarter - is a frequent premise in sci-fi/fantasy, but there is little fanfare (other than the obvious “problems” and increased sexual appeal) when a girl becomes a woman. In fact, a girl often gets more respect.

All this isn’t to say that there haven’t been some steps forward. There are several strong female characters in the Harry Potter series, and many examples of higher level literature that increasingly blurs the meaning and boundaries of gender. But there have also been steps back; the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer comes to mind. Bella, the protagonist, spends most of her time and energy fantasizing over a male character who she stays in a relationship with even though his natural instinct is to kill her. I am sorry, but that shows little regard for female independence and self-respect. And though (being a girl) I am probably somewhat more alert to female-centric issues, I am also struck by the stringent gender guidelines placed on males in fantasy. How many male heroes have you read about that never pick up a sword/light saber/wand - that never physically fight at all? How many that want to pursue activities traditionally reserved for females? How many with a sexual orientation other than “straight”?

I am not saying that every woman in science fiction and fantasy should be a sword-swinging Amazonian warrior and every male should take up flower pressing. But gender in real life spans a wide range, and more than the most stereotypical examples deserve a place in sci-fi/fantasy literature.

For a fantasy series with strong, realistic female (and male) characters, try Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books, which are among my favorite in the genre for teens.

Dear student,

Congratulations on your acceptance to the Akefay Academy of Witchcraft. Since our establishment in 2400 BC in ancient Egypt, we have taught over two million talented boys and girls (with a brief period of inactivity from 1692-1693, during the Salem witch trials). Although we no longer use papyrus scrolls, many of our traditions have been maintained. We still use magic words and wands, for example (but thanks to advances in technology, we now use plastic replicas of animal entrails for help in divination).

At the academy, you will attend six basic magical classes, detailed below:
Divination: This course includes an introduction to palm studies, tea leaf readings, and the use of crystal balls. Such arts have been around for more than five thousand years, beginning with Hindu Astrology (in the case of palm readings) and continuing though the Celtic druids in Britain in 2000 BC (who introduced the crystal ball).
Herbology: Also known as botanical medicine, herbology has been around since prehistoric times and is even popular with non-magical populations (approximately 25% of modern drugs in the United States are derived from plants!). You will learn the uses of everything from mandrake to ginger.
Alchemy: Who doesn’t want to know how to turn common metals into gold or mix up an elixir of eternal life? We will trace the roots of alchemy from ancient Egypt and Greece, where everything was believed to consist of four elements (air, fire, water, and earth), which could be recombined to make new substances. Also covered is the biography of the famous Nicolas Flamel (1330-1418).
Necromancy: The oldest account of necromancy in literature is the voyage of Odysseus to the underworld, around 700 B.C. We’ve had a lot of time to improve our technique since then, and the semester will end with a trip to the Underworld Resort, where we will talk to the shades of ancient heroes and learn clues to the future. Note: actual resurrection of spirits is for advanced students only. Do not attempt unsupervised!
Astronomy: “As above, so below.” Study the location, names, and movement of the planets and stars, and how celestial events can influence terrestrial affairs. Learn the twelve signs of the zodiac, developed in ancient Babylonia.
Potions: We will start with love potions, which have contributed to heartbreak from the time of the 12th century story of Tristan and Iseult (which lead to the legend of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere). Then we will move on to transformative potions, of Jekyll and Hyde fame.

We look forward to seeing you in September. Please remember to bring your own caldrons, wand, and broomstick. Spirit familiars must be kept on a leash at all times. School will be suspended for the week of Halloween and in the case of local witch hunts.

Summer reading: Harry Potter, Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

Sure, watching highly trained athletes compete in soccer or gymnastics is fun - but imagine what it would be like if they had magic or jet packs! In honor of the 2008 summer games, here are the top three fictional sports that would, in a perfect world, be part of the Olympic lineup.

Quidditch - Most people reading this blog are probably familiar with quidditch, a sport from J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series. In case you need to refresh your memory of the rules of the game, here’s a quick overview. Each team is composed of seven witches and wizards - on broomstick, of course. Three chasers try to throw the quaffle past a keeper into one of three ring-shaped goals, while two beaters try to hit them with bludgers and one seeker looks for the golden snitch - which, if caught, will award his or her team 150 points and end the game. (Takes a deep breath). Real life versions of quidditch (minus the broomsticks) are becoming popular all over the world, especially on college campuses. Stay tuned for the 2012 Olympics!

