There are a lot of really scared people in this country right now. They are terrified of immigrants and women and homosexuals; they fear science, diversity, Hispanics, Natives, Blacks — or even worse — mixed race people like me. Most of all, they fear change. They are worried that America will soon be unrecognizable, and […]
A growing body of research confirms that incompetence robs people of the ability to recognize their own stupidity. In other words: dumb people are too dumb to realize it. The Dunning–Kruger effect originates from a cognitive bias study conducted at Cornell University in which incompetent individuals were shown to suffer from the illusion of superiority, […]
Dr. Lawrence Britt examined the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and Pinochet. He found 14 defining characteristics common to each, which he refers to as the identifying characteristics of fascism: Sound familiar? [edited repost from 2015]
The USA is a dying imperial power: corrupt to the core, hollowed-out, lacking a soul and empty within. We are a brutal, overbearing nation filled with violent, desperate, shamelessly ignorant people. The Enlightenment (c.1680-1780) brought some hope of redemption to society following the Dark Ages. Applying the concept of humanism, philosophers recognized our innate capacity […]
Baroness Susan Greenfield is a renowned British neuroscientist and an outspoken member of the House of Lords. She is currently causing quite a stir in academic circles with her controversial book, Mind Change. Greenfield’s research adds fuel to the debate over the influence technology is having on society. She argues that the hyper-connectedness of millennials […]
President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 marked a turning point in US foreign policy away from peace and collaboration with the Soviet Union on nuclear disarmament and cooperation in outer space – and toward escalation of US involvement in Vietnam, the Cold War and ultimately, perpetual war. Who sought this? Cuba? Certainly not. JFK […]
More than any other movie genre, Science Fiction (SF) cinema has traditionally been able to explore thorny issues like class, race, and gender in a manner that is thought provoking and even profound. If one examines the genre more closely, however, a different picture emerges. Grotesque racial stereotypes are a major feature in most SF […]
Science Fiction (SF) cinema warrants serious critical analysis. The genre thrives on terror, and society is full of fear-induced bigotry, intolerance and endless warfare. By invoking fear, SF cinema can subvert viewers’ expectations and put sexism, racism and class warfare in stark juxtaposition. In a purely ideological context a violent, sexist narrative can become a […]
‘The City’ is an iconic and constantly recurring theme in Science Fiction (SF) cinema. Huge, sprawling mega-cities are the dominant settings for many SF films. As author John R. Gold points out in his essay Under Darkened Skies: The City in Science Fiction Film, the city of the future is often as much part of […]
Science Fiction [SF] cinema has never received the degree of analytical and theoretical attention devoted to other film genres. In her book Alien Zone, author Annette Kuhn demonstrates that SF has been difficult to define as an actual genre, simply because it encompasses so many different elements. SF films rework and transform established themes and […]
Jason Darensburg's Blog-o-rama 