SciFi Gibberish Or A Glance At Oneself

Essay, Research Paper

Science fiction: gibberish or a glance at oneself?

Since the very rudiment of mankind humans have dreamed Dreamed of understanding nature’s phenomena, dreamed of finding out the secrets of the infinite universe and dreamed of perception of their own place in its vast continuity. These dreams, passed orally through the lips of generations eventually took form of what we now call a myth.

Now, let’s analyze what science fiction is. I think it wouldn’t be hard to agree that it is a certain kind of myth adjusted to the current segment of time, but nevertheless containing essential features and elements of a classical myth. The question then arises: why science fiction is not treated and valued as such?

The answer probably lies in the conservatism of the senile members of our society who are sickly attached to biblical legends. Times do change, people do change, so why can’t we accept the variation of a myth?

Sci-fi, as a part of mythology, is a reflector of our comprehension and the fruits of self-exploration. As myths, sci-fi stories don’t have to be specimens of refined literature. Its literary form is not the essence. As a famous psychologist Carl Gustav Jung has put in his works, a myth is like a mirror, reflecting the messages sent by our subconsciousness to our mind, projecting them through the cells of our mental network and translating them from the language of the archetypal symbols to the individual tongue of one’s soul.

So, treating science fiction as gibberish would be a bit far-fetched. The problem, which it really faces is that sci-fi as any branch of mythology can be used to manipulate minds, and it is really a powerful tool, capable of destroying a personality by overloading it with an abundance of stereotypes.

Professors of mythology are often complaining that mythology doesn’t find a response in the souls of young people. I would strongly disagree with that. For example, when the masterpiece of science fiction cinematography, Star Wars, appeared at the movie theaters they were simply flooded by young and energetic people. And Star Wars is a genuine specimen of a modern myth. Let me quote George Lucas, the producer of this saga: “One of the reasons I started doing the film was I was interested in creating a new kind of myth and using space to do it, because that’s the new frontier.”

So, mythology is still as exciting and attractive to developing personalities as ever, it only needs to be produced in a form appealing and understandable to young people, namely in form of science fiction. The myth has to be impregnated in a futuristic coating; it has to set new goals and frontiers, which are nothing else than the reincarnations of the same goals people used to set themselves in the days of the ancient Greece.

A modern myth must create a picture of something never seen before in the past, i.e. the image of tomorrow. Dreams expressed in a way of classical mythology simply can’t interest a modern person as much as it had in those times. But when set in the exotic stage of space those dreams will easier deliver those messages encoded in the core of the myth.

In conclusion I would like to emphasize again: science fiction is not just a futuristic mumbo-jumbo. It is a branch of mythology, which, in it’s own way is a key to one’s harmony and self-understanding.