Obituary: Michael Clarke Duncan
Actor Michael Clarke Duncan passed away Monday of a heart attack at the age of 54. He starred in various films, including genre work, from Planet of the Apes (2001), to The Green Mile. His obituary can be read here.
Emory University Conference on Neuroscience, Zombies, and ‘Zombethics’
I am amazed at the opportunities and invitations that have come my way since I extended my academic work into the area of religion and popular culture. This has included writing for publications like Religion Dispatches, where among other things I have written on the intersection between zombies in popular culture and theology. In that essay, I mentioned an episode of The Walking Dead which interacted with neuroscience and concepts of human nature and the self. This essay then caught the attention of CNN’s Belief Blog, and most recently it led to an invitation to be a part of a conference put on by Emory University entitled “Zombies and ‘Zombethics’: Walking with the Dead: An Ethics Symposium for the Living on Halloween 2012.” I will be part of a Religion and Zombies panel and will present on issues related to zombies and eschatology from my chapter contribution to The Undead and Theology (Wipf & Stock, forthcoming). This conference is being put together by Dr. Cory Andrew Lebrecque and Dr Karen Rommelfanger with the Center for Ethics, School of Medicine, and Department of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta. The symposium – open to 125 registrants from Emory and the general public – aims to be a panel type presentation by scholars from bioethics, neuroethics, public health ethics, and religion . . . who explore questions such as: Why bother being “good” when the end is near? When is a human being no longer a person? Does it all come down to the brain? What is free will? How should healthcare resources be allocated when pandemics hit? What does end-of-life care look like for those for whom biological death is not the end?
For more on what zombies and neuroscience can teach us see this item from Culturing Science here. I will post more information on the Emory conference as it becomes available in the near future.
Forthcoming Documentary: Men in Suits
The latest documentary project from Wyrd and director Frank Woodward is Men in Suits. Readers may recall that Woodward was interviewed here previously on his fine documentary exploring the life, work, and influence of H.P. Lovecraft. Here’s the description for Men in Suits:
Godzilla… Chewbacca… Predator… Robby the Robot…
These are some of the most popular characters in fantastic cinema, but many people still don’t know about the incredible actors inside these creature suits who bring those characters to life!
MEN IN SUITS will examine the history and craft of suit performers from The Creature of the Black Lagoon to Pan’s Labyrinth and beyond. Through interviews with these actors we will learn the skill, strength and art required to be “under rubber”.
So far Wyrd has interviewed Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth), Tom Woodruff Jr.(the Alien fims), John Alexander (Gorillas In The Mist, Men In Black), Van Snowden (H.R. Puffnstuff), Misty Rosas (Congo, Sid The Science Kid), Bobby Clark (Star Trek), Kurt Carley (Underworld), Douglas Tait (Knights of Badassdom), August Ragone (author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters), Todd Tucker, (Drac Studios), Alec Gillis (ADI Effects), William Malone (director, House on Haunted Hill), and Guillermo Del Toro (director, Pan’s Labyrinth). And this is just the beginning…
In late 2010 Wyrd will be making a journey to Tokyo where we will interview some of the pioneers of Japanese suit acting.
As the most comprehensive documentary of its kind, we still have a way to go but expect to wrap post sometime in the middle of 2011.
The film is in post-production and needs your help. Visit the documentary’s Kickstarter page to be a part, and check back here in October for an interview with Woodward that coincides with the film’s release.
Related post:
“Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown Documentary – Director Frank Woodward Interview”
The Zombie Mob Podcast: Discussion of [REC]
Recently, I was a guest on The Zombie Mob podcast along with Kim Paffenroth, author of many books including Gospel of the Living Dead, and Scott Poole, author of Satan in America and Monsters in America, and all of us contributors to the forthcoming The Undead and Theology. Our host was Darryl Pierce. In the podcast we discussed the Spanish “zombie” film [REC]. The podcast can be listened to here.
Cracked Satire Helps Us Think About Horror and Sci-Fi
4 Terrifying Psychology Lessons Behind Famous Movie Monsters — powered by Cracked.com
Why The Scariest Sci-Fi Robot Uprising Has Already Begun — powered by Cracked.com
CRACKED.com is not exactly the first place you might think that intelligent and thoughtful commentary can be found on horror and science fiction, but with these two video clips we learn “4 Terrifying Psychology Lessons Behind Famous Movie Monsters,” and “Why the Scariest Sci-Fi Robot Uprising Has Already Begun.”
Star Trek: The God-Thing
Yesterday on Facebook I came across an image that is making the rounds by skeptics. It was a photo of Mr. Spock from Star Trek with a quotation that expressed serious skepticism about God and how the deity is portrayed in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The quote was attributed to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I as skeptical, and although I haven’t seen this movie in years, it didn’t sound like something I remembered coming from that film. So my interest in finding the true source, coupled with my awareness that Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek‘s creator, was well known to be a secular humanist, made for an interesting research project.
