Comments on: The News From Poughkeepsie – Day 53 http://www.murverse.com/2008/06/13/the-news-from-poughkeepsie-day-53/ All creative works from Mur Lafferty Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:28:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Arklehttp://www.murverse.com/2008/06/13/the-news-from-poughkeepsie-day-53/#comment-539 Arkle Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:23:16 +0000 http://murverse.com/?p=255#comment-539 I agree there is allegory out there. It's just not often intentional anymore. Sometimes writers create an allegory that they don't catch until a fan points it out to them. I agree there is allegory out there. It’s just not often intentional anymore. Sometimes writers create an allegory that they don’t catch until a fan points it out to them.

]]> By: Robinhttp://www.murverse.com/2008/06/13/the-news-from-poughkeepsie-day-53/#comment-538 Robin Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +0000 http://murverse.com/?p=255#comment-538 I agree with Nobilis (nice screen name, by the way). There's quite a lot of allegory in modern entertainment. It's probably easiest to create in sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural dramas, because it's easier to hide the metaphors under a layer of unfamiliar society than it would be in a "realistic" setting.The most common theme I've seen lately (unsurprisingly) is the hero/savior. For example, the Galactica folks have been putting in all sorts of Christ-like symbolism around Baltar. There was a scene from the second season when he's lounging against a railing, but when they showed him from above it was a deliberate allusion to the crucifixion. Heck, just a couple of episodes ago they had him bleeding all over the place in a way that looked an awful lot like stigmata.Most epic dramas centered around a single (usually male) protagonist employ similar visual metaphors. It's just an ingrained part of our collective psyche. Other examples that spring to mind are Paul Atreides in 'Dune', Rand al Thor in the 'Wheel of Time' series, Buffy Summers (the Vampire Slayer, natch), and of course Neo from the 'Matrix' trilogy. Not to mention Aslan from 'Narnia', but he was entirely deliberate and pretty blatant.If you're using "allegory" in a broader sense of commentary within fiction about the state of modern affairs, again I have to point at Galactica and its exploration of civilization following a terrorist attack (albeit on an enormous scale). In fact, lot of sci-fi deals with current affairs under the guise of simple storytelling. TV executives had no idea that Gene Roddenberry was using Star Trek to comment on racism, sexism, or any other -ism, but he did so in pretty much every episode. Aliens and monsters make wonderful proxies for the disenfranchised and "the other".Hmm. This has become much longer than I intended, but I hope it's helpful and/or comforting to you. Guess I'll go back to lurking now.A faithful reader, Robin I agree with Nobilis (nice screen name, by the way). There’s quite a lot of allegory in modern entertainment. It’s probably easiest to create in sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural dramas, because it’s easier to hide the metaphors under a layer of unfamiliar society than it would be in a “realistic” setting.

The most common theme I’ve seen lately (unsurprisingly) is the hero/savior. For example, the Galactica folks have been putting in all sorts of Christ-like symbolism around Baltar. There was a scene from the second season when he’s lounging against a railing, but when they showed him from above it was a deliberate allusion to the crucifixion. Heck, just a couple of episodes ago they had him bleeding all over the place in a way that looked an awful lot like stigmata.

Most epic dramas centered around a single (usually male) protagonist employ similar visual metaphors. It’s just an ingrained part of our collective psyche. Other examples that spring to mind are Paul Atreides in ‘Dune’, Rand al Thor in the ‘Wheel of Time’ series, Buffy Summers (the Vampire Slayer, natch), and of course Neo from the ‘Matrix’ trilogy. Not to mention Aslan from ‘Narnia’, but he was entirely deliberate and pretty blatant.

If you’re using “allegory” in a broader sense of commentary within fiction about the state of modern affairs, again I have to point at Galactica and its exploration of civilization following a terrorist attack (albeit on an enormous scale). In fact, lot of sci-fi deals with current affairs under the guise of simple storytelling. TV executives had no idea that Gene Roddenberry was using Star Trek to comment on racism, sexism, or any other -ism, but he did so in pretty much every episode. Aliens and monsters make wonderful proxies for the disenfranchised and “the other”.

Hmm. This has become much longer than I intended, but I hope it’s helpful and/or comforting to you. Guess I’ll go back to lurking now.

A faithful reader,
Robin

]]> By: Nobilishttp://www.murverse.com/2008/06/13/the-news-from-poughkeepsie-day-53/#comment-537 Nobilis Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:48:51 +0000 http://murverse.com/?p=255#comment-537 There's a lot of allegory out there if you know where to look. People don't base their books around it but there are elements.The evil organization in my most recent novella is a mercenary company known as "Blackstorm". There’s a lot of allegory out there if you know where to look. People don’t base their books around it but there are elements.

The evil organization in my most recent novella is a mercenary company known as “Blackstorm”.

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