Why does it take an apocalypse to mend a broken family?
American SF is famous for killing gnats with a hammer: destroying worlds to bring together estranged spouses or separated lovers. In Greg Bear's Blood Music, for example, people are eaten by their houses (read the book), our planet is draped in bloody rags - and it all ends with a couple lounging at the lakeside. But that book was written in more innocent times when couples mattered. Nowadays, only parents and children matter. Especially fathers and sons. Especially black fathers and son, considering that the proportion of single mothers in the black community is around 70%
"After Earth" could have been a great movie. The premise - a boy's odyssey on an alien planet - is timeless. The fact that the alien planet is Earth is very attractive. I have always loved the alien Earth trope, and the fact that the movie was apparently shot close to home - in the redwoods of California - does not hurt. The redwoods are beautiful, and populated by strange mutated animals, even more so (they could add more animals, by the way). The slimy alien who tracks you by the scent of your fear is a great idea.
But it was all lost in the endless close-ups of the father (Will Smith) and son (Jaden Smith), apparently meant to express profound emotion but only inducing boredom. The fact that the actors ARE father and son is very commendable but does nothing to dispel the impression that each of them has had more than enough of the other before the film even began.
The bigger question it all raises for me is: why can't SF be about ideas? Why can't it just be satisfied with evoking wonder? Why do we need to tack on "human interest" to the genre which is not supposed to be about humans at all? Instead of unleashing ecological apocalypse
to bring black fathers back to their children, maybe we should try family tax breaks first.
American SF is famous for killing gnats with a hammer: destroying worlds to bring together estranged spouses or separated lovers. In Greg Bear's Blood Music, for example, people are eaten by their houses (read the book), our planet is draped in bloody rags - and it all ends with a couple lounging at the lakeside. But that book was written in more innocent times when couples mattered. Nowadays, only parents and children matter. Especially fathers and sons. Especially black fathers and son, considering that the proportion of single mothers in the black community is around 70%
"After Earth" could have been a great movie. The premise - a boy's odyssey on an alien planet - is timeless. The fact that the alien planet is Earth is very attractive. I have always loved the alien Earth trope, and the fact that the movie was apparently shot close to home - in the redwoods of California - does not hurt. The redwoods are beautiful, and populated by strange mutated animals, even more so (they could add more animals, by the way). The slimy alien who tracks you by the scent of your fear is a great idea.
But it was all lost in the endless close-ups of the father (Will Smith) and son (Jaden Smith), apparently meant to express profound emotion but only inducing boredom. The fact that the actors ARE father and son is very commendable but does nothing to dispel the impression that each of them has had more than enough of the other before the film even began.
The bigger question it all raises for me is: why can't SF be about ideas? Why can't it just be satisfied with evoking wonder? Why do we need to tack on "human interest" to the genre which is not supposed to be about humans at all? Instead of unleashing ecological apocalypse
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