Shameless Self-Promotion
Tuesday 1st December 5.30 Lg26 [Laud]
North Holmes Campus
Canterbury Christ Church University
Dr. Andrew M. Butler
Unsatisfactory Conclusions: The Ends of 1970s Science Fiction Films
The science fiction films of the first half of the 1970s reflect the tumultuous political times in which they were made - the women’s movement, civil rights, gay liberation, President Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal and so on. The films were at best uneasy about the way forward, at times downright pessimistic. These seriously intended, often artistic, films have largely been eclipsed by the success in 1977 of Star Wars, a movie which set the mould for more than thirty years’ of rather more optimistic sf blockbusters. This paper explores the ends of these films from the first half of the 1970s, and the emotions they evoke.
Andrew M. Butler is a world expert in the field of science fiction and has written five books and edited seven on the subject, including two on bestselling comic fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. He is a past winner of the Pioneer Award, given by the Science Fiction Research Association. He has recently spoken at conferences in California and Belgium, as well as in Leicester and Nottingham. This is a great opportunity to hear the fruits of Andrew’s latest research for his next book, Solar Flares, to be published in 2011.
For further information, please contact: Dr. Shane Blackman
shane.blackman@canterbury.ac.uk
North Holmes Campus
Canterbury Christ Church University
Dr. Andrew M. Butler
Unsatisfactory Conclusions: The Ends of 1970s Science Fiction Films
The science fiction films of the first half of the 1970s reflect the tumultuous political times in which they were made - the women’s movement, civil rights, gay liberation, President Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal and so on. The films were at best uneasy about the way forward, at times downright pessimistic. These seriously intended, often artistic, films have largely been eclipsed by the success in 1977 of Star Wars, a movie which set the mould for more than thirty years’ of rather more optimistic sf blockbusters. This paper explores the ends of these films from the first half of the 1970s, and the emotions they evoke.
Andrew M. Butler is a world expert in the field of science fiction and has written five books and edited seven on the subject, including two on bestselling comic fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. He is a past winner of the Pioneer Award, given by the Science Fiction Research Association. He has recently spoken at conferences in California and Belgium, as well as in Leicester and Nottingham. This is a great opportunity to hear the fruits of Andrew’s latest research for his next book, Solar Flares, to be published in 2011.
For further information, please contact: Dr. Shane Blackman
shane.blackman@canterbury.ac.uk