Week Twelve : Afro-Futurism & Diverse Position Science Fiction

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?
Reading Bloodchild by Octavia Butler, was confusing. The story is so complex. It took me a while to understand that the Tlic were an alien species. I had a lot of ‘Wait. Woah. WHAT?!’ moments. I was also taken aback when I realized that certain gender roles are switched. It made me really uncomfortable when I realized that Gan, a male human child, was going through all sorts of traumatic stuff at such a young age.
2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect?
I see the story as a statement. Butler Plays with themes of power dynamics. The historical connections that the story alludes to remind of child marriages in the 1800’s.
In addition to all that, the story also weirdly reminded me of the YouTube animated series Don’t Feed the Humans. Don’t Feed the Humans is a comedy about a group of humans who have been abducted and brought to an alien zoo. They are forced to do a number of humilaiating acts, such as public sex, by the alien zookeepers for the sake of their extraterestial amusement. Similarly to Don’t Feed the Humans, the alien species within Bloodchild see humans as secondary creatures. Tlics see humans as pets, therefore training humans to become dependent on them. Humans are bred to assist in the reproduction of their alien species. Female Tlics impregnate male humans to continue this path of evolutionary and taxonomic hierarchy; majoritarian culture. I connect this factor with the societal hierarchy of today between men and women.
3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you choose; what changes would you make?
I prefer the story as it is, though I would love to see this short story adapted into a live action film. It would be crazy cool to see the Tlic 3D animated, much like Avatar’s (2009) VFX work.
4. Are there elements of this work that you would consider afro-futurist?
The sci-fi genre is constantly evolving. Afro-futurism is “a movement in literature, music, art, etc., featuring futuristic or science fiction themes which incorporate elements of black history and culture ”, but it also speaks on diversity. Afro-futurist work allows for inclusion. It began with black culture but it has now grown to embrace other elements of race, gender, sexuality, etc.
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In other news, ...
I always wondered why aliens always seem to land in the US in films. WELP, guess what I did this weekend. I watched Monsters (2010) and Attack the Block (2012), and let me just say, it was a nice breath of fresh air. It was so interesting to see how other countries, besides the USA, would handle an alien invasion, allowing for different cultural perspectives of a similar alien event.
So, firstly, I watched Monsters (2010) dir. Gareth Edwards, woah, that opening sequence was beautifully done. It was chilling, and I felt immediately thrown into the story (in a good way). It felt real and raw. I could tell right away that the director was really loose with his filmmaking. Not to nitpick or anything, but there were black specks on the camera lens that appear throughout the whole movie and once you see it, it’s kinda hard to forget they’re there.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I later searched up more information about it and, wow, people really seem to hate it. I'm surprised it has an audience score of 53%. Although, I do agree with the haters on one thing, the film should not be named Monsters. I love the whole “trying to survive from dangerous creatures in a barren wasteland ” motif, but the film surprisingly had less to do with monsters than anticipated. Yes, the story told of the physical journey from Mexico to the US but it also focused on the emotional journey and relationship building between the two main characters.
As for the film  Attack the Block (2012) dir. Joe Cornish, I ALSO incredibly enjoyed it. It was very actionpacked. It's crazy how I'd never heard of the term ‘Hoodie Horror’ until now. The messages it conveys on the lower class within urban Britain is a topic that I've never considered educating myself about, and I found it very insightful. Also, I now have the song ‘Get That Snitch’ saved onto my spotify playlist.
My favorite thing about the film was the acting. It felt so authentic. John Boyega and Jodie Whittiker are amazing actors. The only problem was that I kept seeing them as Finn from Star Wars and the 13th Doctor from Doctor Who. 
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Here are some other Afro-Futurism readings/shows/movies/etc. that I like: Black Panther (2018), The Wiz (1978) AND Cosmic Girls (comic).

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