Learning From Fantasy
Deborah Venable
11/05/11
Some of the very best morality lessons written into modern literature and even TV and movie scripts can be found in space fantasy. That may sound strange coming from an old person, but I assure you that the synapses are still firing. I had just as soon watch a good space fantasy show as just about anything else on the tube these days. They have everything from lessons on military honor and duty, to tough decisions on life and death, to dealing with vast differences in behavior of humans and other species – not to mention a sprinkling of freedom vs. slavery and God vs. the universe. Evil is always pitted against good, heroes are always portrayed as exceptional, and love is a valuable incentive. What more could you want?
They
all have a resident super intelligent character or characters able to figure
out answers at the last possible second and act on them, some John Wayne
military types who perform almost beyond humanly possible feats of courage and
strength, a brilliant medical character, who anyone in this modern world would
love to have as his personal physician, alien and human foes that just reek of
evil, and they tie the whole thing up with a big bow (usually) of also having
to battle some political problem or other.
See
what I mean? Just like real life minus
the aliens, but then not really because in today’s world, don’t we sometimes
treat each other like aliens from another species?
Collaborating
writers who work on space fantasy scripts probably have a ball though. Some of their backgrounds may even include
having cut their teeth on political speech writing. I don’t know that to be a fact, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Material for both careers could be drawn
from the same research databases I would think.
To
a real space fantasy buff, though, it’s the characters that can hold onto an
audience or lose it, and the actors playing the parts may have little or
nothing to do with that. Just like
politics should be, actors are probably the least valued component. Give me good characters any day and I’ll
watch a story with unknown actors.
This
is where my comparison starts to get fuzzy.
Politics should be played with character counting a heck of a lot more
than it does, but what do we hear from the analysts of politics? Name recognition gets a much higher score on
the electability analysis and character goes by the wayside. He or she who is deemed “electable” is far
more likely to garner enough support to get elected than an “unknown” of impeccable
character.
Back
to space fantasy, though, oftentimes we will find our main hero type character
has a dark past. Usually having to do
with some socially or politically unacceptable offense, our hero has been
maligned, tested and failed to measure up in the past. Fast forward to the present and he does
something spectacularly unselfish or otherwise “heroic” to catapult him into
the role of respected leader, thus bringing honor upon his proven positive
character. That is what gets
remembered. Occasionally he may have
setbacks where his character is once again impugned – but seldom does he fail
again after achieving earned respect.
So,
in modern American politics, does character really matter or not?
In
a close second behind name recognition, and probably intricately related, is
the question of the contents of the “war chest.” Not necessarily where the contents come from, mind you, but
rather how much money, power, and influence does that chest contain? Many a political campaign has been derailed
when the money ran out. That’s all it
takes. Sink the money ship and send
that “questionable” character packing.
Buying votes is an age-old component in successful political campaigns
and everyone knows it, even as they decry the practice with mock indignation.
Bottom
line on this little interlude into space fantasy and political campaigns is
that the writers of the former have learned what those of the latter never
will. While power and influence may
definitely be bought and sold, respect and justice must be earned – and thus,
character matters much more than the actor playing the part.