The author has argued that the central concern for the Frankfurt School of critical theory remains a foundationally necessary task for ecopedagogy generally: to understand the domination of nature in all of its complexity and totality as part of an ongoing transformative inquiry (inclusive of both theorization and transgressive action) into the…

Over the years, many movies have presented on-screen a struggle between machines and human beings. Typically, the machines have come to rule and threaten the existence of humanity. They must be conquered to ensure the survival of and to secure the freedom of the human race. Although these movies appear to expose the dangers of an autonomous and…

Argues that good film and television fantasy is not a retreat from reality but a means of expanding the imagination. (FL)

The focal image of the film "The Black Hole" functions as a visual metaphor for the sacred, order, unity, and eternal time. The black hole is a symbol that unites the antinomic pairs of conscious/unconscious, water/fire, immersion/emersion, death/rebirth, and hell/heaven. The black hole is further associated with the quest for…

Reviews science fiction films used in a science fiction class. Discusses feature films, short science fiction films, short story adaptations, original science fiction pieces and factual science films that enrich literature. (EL)

"Star Trek II" is a treatment of the penultimate stages of the monomyth in which the hero descends into the underworld and is reborn. This psychological sense of rebirth is evoked in modern audiences by the film. In particular, the doppelganger (psychic double) motif, so often associated in film, literature, and myth with the…

Uses the metaphor of the beehive as a well-ordered, each-in-his-own-niche society to represent the outcome of utopian thinking. Cites twentieth-century dystopia films and literature as explicit criticisms of overreliance on planning and technology. Examines "Star Wars,""Clockwork Orange," and the works of Huxley, Forster,…

Looks at "The World of Tomorrow" (a 1984 documentary film of the 1939 New York World's Fair) as a gloss on the cultural tendency to sell the pleasures of technology while deferring questions about its nature. Notes that the film views the link between pleasure and technology that science fiction films variously exploit. (RS)

This paper is an excerpt from a book on learning science using science fiction. The focus is on the use of science fiction films to engage students and encourage greater enthusiasm and interest in science. "Jurassic Park" is used as an example that can provide educators with countless lesson opportunities. This approach recommends the use of fun…

This paper illustrates several examples of visual science fiction use in teaching literary classics, and is based on the philosophy that students share a visual cultural literacy through movies and television, types of representation with which they are more familiar than with literary texts. It claims that visual science fiction can be utilized…

Explains virtual reality as a computer-synthesized three-dimensional environment (cyberspace) in which human participants, appropriately interfaced, appear to be enveloped. Cyberspace in science fiction is discussed; contributions of aerospace and military simulation trainers, digital imaging, and motion picture special effects are described; and…