Nope, no politics here. Instead, we're going to talk about something important.
First contact stories.
I finished Heaven's Shadow last night. Decent writing, characters that were generally a step above stock, and some interesting ideas tossed into the mix. While I was hoping for something more like Leviathan Wakes, I realize that's a particular combination of plot, characterization and storytelling thats makes for a pretty high bar to cross. Shadow was certainly good enough to keep me up and reading long past the "holy cow, I need to get to bed" point, though, so it was definitely feeding my SF jones.
But.
I understand that conflict is what drives stories, and that first contact stories are no different. Tension among the team. Pressure from within and without. Entering a completely unknown, definitely terrifying and potentially life-threatening situation.
Yadda yadda yadda.
That's fine! Really. I mean, it's what a first contact story is all about. There may be elements of clichés in these stories, but that's OK. Sometimes clichés are clichés because, y'know, they work. Kind of like using bricks and beams when building a house. Nobody walks into a new home and says, "Oh, how horrible - they used bricks for the foundation! And two-by-fours for the walls!" What's interesting isn't necessarily the building materials, but how they're arranged and presented.
Except that sometimes, those materials can get a little... out-dated. When we moved into our current home, for example, there were some definite elements of the 60's and 70's in the construction and decor. Drop ceilings in the living room and dining room, faux wood panelling, formica counters in the kitchen.
Stuff that was serviceable, and at one time was probably fresh, new and unique. Now, after a few decades? It was, well... tacky.
There's one particular element of first contact stories that I've noticed recently. It may have been fresh, new and unique half a century ago. It's still serviceable even today, if you're careful. You really do have to be careful, though, because most times, it will just end up being, well... tacky.
All you budding SF writers out there? Are you listening?
Could we please get a few first contact stories where human beings aren't fumble-fingered, ignorant morons who inevitably make an uninformed, hot-headed decision that puts everyone in jeopardy?
Seriously. That's one trope that has to die.
In a fire.
First contact stories are older than science fiction. We've been writing them, reading them, and in some cases living them for centuries. There's enough of a body of actual knowledge and thought experiments out there that ignoring them in the context of your story requires suspending disbelief on the part of the reader. As time goes on, this has become increasingly more difficult.
Consider. You're writing a first contact story.
Have your characters ever seen, or heard of, positive first contact stories like ET? How about Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The Day The Earth Stood Still? The Abyss? Contact? For the love of Pete - how about Alf? Aside form the positive, how about them there cautionary tales? The Thing? Predator? Aliens? Independence Day?
That's just touching on popular media. Start adding in literature like The Mote in God's Eye, Rendezvous with Rama, Gateway, "A Martian Odyssey", and... well. There is a pretty large group of human beings that are well-versed in first contact mythology. Some of them even have a background that has involved studying historical and present-day human cultural differences and interactions.
Culturally speaking, we all know How To Survive a Horror Movie. (Primary directive numero uno: do not split up!) In Feed, Mira Grant took zombie novels to the next step by pointing out that um, yeah - we know how to deal with the zombie apocalypse. Thank you, George Romero!
Similarly, I'd like to think that by now that there are a lot of people who have some idea of how to not obviously screw up a first contact scenario. Yes, there will be mistakes and misunderstandings - and the possibility of violent conflict stemming from the same. There will be people whose preconceptions or perceptions are incorrect, leading to all sorts of interesting scenarios. Run wild with those, by all means!
Just... please. Don't base your story around a bone-headed mistake that anyone even remotely familiar with popular media or fiction would know to avoid.
No comments:
Post a Comment