Diverse Position Sci-Fi

There's a very colonialist theme in Dawn by Octavia Butler, and it's not subtle. The main protagonist is a black woman, whose family was lost years and years before the start of the book. She was kidnapped, but her captors claim they saved her. When the story starts out, she's imprisoned, isolated, confused, and she doesn't know why, or for how long. Kept alone until she's ready to face the alien race that took her away from Earth. The reason for all this? Integration. Much like Bloodchild, the extraterrestrial creatures use the unfortunate circumstances of the humans to their advantage, and while it may not be moral, or welcomed, the result seems to be in the best interest of both races.

There seems to be a trend of science fiction stories that take modern problems and expand them into the larger universe. Of course, any genre does this, but transcending the boundary of reality and universe gives the opportunity to present the problem in a new context. Sometimes, all an audience needs is a new viewpoint to understand the issue at hand. Sometimes.

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler

1) What is your reaction to the text you just read?

A little bit intrigued, a little bit disgusted. It takes a while to get a good image of the Tlic, and of the situation as a whole. They're giant parasitic worms- that's gross. But the world and the relationship built around the Tlic and the humans is so unique from the other stories I've read and watched.


2) What connections did you make to the story? Discuss the story with which you were able to connect.

There's a lot to compare between Bloodchild and other alien stories in which the alien race uses humans to birth their young. Most notably the Xenomorphs from Alien. I don't think I've ever heard a story about a compromise between the aliens and humans, and it's definitely an interesting angle to work with. It's mentioned that early on during this relationship, the Tlic had treated the humans like cattle, but they eventually had the sense to treat the humans with a little more dignity.


3) What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I've been watching Love, Death, and Robots on repeat since Netflix released it. This story would be awkward, cumbersome, and probably with poor reception if made into a live action film of any kind, but an animated short would bring it to life. Love, Death, and Robots showed that animation can be gritty and pretty, and can push horror and scifi like no other medium can.