The end result of my search was the discovery of ideas that Roddenberry had long wanted to bring to the screen as one of the Star Trek motion pictures, but due to concerns of studio executives, the storyline never saw the light of day, at least in the way in which Roddenberry envisioned it. Instead, elements can be found in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as well as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The fascinating and long history behind Roddenberry’s never-realized storyline is told as pieces are stitched together at the The Complete Star Trek Library. Among the different individuals and perspectives on the story, here’s an expert from Lost Voyages of Trek and the Next Generation, by Bill Planer (Cinemaker Press, 1992), and his telling of the narrative:
“I handed them a script and they turned it down,” Roddenberry stated. “It was too controversial. It talked about concepts like, ‘Who is God?’ [In it] the Enterprise meets God in space; God is a life form, and I wanted to suggest that there may have been, at one time in the human beginning, an alien entity that early man believed was God, and kept those legends. But I also wanted to suggest that it might have been as much the Devil as it was God. After all, what kind of god would throw humans out of Paradise for eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One of the Vulcans on board, in a very logical way, says, ‘If this is your God, he’s not very impressive. He’s got so many psychological problems; he’s so insecure. He demands worship every seven days. He goes out and creates faulty humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. He’s a pretty poor excuse for a supreme being.’ Not surprisingly, that didn’t sent [sic] the Paramount executives off crying with glee. But I think good science fiction, historically, has been used that way–to question everything.”
There are a number of interesting elements in this story. Not only is Roddennberry’s secular humanism and skepticism about Christianity evident, but he is also willing to bring in other elements in which to critique the Judeo-Christian myth. This includes the idea of God as an alien, connected most infamously to Erich von Däniken with his many books setting forth an ancient astronauts hypothesis. He also invokes a form of Platonism or Gnosticism with his idea of the God of the Old Testament being some kind of inferior demiurge. In other quotations from Roddenberry he wanted Lucifer in the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden to be the real deity who brings truth.
Although Roddenberry was never able to see his story idea come together in the form of a single film, Star Trek: The God-Thing was eventually published by Pocket Books in 1992.
This aspect of Star Trek‘s history, and that of its creator, is ironic in that while he wanted to use science fiction to raise the question of God’s existence, and critique the character of the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition as unworthy of worship, as his franchise developed after his death, it increasingly adopted various religious or spiritual elements, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine perhaps being the series most heavily spiritual in its basic orientation around the main storyline. In addition, scholars have noted that Star Trek functions for many fans as a form of religion as they adopt it’s ethic of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination. In addition, other scholars have looked at fan participation in Star Trek conventions and have considered this as a parallel to religious pilgrimage. In our age where the transcendent has broken out of more traditional boundaries and concepts of religion, science fiction often functions as the sacred, and as a result, even an atheist television pioneer cannot escape his creation becoming involved with The God-Thing.
Related posts:
The Possession Presents Jewish Perspective on Possession and Exorcism
The Possession is Sam Raimi’s most recent horror film, and it also represents Hollywood horror’s latest installment in our ongoing fascination with the idea of possession by a dark spiritual force and the related process of exorcism. What makes Raimi’s film different from so many of the films that explore this theme is it’s Jewish perspective on the subject matter. Raimi was recently interviewed in an essay in Jewish Journal.com where he presented the following thoughts:
“I was just mesmerized because of the rarity of Jewish-themed supernatural stories,” Raimi, 52, said during an interview while on a break from editing his upcoming film, “Oz, The Great and Powerful.” “Wanting to know what my faith might have in the dark shadows of its closets was fascinating to me, because I’d always had to see movies based in other religious faiths, like long-dead ancient Egyptian religions or Catholicism [as in] ‘The Exorcist.’ I discovered that my own culture had its own ghosts and demons, and the Jewish element also made it very original, which I think horror films have to be to be effective.”
It remains to be seen whether The Possession will be a good film, but it does represent a different religious take on the subject matter, much like The Unborn, and we will have to see how audiences respond at the box office.
Related posts:
“Of Folklore and Fatherhood: The Unborn and Cinematic Reflection”
“Cinefantastique Online – THE RITE: Satan, Possession and Unlikely Sources of Faith”
“Psychology Today: What is it That Fascinates us About Exorcism and Demonic Possession?”
Obituary: William Windom
Veteran character actor, William Windom, recently passed away at the age of 88. His body of work included roles in science fiction and fantasy/thriller, such as the part of Commodore Decker in the Star Trek original series episode “The Doomsday Machine,” an episode of Night Gallery, and episodes of The Twilight Zone, including the classic episode “Five Characters in Search of an Exit.” Various obituaries are now available in the media, including this one in The Los Angeles Times. RIP Commodore Decker.
Call for Papers – The Age of Lovecraft: Cosmic Horror, Posthumanism, and Popular Culture
Call for Proposals: The Age of Lovecraft: Cosmic Horror, Posthumanism, and Popular Culture
Editors: Carl Sederholm (csederholm@byu.edu) and Jeffrey Weinstock (Jeffrey.Weinstock@cmich.edu)
250 word proposals are sought for chapter contributions to an edited scholarly collection on H. P. Lovecraft and his place in 21st century literature, film, media, and popular culture.
This collection will consider the late 20th and early 21st century as “The Age of Lovecraft,” a time in which his popularity, his writing, and his influence, have achieved unprecedented levels of cultural saturation. Our goal is to assemble a collection of essays that will help us assess Lovecraft’s place in contemporary culture. In short, we will be asking why Lovecraft, why now?
250 word proposals should be submitted to the editors by October 31st 2012, with essays of approximately 6000 words due one year later. We are more than happy to discuss possible ideas in advance of submission of a proposal.
Possible topics include but are not limited to:
* Critical and Theoretical Reconsiderations of HPL’s oeuvre
* Interrelations between Cosmic horror and ecological disaster
* Lovecraft, Monstrosity, and Posthumanism
* The Lovecraft Circle and Lovecraft’s shadow: King, Gaiman, Mieville, F. Paul Wilson, Tim Powers, and others
* Popular culture appropriations of H.P. Lovecraft
* Adaptation Theory and Cinematic adaptations of HPL
Questions may be addressed to Carl Sederholm and Jeffrey Weinstock
