Growing up in the 50's and 60's I enjoyed television shows like Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. Why did these popular shows capture the attention of so many? Because the writers of those shows took real world experiences and gave them a twist that took viewers into another dimension. The journey provided thought-provoking themes from being the last man on earth, travel to other dimensions, lessons on being careful what you wished for and some shows even shined a light on the fact that preconceived ideas led viewers like me to conclusions and often to a deeper realization that what I believed steered my judgment to the side of error in this new realm where things weren't always as they seemed.
These TV programs looked into possible future scenarios that often showed greed and hunger for power still existed. Episodes like Twilight Zone's "To Serve Man" showed humans willing to blindly follow an alien race known as the Kanamits because they promised to be nothing but helpful to the cause of humanity. Not until humans stepped aboard the Kanamit spacecraft did they realize they were nothing more that an item on the dinner menu—and then it was too late.
Biblical speculative fiction offers these same tantalizing themes today with updated technology and an additional element. The thread that connects biblical spec-fic to the real world is not to just what people think, but connects somehow, somewhere to biblical truth. Human nature remains the same through the ages. The only hope to change that is intervention—God's intervention. With biblical speculative fiction how He intervenes is what makes for the interesting story.
Twilight Zone and Out Limits entertained yet left us pondering what if, Biblical spec-fic entertains and leaves the reader with a nugget of truth to ponder within the realm of what if.
Donna Sundblad
2 comments:
Nice post, Donna. I believe this is one of the essential aims of most guild writers. Spec Fic should leave readers thinking, wondering about the possibilities, while debating them with that nugget of truth. The imagination is only bridled by the contraints we place upon it, and there are endless possibilites in this life.
I enjoyed your post as well. I think the classic stories and shows you mentioned were engaging for that very reason - they gave a "what if" but framed it morally. Today, in a "post-Christian" world so many stories raise questions but don't even hint at a (biblically) truthful answer. Thus the need for the LGG :-) Keep up the great work, Lyn (a very inactive LGG onlooker :-)
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