Visions of the Future: The 1980s- Big Business

The 1980s saw an explosion of technology, pop culture and capitalism across the world. Countries that had previously been considered “Third World” countries now wanted in on the economic and social freedom of the “West”. Global issue were brought to the forefront of public attention, as the AIDS epidemic, new concerns about global warming, and the economic crises of developing countries were covered more and more by the media.

The Cold War, between The United States and The Soviet Union ended in 1989. On November 9th, The Berlin Wall, which had separated the Soviet controlled and free halves of Berlin since 1961, was torn down.

New genetic technology sparked controversy in the 1980s, as experiments in genetic manipulation, reproductive surrogacy, and genetic selection were performed. Also, personal computers and video games became less of a hobbyist industry, and more a part of everyday life. The latter half of the ‘eighties saw early stages in the development of the internet.

Science Fiction:

Literature-

In 1980, Gregory Benford, aided greatly by his sister-in-law Hilary Foister, published Timescape, in which scientists in the future (1998), send a message back in time to the 1960s in attempt to avert ecological and social disaster. It is regarded highly for its ability to incorporate strong character development into a hard science fiction story, and received the John W. Campbell Award in 1981.

Also in 1980, Tor Books, an important science fiction publishing company, was founded by Tom Doherty.

William Gibson is an author known for his striking reflections on “space age” science fiction. His short story “The Gernsback Continuum”, published in 1981, tells the story of a photographer who begins to get glimpses into an alternate future as he takes pictures of run-down retrofuturistic architecture. The title references early sci-fi magazine founder, Hugo Gernsback.

In 1983, Octavia Butler published the short story, “Speech Sounds”, which takes place in a post apocalyptic Los Angeles, in which humans have lost the ability to read, speak, or write. The next year,  Gardner Dozois edited the first ever “Year’s Best Science Fiction” anthology.

1985 was the release year for what may likely be Orson Scott Card’s most popular work, Ender’s Game. This Hugo and Nebula winning best-seller is a military sci-fi story about children, warfare, and a game that is more than just a game.

Movies-

Blade Runner, which came out in theatres in 1982, was an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s early cyberpunk short story, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. It starred Harrison Ford, who was also working on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.

The same year, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial was released by director Steven Spielberg. It was a feel-good family movie about a young boy’s friendship with a displaced alien searching for home.

The Terminator  came out in 1984. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a time-traveling robot assassin, and a surprisingly complex sci-fi plot for an action-oriented film.

Tron was a story about the inner-workings of a computer program before the general public knew much about computers. Therefore, this 1982 cult-classic by director Steven Lisberger wasn’t recognized as the clever work of art until much later. Tron has gained more popularity recently, and was even given a sequel, Tron: Legacy, in 2010.

After the box-office success that was Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Harve Bennett and Nicholas Meyer were brought onboard the Star Trek crew to create a movie that would be more appealing to fans than the slow-paced first installment. The result was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan- a literary and emotional film that brought back a favorite villain from the original television series, and is widely considered to be the best Star Trek movie. The franchise could not be left in the dire straits Meyer and Bennett had placed it in, though, so the film series continued, with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984, IV: The Voyage Home in 1986, and V: The Final Frontier in 1989.

Star Wars was a “force” to be reckoned with in the early 1980s, as the uber-popular series cranked out two more episodes in the first few years of the decade. The sequel The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980, and its cliff-hanger ending was resolved in Return of the Jedi in 1983.

The Back to the Future trilogy began in 1985 with a loving parody of 1980s culture, 1950s culture, and time travel tropes. The series continued with two more installments in 1989 and 1990 that explored the “future” (2015), alternate dimensions, and the Old West.

Television-

In 1981, The Greatest American Hero premiered, starring William Katt  as hapless schoolteacher Ralph Hinkley, who is given a super-powered suit by aliens, then proceeds to lose the instruction manual. This comedic superhero drama lasted for three seasons.

Star Trek got its first live action spin off in 1987, when the Enterprise-D was launched in The Next Generation. It starred a completely different crew, captained by Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, and was set in a later period of Starfleet history. Its iconic characters and thought provoking plots have gained it almost as much notoriety as the original Star Trek, and sparked the age-old nerd question: Who is the better captain, Kirk or Picard?

Joel Hodgson pioneered a new concept in science fiction television with Mystery Science Theater 3000, which started on local station KTMA in Minnesota in 1988. It was picked up by Comedy Central, and later The Sci Fi Channel. The premise of the show is that a man was launched into space by mad scientists and forced to watched bad movies as part of a devious experiment. Joel, his successor Mike, and their robot-puppet friends riffed their way through 198 of cinema’s worst movies in the 11 year run of the show.

Quantum Leap is an American cult classic time travel show that first aired in 1989. It starred Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett, a scientist who leaps through time into the lives of figures who lived and died within his own lifetime.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Visions of the Future: The 1950s- Atoms and Stars

Science was mankind’s savior and his destroyer. The world lived in reach of the stars and under the shadow of the atom. The related competitions between Communism and Capitalism- the Cold War and the Space Race- demonstrate the dichotomy of the role of science and technology in the 1950s.

