Speculative Fiction: Were Saunders, Bradbury, and Alfonso Cuarón right?– Episode 1 of Alive Poets Society

In our first-ever (and probably longest-ever) episode of Alive Poets Society, we dive into pre and post-apocalyptic literature in our speculative fiction themed episode. We analyze, philosophize, and comedicize (?) the two stories, “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders and “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, along with the film Children of Men (links to read and watch below). After introducing speculative fiction as a genre, we writers dive into Saunder’s prose, which demands questions like: Why is our generation so anxious? Should we take drugs to cure this anxiety? How does Saunders approach good vs. evil in the text? And is swallowing opioids and playing Borderlands a modern-day nirvana?

         Next, we look at the flick Children of Men. The movie was a little too perspicacious in its predictions for our liking as we make connections between the ‘refugee crisis’ in the movie and the way America treats immigrants today. After breaking down the plot and mechanics of the film, we tap into some hidden motifs created through the weaving of Christian and Hindu allusions throughout the film. Holly and Maxwell make it clear that they wouldn’t help a cry baby under any circumstances, and we come to a conclusion about the number of Werther's Originals George W. Bush has to give to Michelle Obama in order to win back the approval of the American People. Lastly, we flaunt our detective skills as we crack the code of why this great movie tanked at the box office.

         “There Will Come Soft Rains” sparks a discussion about speculative fiction as a whole, and why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Maxwell agrees to fight the descendants of Ray Bradbury after besmirching his name. Holly suggests parading the streets with big cats, and Maxwell and Tom are here for it.

         The episode ends with our final segment, reviewing a review from The Review Review (linked below). Apologizing in advance to the writer of said review, we up and down-tick the review based on its clarity, grammar, and overall writing quality. Spoiler alert, the review does not fare well.

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Shout out to Mayo Nice for the intro music.

“There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury: https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/7_There%20Will%20Come%20Soft%20Rains%20by%20Ray%20Bradbury.pdf

“Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/12/20/escape-from-spiderhead

Children of Men: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/

The Review Review review: http://www.thereviewreview.net/reviews/small-journal-big-teeth