I’m Sorry I Didn’t Tell You about the World Spielbergʼs Science-Fiction and Fantasy Films

• Published in: Citizen Spielberg p. 11
• Main Author: Friedman, Lester D
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United States University of Illinois Press 15.06.2006
• Subjects: Animals; Anthropology; Applied anthropology; Applied philosophy; Art criticism; Art theory; Arts; Behavioral sciences; Biological sciences; Biology; Children; Cognitive psychology; Communications; Cultural anthropology; Cultural studies; Emotion; Emotional states; Families; Family members; Fiction; Film criticism; Film studies; Human extraterrestrial encounters; Human geography; Human migration; Human populations; Human societies; Humans; Immigration; Literary genres; Literature; Love; Mammals; Movies; Narratives; Paranormal experiences; Parapsychology; Persons; Philosophy; Philosophy of science; Population studies; Primates; Pseudoscience; Psychology; Science fiction; Social institutions; Social sciences; Sociology; Sons; Speculative fiction; Zoology
• ISBN: 0252073584; 9780252073588

Science-fiction and fantasy films reveal more about the cultures that spawn them than the imaginary worlds they ostensibly describe. By extending contemporary societal problems far into the future, or by inserting fantastical elements into present-day environments, these movies encourage viewers to contemplate disruptive communal questions made less volatile by the mediating distance of time, the remoteness of space, and the illusion of supernatural encounters. Fanciful creatures (such as aliens, ghosts, or pixies) interjected into ordinary life, or diverse life forms confronted by human beings in galaxies far, far away, become representatives of “the cultural other,” allowing filmmakers to explore current