Brockian Ultra-Cricket - A parody of actual cricket, the rules for Brockian Ultra-Cricket, from Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams, go something like this (as presented in the book and borrowed from wikipedia):

Rule One: Grow at least three extra legs. You won’t need them, but it keeps the crowds amused.
Rule Two: Find one good Brockian Ultra-Cricket player and clone him off a few times. This saves an enormous amount of tedious selection and training.
Rule Three: Put your team and the opposing team in a large field and build a high wall round them. The reason for this is that, though the game is a major spectator sport, the frustration experienced by the audience at not actually being able to see what’s going on leads them to imagine that it’s a lot more exciting than it actually is. A crowd that has just watched a rather humdrum game experiences far less life-affirmation than a crowd that believes it has just missed the most dramatic event in sporting history.
Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the walls for the players. Anything will do — cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.
Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a ‘hit’ on another player, he should immediately run away and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.
Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins.

Rollerball - Rollerball comes from the 1975 sci-fi film of the same name. It is an international, full contact sport designed not only as entertainment, but also as a way to kill off players in the overpopulated future. Two teams roller skate around a circular arena as they try to throw a softball-sized steel ball into a cone-shaped goal in the wall. Three motorcycles (which players can grab onto) are added just to create some extra excitement. Roller derby is a real life parallel without the violence.

Un.

“Okay, I’m coming. So…yeah.” Ladiya called, and her footsteps became apparent as they stomped through the grass. The heavy woods had oh so many places for me to hide in. I grasped the branch of the tree nervously, hoping that I wouldn’t be found, or worse, fall. “Riken! Riken! Oh, come on, you’d better not be in the tree!” I tried not to snicker. But that must have been a bit too taxing combined with my grip, because I soon found myself losing my footing.

THUMP!

“I told you: No more hiding in trees! I can’t climb ‘em!” I smirked as she went off on one of her rants on how “Riken, you seem to be half-monkey or something, ’cause you’re always up those things,” and “My fingers are really stubby, and I can’t grab well, especially bark. Those damn Yernamn trees don’t do much good especially, since their bark is so smooth.” But she knows I’ll just hide up in a tree again next time. She gave me a weird look as I stayed at my spot on the ground, my fingers digging into the soil. “Well?” My grin didn’t waver.
“You’re just bitter because I always win.” She groaned, and told me it was because I cheated. “Say what you will,” I said standing up. “I am the princess of hiding. If there was ever a raid on the village, they’d never find me.” She sighed.
“That’s for sure. You’d be at the top of an oak, sticking out your tongue at them. Then, they’d whip out the fire arrows, and—”
“Ladiya! You have to come home, the sun’s going to set soon!” She looked towards her house just on the small hill nearby, her mother’s usual worried expression painted on her face. Laddie frowned and turned back to me.
“Sorry, Rik. Mom’s policy. No playing at least a half hour prior to dinner.” She paused, and then imitated her mother’s voice. “Your stomach will twist and knots and you’ll be vomiting ’til next year!”
“That’s kinda gross, Laddie.” I said, grabbing my stomach. She shrugged, waved, and ran off towards her house.
“See ya tomorrow night!” I made an about face and headed towards my own abode, a good ten minutes by foot.

Summer and camps go together like chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. But many teens are gravitating away from traditional outdoors camps for single subject, learning focused programs. Writing camps can be a great opportunity to improve your skills and learn new techniques, especially if a topic that interests you, like creative writing, journalism, or poetry, isn’t available as a class at your school. By sharing my experiences, I hope to help you decide if the writing camp experience is right for you.

Over the last two years, I have attended two different writing camps at Duke University (many great camps for teens are connected to colleges - I know that at least one other blogger here has mentioned attending a writing camp affiliated with a university). The first, called the Creative Writers Workshop, allows campers to write as much as they want on any subject that interests them in order to produce a finished project (such as a one-act play, a series of memoirs, or a short story) in two weeks. Instructors provide lessons and critiques both in groups and individually, which was a nice change from school, where teachers do not always have time to discuss the fine points of students’ writing one-on-one. This camp was a great opportunity to work on my novel, which I am now busy revising!

The second, the Duke Young Writers camp, gives campers the opportunity to choose two “classes” from a variety of subjects (you attend one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Last year, I chose journalism and slam poetry. Not only were we given plenty of time to write (in the journalism class, we were expected to produce a finished paper by the end of the camp) and receive instruction from people who were knowledgeable about their subjects, we also got to play creative games, have fun competitions, share our writing daily with others, listen to interesting and informative guest speakers, explore a range of goofy and serious exercises, read our work at a local bookstore, and more.

I think it’s these “extras” that separate a writing camp from a writing course that you might take at school. When writing becomes not just a one hour class with the added pressure of a grade, but an immersive process that lets you explore your interests and work with others who share them, it is exponentially more interesting and enjoyable. As a result, I have learned more in two weeks than I have in some whole year courses, and I know my writing reflects it.

For more information on the two camps that I mentioned, please visit: http://www.learnmore.duke.edu/youth/. Maybe I will see you next year!