Book Review: Subversive Sci-Fi Evolution edited by Professor Christopher McGlothlin, M.Ed.
Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book.
It’s time for another collection of essays about movies that “break the rules”, this time returning to the fertile field of speculative fiction films.
There’s 41 essays for 40 movies (two people did A Boy and His Dog.) They’re in roughly chronological order by release date, though some release dates are a little fuzzy. Thus the first essay is about Le Voyage Dans la Lune (1902), a trip to the moon that was the first “science fiction” movie. The last essay is about Significant Other (2022), an examination of how hard it is to leave an abusive relationship using a shapeshifting alien.
The most unusual essay was the one on 2001 (1968) by Spike Y. Jones (no, not that one, though he does bring up his famous namesake), which focuses on the soundtrack and music of that film, and where silence becomes important.
Some of the essays are very scholarly, with footnotes and bibliography; others are more informal.
Other standout essays include the ones on Mr. X in Bombay (1964), a Bollywood movie about a fellow who is mocked for his appearance and only becomes “seen” when he turns invisible; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) which made continuity actually important within the Start Trek franchise; and On the Silver Globe (1988), a Polish film that was never actually completed because the government feared it.
There’s a good mix of famous movies and true obscurities, good (even great) films and trash.
Some of the movies are justly controversial, and some heavy or disgusting subjects are discussed in the various essays–I’d recommend this for college-aged readers and up. Recommended for film and science fiction fans, and would be a good present for your relative who’s into those things but you don’t know what books they already have.
