On Aliens

While this post is inspired by books, I don't plan to really go into the plots, if that kind of thing matters to you. I recently read 2001: A Space Odyssey as an eBook, which was my first eBook, and a lot easier to get into than I was expecting. Last year I read Contact, by Carl Sagan, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Both books are Science Fiction looks at humanity's first interactions with other life in the universe, and the shadow of the former could clearly be seen in the latter. But, as I read Sagan's take before Asimov's that happily didn't weigh on me.

The two books really aren't all that similar until near the end, although the process of thinking about what other life in the universe would be like, and how it would choose to interact with a young intelligent species, does tend towards certain styles. They also have successful movie versions. I'd rather speak about the differences, because between A Space Odyssey's release in 1968 and Contact being published in 1985, the world seems to have changed in ways that Asimov's future ball couldn't have predicted.

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Asimov did well enough with the technology. Sure, there are more storage disks than strictly needed, and some futuristic plot points, but generally I was impressed. No, what Asimov didn't seem to expect was the discovery of women, who sometime in the intervening two decades must have been concocted out of a rib so that Carl Sagan could meet one. None of the characters are female, and there are plenty, and it's still a little galling to read old tales where the human species is referred to unwaveringly as "man".

Contact features woman prominently throughout, as depicted artfully by Jodie Foster in the movie a decade later. The difference between the movie and the book was actually rather striking to me, and I'd be interested to talk to anyone else who's had an opinion on the difference. The movie portrays Ellie's gender as a constant barrier to respect and acknowledgement from her coworkers, and singles her out as one woman against the world in some ways. Not that she's friendless, but certainly it's a tale about overcoming adversity every step of the way. The book doesn't play to that. It nods to the challenges that she faced gaining her position, but then simply tells the tale of a respected force of research and progress. It also has multiple other strong female characters in equally uncontroversial and powerful roles.

I think when I was younger I liked the adversity more. I'd seek out plots like Remember the Titans where the oppressed group has to rise up through a constant sea of adversity to gain acceptance. I still like the archetype from time to time, but it's amazing how refreshing it is to just tell the story of that same, erstwhile oppressed group simply being in power and not having to explain how they got there. The Black Panther or Wonder Woman character rather than 12 Years a Slave or Erin Brockovich. Like I said, I still enjoy both, I'm just shifting further towards the former.

The real moral though, is that I like science and outer space. Outer space is awesome.