Science Fiction

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December book club canceled. Short stories instead!

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Is Science Fiction Inherently Hopeful? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I read a lot of Harlan Ellison (worked on The Outer Limits, 80's Twilight Zone, Babylon 5), and I was wondering what people thought of this quote from him:

[S]cience fiction is the only 100% hopeful fiction. That is to say, inherent in the form is, "There will be a tomorrow". If you read a science fiction story, it says, "This will happen tomorrow". Now that’s very positive, that’s very pragmatic, "We’ll be here tomorrow. We may be unhappy, we may be all living like maggots, but we’ll be here." So that means it’s 100% positive.

Ellison has even said that his short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is optimistic, because in the climax, there is still room for self-sacrifice and defiance to authority.

I guess it comes down to whether you think a bleak future is better than no future at all.

Shameless plug for my work if you like Ellison or want to learn more: https://ndhfilms.com/ellison

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No. On the Beach by Nevil Shute is a sci fi story about the survivors of a global nuclear war in Australia, and as a warning against the futility of war everyone eventually dies of radiation poisoning.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

@Meron35 @automaticdoor75 There is a lot of post apocalyptic and distopian science fiction about. I've read 'On the Beach' and seen the film with the dramatic scenes of a deserted San Francisco