The ‘50s kick off what is often known as the atom age- a time of great optimism about the future atomic power could bring about. However, the new advances in nuclear technology also led to the amassment of atomic weapons on the parts of the United States and the Soviet Union that had the potential to end the world many times over.

Another common term for the era heralded by the 1950s is the Space Age. The discoveries of the industrial revolution and two world wars put the exploration of the final frontier into the realm of possibility at last. However, the competition to be the first to touch the heavens escalated into another Soviet-American conflict- The Space Race.

The technological advances in the 1950s that sparked so much fear, hope, and competition included the tests of the first hydrogen bombs, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, the polio vaccine, intercontinental television, the foundation of CERN, and NASA, and the creation of the first nuclear power plants.

As it was a time saturated with science and speculation, it only makes sense that science fiction flourished during the 1950s.

Science Fiction:

Literature-

Rising science fiction superstar Isaac Asimov had been publishing stories about robots and artificial intelligence since the beginning of the 1940s. Finally, in 1950, nine of these short stories were compiled into I, Robot, which continues to be one of his most popular works to this day. In the second story, “Runaround”, Asimov introduces the Three Laws of Robotics, which serve as the code of conduct programmed into every robot in his universe. These laws have gained wide acceptance in the sci-fi community, and are still referenced in both science fiction and pop culture to this day.

Another iconic anthology was released in 1950, this time by Ray Bradbury- The Martian Chronicles. It tells in vividly beautiful language of the future history of Earth’s interaction with the planet Mars.

In 1953, the first Hugo Award was given to Alfred Bester for his novel The Demolished Man. It is a science fiction police detective drama which speculates as to the nature of criminal justice in a world where telepathy exists.

That same year, Ray Bradbury published what has become perhaps his most influential work, Farenheit 451, the tale of a dystopian world where books are banned, and “firemen” burn any books that are found.

Also in 1953, Arthur C. Clarke published Childhood’s End, in which a peaceable alien race takes over planet earth by creating an apparent utopia, which leads to the downfall of the human race.

Another in the new wave of 1950s dystopian novels was Time Out of Joint, published by Philip K. Dick. It was a bizarre work of sci-fi that questioned the very nature of reality.

In 1959, Daniel Keyes published his short story “Flowers for Algernon” in the April edition of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It concerned the moral and ethical issues of an experimental surgery on a mentally disabled man meant to increase his intelligence. Keyes went on to expand the story into a full-length novel in 1966.

Magazines-

The science fiction magazine industry boomed in the 1950s, with fifteen new magazines created in the year 1950 alone. One of these was Galaxy Science Fiction, and influential magazine which was considered to have an intellectual edge on all of its competitors.

Galaxy published the short story which Ray Bradbury later expanded into Farenheit 451, and the serialization of Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man.

Film-

The 1950s are considered by many to be the Golden Age of Science Fiction Film, and not without reason. Though there were many science fiction B-movies released in this decade, some of the most influential sci-fi films ever came from the minds of 1950s film-makers.

Destination Moon, released in 1950, holds the distinction of being one of the earliest non-horror sci-fi movies. Breaking the mold of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man, Destination Moon is the story of the possible troubles and triumphs of America’s first lunar landing.

The Day the Earth Stood Still, from 1951, is a surprising departure from ordinary alien invasion stories, and has much to say to the post-war society it was made for.

In 1953, another popular adaption of H.G. Well’s classic The War of the Worlds was produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released in 1956. It was a well-made and powerful commentary on the restriction of individuality, which was a deep-rooted fear in a society fighting against communism.

Japanese film, Godzilla, which is seen by many today as the beginning of a corny B-movie franchise, carried very different connotations for the Japanese audience of 1954. It was a creative and thoughtful response to the creation of the atomic bomb, which had been field tested on two of Japan’s cities at the end of the Second World War.

Forbidden Planet, released in 1956, was a beautiful, technicolor space adventure based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It was an inspiration for many science fiction creators to come, including Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas.

Television-

The 1950s were the era of science fiction television anthologies. One of the earliest iconic anthologies was Science Fiction Theatre. It began in 1955, and was hosted by Truman Bradley. Science Fiction Theatre was an inspiration for later television anthologies such as The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and was even referenced in the Back to The Future franchise as Marty McFly’s father’s favorite television show.

The man of steel made his way onto the small screen in 1952 with the show Adventures of Superman. These weekly technicolor episodes starred George Reeves in the titular role of the quintessential American superhero.

Perhaps the best science fiction/fantasy/horror television show ever began airing in 1959. Hosted by its enigmatic creator Rod Serling, the Twilight Zone was a hard sell to studios, but a massive success. The weekly stories explored moral and metaphysical concepts in creative ways, and often ended in dark and surprising plot twists.

The Twilight Zone featured many actors who had already played, or would go on to play iconic roles in film and television, including Rod Taylor, William Shatner, Robert Redford, and George Takei. The concepts explored in The Twilight Zone have inspired and informed almost all of the science fiction that has been created since.

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora