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A lot of science fiction stories explore different aspects of fear, most especially the fear of loss:

• loss of self or identity,
• loss of autonomy or freedom,
• loss of values held dear,

and more. One of the classics that has been reinterpreted numerous times, including last year’s Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig film, The Invasion,, is The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney.

Written in 1955, the book has inspired four films and, doubtless, more to come. I found this very interesting article about the history and the different ways in which human duplicates have been used in fiction and film at the National Post. Check it out — it is quite interesting:

Scott Van Wynsberghe: A brief history of body-snatching

Sorry for the long break — long story that I don’t need to go into here. But I’m back now and hope to post much more regularly!

This Christmas I asked for and received the Starman DVD set. For those of you who do not know of which I speak, Starman was a Japanese superhero created in the late 1950s and based on Superman. In Japan, he was known as Supergiant and was the star of several 50-minute serials. In the early 1960s, Walter Manly Enterprises acquired the U.S. right and cut them together into six 75-minute films, dubbed in English for American television consumption.

These were the films I grew up on. I loved Starman — I think I had a pre-teen crush on him. I used to play Starman at recess and pretend that I was a part of the films I watched on the weekend.
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The following essay was a paper I wrote for a class I took called “Science Fiction and American Culture.” It compares Harry Bates’ short story “Farewell to the Master” to the movie based on it, The Day the Earth Stood Still.

“Farewell to the Master” first appeared in the October 1940 issue of Astounding Stories. You can find a copy of it online at The Nostalgia League’s website.

The Day the Earth Stood Still was directed by Robert Wise and released in 1951, starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. You can find more information at IMDB. If you would like to purchase a copy of this movie on DVD, click here to go to Amazon.com.

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Translating the printed word into a visual medium is not always easy. Oftentimes, films based on short stories or novels turn out pretty bad, especially in comparison to the original work (Clan of the Cave Bear and Dune are two that come to mind.) Often what can be written down and be exciting to read becomes boring and dull when placed on the silver screen. Changes have to be made for the story to be entertaining visually. I think The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) was a succesful translation of Harry Bates short story, “Farewell to the Master.” What follows is my reasoning.For me the key points in both the movie and the film were: the robot, the spaceship, and Washington, DC.

The Robot

The robot played a much more important role in the short story than it did in the film. In both the short story and the film it was a symbol of raw, unadulterated, and incomprehensible power. In an effort to render Gnut harmless, the scientists in the short story “sent electrical currents of tremendous voltages and amperages through him. They applied terrific heat to all parts of his metal shell. They immersed him for days in gases and acids and strongly corroding solutions, and they … bombarded him with every known kind of ray.” In the movie this wasn’t done, but in both, the robot was encased in a clear block of solid plastic or glass-like material. And in both the short story and the film, the robot broke free of this prison.

The robot’s name changed from story to film, I think, was a good move. When I read the word “Gnut” I get a different image than if I just heard it. In the movie, “Gnut” would have sounded more like “newt,” which doesn’t imply the same sense of the unknown. “Gort” was appropriate because there is not a common word, “gort,” that means something in English. It sounds alien.

The Spaceship

The spaceship in the film was much how I imagined it when I read the story. It was smooth and sleek. It looked like flying saucers are purported to look. “No slightest break or crack marred the perfect smoothness of the ship’s curving ovoid surface,” wrote Bates. The spaceship in the movie was similar, as Sobchack (1987) describes, “treated as a thing of beauty, the … flying saucer … is so pure in line, so ascetically designed … that it concretizes the Platonic virtues of clarity, sanity, reason — virtues sadly lacking in the Washington, D.C., mise en scene in which the saucer comes to rest.” (p. 77.)

Washington, D.C.

The mise en scene, so to speak, for the short story was more the Smithsonian museum than Washington, D.C. However, in both versions, the importance of the place is not necessarily as important as what those places represent. Washington, D.C. is a place where the primary government of a major world power rests. It is a town that is relatively easy to get around in, it has a lair where the primary government of a major world power rests. It seems a logical place for an alien to land. It also has a large press population, and can be considered the seat of American patriotism.

In the story, these aspects of locale took more of a back seat than in the film. In the film, Arlington Cemetery was an important symbol of humankind’s petty wars. The “great words” of Lincoln served as a catalyst to spur Klaatu on to his next contact, Dr. Bernhardt. It would be difficult to find such commonly known symbols in any other town.

What the Printed Word Can Do that Film Can’t

“Bates’ story is a hoary piece of work when read today and Edmund H. North’s screenplay was a great improvement on it.” (Brosnan, 1978, p. 85.) I disagree with this statement. I found the story to be quite riveting and tense. I wanted to keep reading. I felt the fear that Cliff felt, as well as his curiosity. However, I also agree that the screenplay was an improvement for the screen. Bates’ story, as written, would have been a boring movie. The tension was more psychological than visual. It would have been very difficult to get the same emotional impact on screen as there was in the written story.

What Film Can Do that the Printed Word Can’t

I also disagree with Brosnan’s comment about the interior of the ship: “though its interior was a disappointment and showing it destroyed the essential mystery of the craft.” (p. 84.) I thought the use of lighting (compounded by the moody music by Bernard Herman) was quite effective. It adequately gave the impression of sterile science, of the frightening unknown, and of mysterious, alien origin.

Sound is an added effect available to film that the printed work cannot imitate. The music track for this movie was very effective — if not a bit too loud at times. It set the mood of the movie as a whole, as well as for each scene. It made benign images seem terrifying.

Conclusion

What impressed me the most about both the story and the movie was the concept of the robot. In the short story, Gnut was another race. He was another form of life incomprehensible to people with carbon-based biases. He was the “master” in the sense that he was more technologically, and maybe even emotionally, evolved than Klaatu. The story implied, for me, that Klaatu was like a beloved pet. Gnut’s efforts to bring Klaatu back were reminiscent of those many times when I rushed my pet rat to the veterinarian because she was ill. My pet was a life dependent on me and I felt responsible for her. I imagine that Gnut felt the same way about Klaatu, that Gnut felt guilty of putting Klaatu in a situation where he was unable to protect him.

I disagree that this story, and the film as well, was pessimistic; that it portrayed a “brave new world run by robots,” as Healy and McComas (1945) suggested. Brosnan (1978) said that “the idea of placing our basic human rights in the custody of a machine, or any ’superior force’, is not only an admission of defeat but also one which smacks of totalitarianism.” (p. 84.) I think they missed the point. In the story, Gnut was another form of life. Nowhere in the story does Klaatu say that Gnut was manufactured. However, in the movie, Klaatu does say that Gort was made — but to free them. To say that relegating police authority to robots is like acquiescing to totalitarianism is like saying the mechanization of production is also that. Humanity has always sought for easier and faster ways to do things, thus freeing up more time for leisure. Since crime threatens leisure time, as well as other things, it makes sense to mechanize a method for preventing it as well.

This essay was written for a class I took called “Science Fiction and American Culture.” It was in response to three short stories and one novel:

• “Thunder and Roses” by Theodore Sturgeon,
• “The Roads Must Roll” by Robert Heinlein,
• “Coming Attraction” by Fritz Leiber, and
• The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth.

You should be able to find a copy of The Space Merchants in your local library. Or you can purchase one from Amazon.com.

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In the introductory essay (”The Social Side”) to the short story “Coming Attraction” by Fritz Leiber, James Gunn discusses the four stages of science fiction as mentioned by Isaac Asimov’s 1953 essay “Social Science Fiction.” Asimov said that science fiction written since around 1945 have had a more sociological bent. He defined social science fiction “as stories about ‘the impact of scientific advance upon human beings.” (Gunn, pg.166.) The three short stories and a novel that we read for this week were all published between 1945 and 1955 and had a more sociological, rather than technological, bend to them. This is most strikingly noticeable in the development of the central male figure in the stories.”Thunder and Roses” by Theodore Sturgeon was published in 1947. The central male figure, Pete Mawser, is still reminiscent of earlier, pre-1945, characters — for example, from Robert Heinlein’s “The Roads Must Roll.” Mr. Gaines is a cool, collected, man’s man. He doesn’t let his wife get in his way, and he gets his job done without letting emotions curve his path. Mawser, is also something of a man’s man. He is in the military. He gets things done (like when he helps Sonny get rid of the razor blade). However, in him you begin to see the social aspects of science fiction coming into form.”Thunder and Roses” has a social statement to make. It suggests that it is better to let your enemies live, even if they have attacked you first, if the price of retaliation is the obliteration of all life. It also says something about self-sacrifice, that it is sometimes better to be altruistic, in the long run, than selfish. Pete Mawser learns this lesson in the story. Through listening to Star Anthim’s song, and then being with her as she dies, he realizes that the sanctity of life is more important that revenge.

At the beginning of the story, Mawser is full of hate. The reader gets the impression that he’d retaliate if he had the means. “Hate was first. Hate was ubiquitous….” But, at the end of the story, he destroys the means of retaliation so that no one can retaliate.

“Coming Attraction” by Fritz Leiber was published in 1950. The central male figure, Wystern Turner, furthers this trend towards the socializing and warming of male characters. Turner, although a proper — and stereotypical — Englishman, has feelings. You can also say that he wears them on his shirtsleeve, for he cares about Theda before he knows anything about her. He’s willing to help her escape to England even before he knows her name. Turner is like a chimera. He is emotional and caring while being cool and aloof. It depends on his situation.

The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth, was first published in 1952. Mitchell Courtenay, the central male figure of this tale, goes through an evolution of character while still remaining the same. He starts out as a firm believer of marketing. He changes through various life-threatening, as well as world-view threatening, situations into a person who may not always bow down to “the god of Sales,” but who will use marketing to further the aims of the “Consies” (the Conservationists) if they, in turn, further his own personal aims.

“The First Canticle” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. was first published in 1955. Brother Francis Gerard of Utah, the main character of this story, is the ultimate “human” man. He is humble, modest and honest. He is a “simpleton” who is a devout follower of his (soon-to-be) Saint Leibowitz. His dreams are simple, as well as his life. It is very hard to find the “man’s man” in Brother Francis.

The story is also the most sociological of the three short stories. The culture in which Brother Francis lives is richly described and alluded to. What probably makes this world so vivid is its familiarity. It is history repeating itself in a slightly different form. The Space Merchants also develops a complex social structure. But, because of its complexity and unfamiliarity, it takes longer to build.

The stories we read for this week exemplify the trend Asimov wrote about. They illustrate how characters, and the society they live in became more important than the society they live in, became more important that technological gadgets in science fiction stories after 1945.