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How We Imagine the Future in Dark Times
The "It" List Of Small Presses Publishing Scary Stuff
Future Scenarios that Don't Look Like SciFi Are Wrong

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Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage!
01/05/09

In reply to How We Imagine the Future in Dark Times
Pffft. Wall-E had the most likely depiction of the future I've seen in 30 years of reading SF
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Annalee Newitz
01/05/09

@Gearhead_42: I loved Wall-E too. I want my brownie in a cup.
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TomSkylark
01/04/09

In reply to How We Imagine the Future in Dark Times
Awesome, Annalee, and congratulations on having an article in the Post--or have you been featured there more regularly?
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Annalee Newitz
01/05/09

@TomSkylark: This is my first one!
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
01/04/09

In reply to How We Imagine the Future in Dark Times
I respect Annalee's opinions and I'm sure she's researched this more than I have. Furthermore, I didn't RTFA so I may be way off base.

But...

Don't we see those two extremes in good times as well as bad? Aren't they simply the two easiest extreme mirrors to hold up and examine ourselves?

Star Trek movies have been released every 2 - 3 years for 30 years, the terminator movies came out in '84, '91 and '03. The last, at least, was during good econimic times, I'd have to research the other two.

Also, given the times required for a production cycle, do movies really reflect exclusively the time they are released? Both these movies were in production well before the current financial situation.
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twDarkflame
01/05/09

@DrEmilioLizardo: I always thought Minority Report depicted the most realistic future. Neither uptopia or distopia, just today, but with more shiny things.
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braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.
01/05/09

@twDarkflame: Well, and also powerful psychics were being used to arrest people for crimes that they hadn't committed.

I think that maybe makes it count as a dystopia.
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Annalee Newitz
01/05/09

@DrEmilioLizardo: Of course a lot of this depends on how you define "dark times." As to whether SF always depicts extremes - I wouldn't say that. There's plenty of SF that shows us a future that's a mix of good and bad. However, I definitely don't think there's an iron-clad rule that says only turbulent times produce utopian/dystopian splits. What I was trying to get at in this article was more about what kinds of issues each era was arguing over in their utopian/dystopian stories - whether the human future would be wealthy, whether our technology would destroy us, whether we'd survive.
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regis
01/04/09

In reply to How We Imagine the Future in Dark Times
will a transcript of the chat be available afterwards?
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Charlie Jane Anders
01/04/09

@regis: Yes it will. I believe they're archived permanently.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
01/04/09

In reply to How We Imagine the Future in Dark Times
That infographic is not as awesome as Stephanie's.

Also, it's wildly optimistic as to progress. It's the usual "stuff just around the corner" that's been around that corner for half a century.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
01/04/09

@Evil Tortie's Mom: oh, but Annalee's article is good. nice explicating to the mundanes.
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Grey_Area
12/22/08

In reply to The "It" List Of Small Presses Publishing Scary Stuff
Excellent stuff recently from these four. I know a few of these people personally and count them as friends. Some of them do not care for the term "Small Press" and would prefer to be called Independent Publishing Houses.

But that's just the sort of thing you'd expect from someone at a teeny-tiny cute little company like that.
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Plague
12/22/08

In reply to The "It" List Of Small Presses Publishing Scary Stuff
yep, the companies mentioned are puttin' out quality
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