Why I Love Science Fiction

It's an old concept that there is some truth in everything, or rather that there is no absolute fiction. The apocalypse is very real and, I fear, inevitable. As Mr. Schwarzenegger said in Terminator 2, "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves."

As a species, we've understood that we suck on a basic level for centuries now. That's why all of these doomsday scenarios pop up in every medium from the book of Revelation to Zombieland. Whether the disaster that destroys us is man-made or not, the underlying theme in most science fiction storylines is the same: We have to put aside our petty differences and fight together to preserve the human race.

Ultimately, there is no just cause to go to war with one another. Not land, not skin color, not retribution, not religion. We have the potential to be better than that. Nothing illustrates this better than these prophetic movies and books, and nothing gets ignored as much either. The Terminator series is one of the most successful of all time, yet people constantly ignore the underlying theme. The average guy that watches these movies is the same one that advocates using the bomb on the Middle East.

This media is a direct attack on the military industrial complex that we love and adore in this country and people just shrug it off as a piece of entertainment because "that could never really happen." But beneath all of the special effects and intense action sequences lies a simple message to the world: Fix yourselves. Fix yourselves, or you won't be around much longer. "Judgment Day" is approaching, my friends. And I definitely don't mean that in a Biblical sense. We're on a path to annihilate ourselves with the same tools we build for our "protection". So keep that in mind the next time you watch some "light-hearted" post-apocalyptic film.

And that's why I love science fiction. It tells the truth. It paints a two sided picture of ourselves. One side shows our potential for self-destruction and the other side shows our potential for good and self-preservation. The Human Spirit, if you will. It gives me a tiny bit of hope thinking that other people out there might "get it" the way I do. Maybe they will take this fiction's frightening possibility of becoming a reality seriously and go out there and spread the Gospel of Peace. Maybe.

I'll end this retarded and cheesy blog entry with an equally cheesy quote....

"There is no fate but what we make." ~Kyle Reese in The Terminator