Sci-Fi Malady

March is here, and in Ohio we know it is March because the temperature hit 40 degrees and everyone has busted out their shorts like its 80. For this month our theme is movies that missed it. Not just movies that missed, but movies that missed when it should have been nearly impossible to miss. We will discuss Valerian and the City of A Thousand…whatever I literally fell asleep, Pacific We’re Not Transformers Rim as well as Solo - The Film That Nearly Murdered Star Wars.

All of these films should have been can’t miss blockbusters. All of these were good films, even the one I fell asleep watching (it was late). Ragemaster might vehemently disagree on Solo but they were good films but one reason or another, all of them were box office failures. This month we discuss why these movies failed and why the should not have failed.

Missed it March - movies that were good but box office albatrosses.

Captain Marvel. Is it going to be a tour de force and another jewel in the MCU crown? Or is it a bomb waiting to happen because the creators have lost touch with the base? Or is it a great movie that is going to be unfairly shouted down by crying man baby toxic fans who can’t handle a lead that isn’t a white male?

Captain Marvel has brought the toxic fandom debate into the center stage again. Are fans resistant to change because they have come to identify with a character and feel protective of it, or are they resistant to change because they just don’t want to watch movies with diverse casts and political messages? Have creators lost touch? Is it all of these things? Is it none of these things?

In this Sci-Fi Malady/Quick Rants! crossover I attempt to answer these questions.

Spoiler - everyone is right and everyone is wrong.

After a long hiatus, longer than the Quick Rants hiatus, but not as long as the America Asunder break, RageMaster has returned to rip a clip. This his target is Neill Blomkamp (I thought i was done spelling that name) and Elysium, particularly the part where the medical bay can restore and recreate from thin air a man’s brain that was more messed up than JKF’s by detecting brain activity. Ragemaster isn’t asking for the tech in science fiction to be fully believable, Death Stars, Lightsabers, Hal 9000, warp drive and transporters are fine, but he at least wants an effort made to present it in a way that we, the viewer, believe that some “the future” can make the tech in question feasible.

Blomkamp month wraps up with a review of Chappie, the movie that starts deep discussions but doesn’t really finish them. This movie seems to want to talk about so many critical social issues, nature versus nature, how a child’s behavior can be equally influenced by his parents and his own experiences and how that same child can overcome that conditioning. It toys with the idea that a robot has to be taught evil and tricked into harming people, but humans seem to figure out how to be evil naturally. It also wants to discuss corporate greed and how creative genius is stifled in the name of profit. At times this movie is echoing RoboCop and discussing the dangers of contracting vital public services to the private sector.

The problem is that in trying to discuss all of these things the movie discusses none of them very well. What we are left with is a decent action film with a philosophy 101 discussion of major social issues. The movie is a potential science fiction epic that needed a re-write forcing the story to focus on the primary point - is evil a taught or natural state. Are we who we are or are we the product of our environment and experiences. There is also probably room for a good discussion on what it says about humans that the synthetic intelligence Chappie has more compassion for human life than the humans in this story do.

All in all this is movie has some really good moments but it falls short and falls apart because it suffers from shiny ball syndrome and tries to discuss to many topics for one film.

We continue or exploration of the works of Neil Blomkamp with Elysium. You know, the movie that put a very fine point on the class struggle between the poor and ultra rich. The movie that came out when the term “the 1%” was just gaining steam. That movie. Well, while we all thought it would be a progressive left power fest, it was really just an action film. Yep. Just Matt Damon punching things into submission.

Oh wait, sarcasm font doesn’t exist. Yes, this is exactly what we thought it was. It is a progressive left tale of the woefully unbalanced distribution of wealth and power. How the rich can’t be arrested, have access to all the best health care while the poor are shuffled off to die or arrested on their way to work. There is an immigration commentary as well as a labor rights discussion. Unfortunately the movie is a shallow as a a puddle in a pothole and once you dive in your find the substance of a good, balanced discussion is missing. Unlike District 9 this one lacks depth of any kind. Maybe Chappie will be a little deeper?

For record, one of us really didn’t like this movie and might be writing the show notes. The other two felt it was ok/average and might not be writing the show notes.

****I apologize for the delay and for the audio issues this week. The delay was due to attempting to clean up the audio as much as possible. There is some distortion all throughout this recording due to latency. I recently purchased a new computer and the pairing with the interface wasn’t correctly done and it resulted in a latency/lag that i did not catch until after editing was being done and it could not be corrected. This will be fixed for Symptom 105***

We start Neil Blomkamp month with a review of District 9. Far more than just a sci-fi action move (which it is, and a good one) It is an interesting commentary on Apartheid but more than that the movie is an intriguing discussion on the cultural tribalism that prevails in humanity to this day. We still, at all levels divide groups into us and them, placing far for value on us than we do on “them”. There is also a sub message within this one that sometimes to find your humanity and compassion you have to lose your own identify, status and belonging with an “Us” group. District is a great piece of science fiction that is well paced, full of meaning and enjoyable, while being accessible to all.

February is Neil Blomkamp month on Sci-Fi Malady. I could go into more detail or I could just let you listen to what will one be on the rumored and fabled Ragemaster Sings album.

To conclude Trekkin into the New Year month I felt it was necessary to add a supplemental episodes that answered a couple questions:

1. Why did I choose the four I did?

2. What other episodes did I consider and why didn’t they make the cut?

As I started writing the supplemental episode it occurred to me that I might as rank the episodes that did not make the top four from 14 down to five. When originally figuring out the top four I didn’t rank these episodes, I did that in preparation for this supplement. In the original preparation I simply looked at an episode and said should it be considered for the top four that we will review on the podcast. These 14 episodes are the ones that were considered for the top four list. Of course this selection logic leads to another question and that is

HOW WAS THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES NOT EVEN CONSIDERED FOR YOUR BEST OF LIST SCOTT!!! OMG TRIBBLES!

Well, I answer that. At least I hope I did. You may not agree and that’s ok, because this is my list and no one else’s list.

I feel like there was one other question I needed to address in this list, but what was it? What could it be?

Oh yes, why didn’t City on the Edge of Forever make the cut? Well, in my opinion, it could just as easily be a great episode of the Outer Limits with almost no changes and three other actors playing the parts written for Bones, Spock and Kirk as different characters. If that can happen, is it really essential Trek or the best of Trek? The best of Trek should have a uniqueness to Trek and City just doesn’t feel unique to Star Trek.

We finish off Trekkin’ into the New Year with The Corbomite Maneuver. It is talky. It is slow. It is cheesy. It also represents the very best of what Star Trek has to say about humanities future. Don’t fear the unknown, embrace and often you will find that the unknown is not frightening. Don’t fear other cultures because often you have more in common than you think. Be who you say are not only when it is easy to be that person, but be the person you claim to be one it is hardest to be that person. That is Star Trek in a nutshell and it is wonderful. For these reasons and more this is in my mind (Scott) the very best Star Trek has to offer.

Trekking into the new year leaves behind the faster, more fun filled romps like Mirror Mirror and Doomsday Machine this week and looks at Balance of Terror. This is simply one of the best episodes in the entire franchise. It speaks to the core of the Roddenberry ideal, that we aren’t all that different if we take the time to look past fear and prejudice. Balance of Terror also examines war from the perspective of the individuals who fight it and its impact on them. This episode is Kirk at his finest, it is Star Trek in one of it’s best hours and an all around excellent piece of science fiction - even if sound doesn’t travel through space and space warfare would not be like submarine warfare.