Just this week, the teaser trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, featuring Cara Delevigne, Dane Dehaan, and two-seconds of the stunning Rhianna. Although to some it seemed like another sci-fi blockbuster for the Christmas break, those familiar with the vintage foreign comic “Valerian and Laureline” know just how big of a deal this movie really is. “Valerian” influenced most classic modern sci-fi, movies like Star Wars and the Fifth Element (another Luc Besson film), and having a space opera instead of sci-fi dystopia might be just what the public needs.
Think of any recent sci-fi blockbuster. For example, let’s use Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence’s new film Passengers. Humanity goes to sleep for one hundred fifty years, for only two people to wake up for the ship humanity is on to inevitably end up in peril. This is a classic example of sci-fi dystopia, the idea that for humanity to advanced scientifically, something is going to go wrong, usually due to the nature of humanity itself. Negative undertones are riddled throughout the story, no matter the outcome of the resolution. For every one positive sci-fi film we’ve had these past years, we’ve had countless dystopian ones. Even the more positive, light-hearted ones, like the realistic science fiction The Martian, had negative undertones of despair. The general audience has decided to be obsessed with dystopia, brought upon by the generic YA movie trend, and so film companies have been shitting them out like they just went to Taco Bell. And what does that say about the populous if we keep consuming negative stories about the downfall of humanity?
The key part of science fiction is using possible technological advances to predict the effects of it on humanity. Of course, this includes the negative aspects, a la Brave New World, 1984, etc. etc, but if that’s all we focus on, how will we progress? Take Star Trek for example, a classic case of science fiction affecting progress. So many of our technological progress in thanks to it. Cell phones were based of the Trek communicators, and constantly organizations like NASA use Trek references in their scientific work. And while Gene Roddenberry smiles at us upon the veil, we carry on his idea for a more united humanity based on evolution and progress. Someone once said when writing dystopia, once shouldn’t write about why humanity needs to perish, but on why humanity is worth saving. And writers have lost their way in that regards.
Let’s all agree to the fact that 2016 is horrible, regardless of political views. So much insane shit has went down, it’s hard to fathom. And if we keep producing this dystopian filth riddling the box office, aren’t we just asking for us all to be even more depressed? Sci-fi escapism wowed the public in the past, with films like Star Wars being some of the most famous films of all time, giving a story people can connect to in a society that they couldn’t. Hopefully, with Valerian we will finally be getting back to the basics, and we will start seeing innovation in one of the most innovative genres of all time.
