The Sci Fi Guy

I know this is going to be a multi-part review because there’s so much to chew through. Reading the Philip K. Dick Reader (an anthology of short and medium-length stories) was a lot like the first time I delved in to Asimov’s I, Robot. There’s so much here, and each story is so entertaining, that you just wish the book kept on going!

Truthfully, up until about 2 weeks ago, I had never read an entire Philip K. Dick story. My friend Nikki bought me The Man in the High Castle for my birthday, so I gave it a fast read and was thoroughly impressed. Follow that with a little travel (I love reading on planes & trains - perfect opportunity) and the Philip K. Dick reader was a perfect companion.

The Dick reader opens with a story called Fair Game about a man fearing for his life while running from an enormous eye. He realizes that mankind has always seen these creatures, in the highest mountains especially where all the greatest religious thought has emerged. Well, it’s a short story, so I won’t ruin it for you, but let’s just say that Fair Game starts the anthology off with a good sizzle.

The anthology was constructed in a way where stories did seem to flow from one to another… For instance, many of the post-apocalyptic stories are tied together, as some of the UFO-ish tales are as well. What’s also really stunning is how many of Dick’s movies have made it to the big screen. The Golden Man is obviously the foundation for the movie Next starring Nicolas Cage. We Can Remember it for you Wholesale is the foundation for Total Recall, Paycheck is the inspiration for the movie of the same name, as well as The Minority Report. The movie Screamers was inspired by Second Variety. Just thinking about how much Philip K. Dick has influenced contemporary science fiction cinema is almost unbelievable - and the stories truly are well designed, well crafted, and visceral. Dick has the same sense of humanity that the other great science fiction authors I’ve come to love do. It’s not about gizmo’s and gadgets (well, there are a couple of them) - it’s more about the characters themselves.

The Golden Man is a great example - and really the movie Next only stole one small part of the concept. The man itself is a genetic mutation - think X-Men. Meanwhile, there exists a powerful government organization that for 50 years has been protecting humanity from what might be the next genetic leap (and subsequently the downfall of mankind). Finally this “Golden” man becomes discovered - and he has the ability to predict his own future (notice the tie-in with Next - that’s about all there is). The character of the Golden Man is simple, straightforward, and ingenious, and his ability to predict soon in to the future makes him a both terrifying and captivating opponent for mankind.

I’ll do some more writing on some of these stories in a bit, I just wanted to get some fast thoughts out there.

Okay, well, I know I said I’d reserve the weekends for sharing the mesh between science fiction and present science, but I’ve recently stumbled across a pair of things that make me say, “Wow!”

First off, the less glamorous: GlowFur. Well, maybe that should be more glamorous, since it is haute coture. GlowFur is a product that just screams “science fiction” because many film makers (especially in the near-future and cyber-punk genres) have envisioned a garish world of the future where every individual has specialized clothing that is bright, colorful, and loud.

GlowFur on display as a trendy vest.

The technology itself is pretty neat - they’ve simply embedded those glowing fiber strands in to a faux fur to produce a “glow” that apparently lasts all night long on small, highly portable batteries. The clothing itself is expensive, but not obtrusively so - and they even have inexpensive wristbands for $20 for a pack of 4. I’m not a “faux fur” kinda guy, but I won’t be surprised to see this at lots of special parties throughout the year. Actually, I might sport some of this during New Years just for fun.

The other awesome new piece of technology that has come to light in the last couple days is Microsoft’s new Surface product. A few years ago I saw a video clip of this technology at a TED conference talk, and showed it to everyone that would sit still for 3 minutes. Microsoft, it appears, wants to make this product a reality, and it looks like for once they’re serious about rolling out some very cool futuristic technology ahead of anyone else.

Microsoft’s Surface product in action

The way it works is still a mystery to me, but essentially its a multi-touch flat panel display. The applications of this type of product are exciting - and Microsoft seems to be going straight at the commercial appeal of this product. I really won’t be surprised if this becomes standard issue for hot night clubs and expensive hotels in the next couple years. They’re also promoting that it will automatically work with bluetooth (or USB 2.0?), so cell phones and Zunes will automatically be able to sync with the tablet.

Of course, there’s only one fair comparison to how this has been envisioned in science fiction, courtesy of the Phillip K. Dick inspired Speilberg saga, Minority Report.

Tom Cruise using his advanced display / control computer in Minority Report

Okay, so they’re not exactly the same. In Tom’s world in the near future, he donned control gloves that remind me of the original PowerGlove for the 1986 Nintendo. But the notion of essentially making the interface and the display the same thing is exciting. I’d love to be able to work with my computer (which I already work with 10 hours a day!) without anything other than the interface. Between speech recognition, multi-touch displays, and wireless protocols that get along with one another, these are the things that science fiction dreams are made of.

Phillip K. Dick’s roster of adaptations made-to-screen is impressive. The likes of Total Recall, Blade Runner, Minority Report, and others have been squeezed from Dick’s stories. Honestly, I’ll admit, I have yet to actually read one of Phillip K. Dicks’ stories, but obviously his impact has been felt across the science fiction world. His interest in reality and the varying degrees of it are both fascinating and unnerving. Especially as we enter a “virtual” age where individuals are transplanted from tangible states of reality to intangible “virtual” existances, it’s no suprise that his stories have become the groundwork for reality-oriented science fiction.

I ordered A Scanner Darkly on my Blockbuster account with the hopes that it would be more than just a visual romp in the park, and in many respects got more than I expected.

From the onset, it was clear that the visual style, the raytraced cartoon-esque imagery, would not necessarily detract from the story. You could tell which characters were which, and the animation itself lent to the drug-induced reality the viewer was seeing in our future (7 years from now is the official premise).

The story revolves around the central character, “Fred” and his alternative counterpart, Bob Arctor. They are both the same, yet cannot seem to identify each other’s life. Fred wears a suit of camoflage to protect his undercover status within the supposed drug running organization that Bob Arctor is in the middle of. And the root of the evil in the world: Substance D, an ultra addictive narcotic that plagues its users with anxiety and distorts the two sides of the brain from having coherent thoughts pass between one another. In this respect, it is why Arctor doesn’t know he’s Fred, and vice versa.

However, all is not as it appears within the police force that Fred works for.

After watching A Scanner Darkly, I was still in a pseudo euphoria myself for the visual imagery. The immersion and efforts the filmmakers took to create the world of the not-so-distant future was engrossing. And frankly, the not-so-distant future looks like the present, but with more abilities to surveil our neighbors and supposed suspects.

I think Phillip K. Dick wasn’t looking to create a science fiction story here. To me, it was more of an ominous big-brother story, highlighting a future where drugs become so potent that there is no simple way to simply walk away from it’s use. The “who’s watching who?” storyline also reminds me of a modern day warning fable of our very own Patriot Act. Even within the book, the drug itself is characterized as a weapon of terrorists - destroying our society from within.

This was not the groudbreaking redemption story that I guess I was hoping for. In most respects, everything that was set up in the first quarter of the movie came full circle in the end. Keanu Reeves was bearable, but between all the actors and actresses, there was nothing specifically notable about their performances. Woody Harrelson was … well … crazy. Robert Downey Jr. was perhaps the most watchable character because perhaps his own life of drug use and problems had inspired him to perform in this movie.

All together, A Scanner Darkly was a dark and somber movie. Worth seeing once, and maybe a 2nd time to catch any lost statements or actions along the way.