This week we talked about the genre of space opera. The space opera was a landmark of the progression of human history as shown in popular culture and literature. The same principles of storytelling, the 'hero's journey' and all that, all wrapped up in a line of sight pointing straight towards the future-- best represented in the mid-1900's by space travel and the promise that outer space holds for the future of the human race.
This sentiment is one that I think still holds true... for example, the lasting effect that space operas like Star Wars and Star Trek holds even in our culture today is undeniable. Though, I think that there is a part of these stories that determines their timelessness that separates it from the rest of the genre and helps propel it so far into the collective consideration of what is a 'classic'. Movies like Star Wars cater to the viewer's emotions, and feel relatable. Even though the story is taking place on alien planets, with unimaginable circumstances, the viewer can relate to the troubles of the characters because the language of emotion never changes, even in a strange context. Many of the stories of this genre-- The Stars My Destination for example, which I read a bit of this week-- kind of fall back into the darkness because of this. The subject matter is so strange and alien, and without the heavy emotional relateability, the story is not one that is going to make it too far into pop culture.
Take for example, Interstellar, if you've seen it yet-- it's a big-budget sci-fi movie that plays hugely on the sensation of human emotions and humanity's undefeatable will to live and survive as a whole. It was hugely successful! And I think that is why-- after Star Wars, we learned that the most lasting works in the space opera genre are those that we as a whole can project onto and learn from.
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