Aliens R Us: The Other in Science Fiction Cinema

by Ziauddin Sardar, Sean Cubitt

Overview

Aliens R Us explores the global culture of science fiction cinema, and in particular its presentation of contemporary images of the Other. Taking as a starting point the popularity of international forms such as Japanese Manga and Hong Kong sci-fi, in addition to the success of films such as The Matrix and television series such as Deep Space Nine, the contributors examine the science fiction genre as an international, populist form of social analysis. In doing so, they discuss issues such as Orientalism, technology, apocalyptic futures, xenophobia, militarism and the role of women.

Most contemporary studies look at the generic characteristics of science fiction,with its allegorical rendering of contemporary life, usually in relation to America. This book moves beyond a purely generic study, assessing European and Asian film work, discussing their varying representations of the Other, and what this reveals about popular perceptions of global culture and society. Case studies include Independence Day, Star Trek: First Contact and Until the End of the World, in addition to chapters on Eco-Apocalypse and new French sci-fi and New Manchester Ecstasy sci-fi.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745315393
Publisher:	Pluto Press
Publication date:	04/20/2002
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Ziauddin Sardar is Visiting Professor of Science Policy at Middlesex University and consulting editor of the prestigious journal Futures. He is a prolific writer and is the author of Cultural Studies for Beginners, Barbaric Others: A Manifesto on Western Racism and editor, with Jerome Ravetz, of Cyberfutures: Culture and Politics on the Information Superhighway.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors Introduction: Aliens R Us, by Ziauddin Sardar 1. Delicatessen: Eco-Apocalypse in the New French Science Fiction Cinema, by Sean Cubitt 2. Rewriting the American Dream: Postmodernism and Otherness in Independence Day, by Jan Mair 3. Displacements of Gender and Race in Space: Above and Beyond, by Nickianne Moody 4. Star Trek: First Contact: The Hybrid, The Whore and the Machine, by Christine Warthiem 5. Japanese Animation and Techno-Orientalism, by Toshiya Ueno 6. Wicked Cities: The Other in Hong Kong Science Fiction, by Gregory B. Lee and Sunny Lam 7. Saying Yours and Mine in Deep Space Nine, by Kirk W Junker and Robert Duffy 8. False and Double Consciousness: Race, Virtual Reality and the Assimilation of Hong Kong Cinema in The Matrix, by Peter X Feng 9. Till the End of the World: Wenders and Eurocentric Futures, by Dimitris Eleftheriotis Index

Editorial Reviews

Sardar (postcolonial studies, City U., UK) and Cubitt (screen and media, U. of Waikato, New Zealand) present nine pieces of cultural criticism that explore the meanings projected and assimilated by science fiction movies and television in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong. Concerned with the construction of the "other" in the broadest philosophical sense (comprising political, cultural, ethnic, and gendered "others", as well as the "other" of the natural world), the essays explore meaning in , , Japanimation, , , and , among others. Distributed by Stylus. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews