The World Set Free: The allure of apocalyptic utopianism
In certain political science (or political shit-posting) circles there is a term “accelerationism”, referring to a belief that the problems of society should not be ameliorated but rather exacerbated in order to cause the collapse of a preexisting social order so that something else may be built on its ashes. The justification for this is simple: anarchy is a blank slate upon which any…
It’s been a long time since I left the steampunk scene and an even longer time since I should have. Yet as someone who writes a blogon historical film and literature should know, the past is inescapable. Hardly a month goes by when I’m not alerted by aggregators of academic journals — which I use for my offline life as a history and science educator — that my name has popped up in a paper about…
The Gatekeeper’s Scythe: Eric Fisk of @FedoraChronicle reflects on the “death” of #steampunk
More than two years ago, I caused controversy with the rant “Requiem for Steampunk” in which I outlined what had gone wrong the genre. I wrote in declarative statements that what we call “steampunk” isn’t steampunk anymore by bookending the article with these two paragraphs:
Since it has lost the anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment aspects, “steampunk” is no longer steam “punk.” It’s…
It’s getting hard to maintain that steampunk is just resting. It may not be dead, but it certainly isn’t as alive as it used to be.
I was never big on steampunk events and I’m not into steampunk music, so I can’t speak for those scenes. But when it comes to art, fiction and the online fandom, there has been a noticeable decline.
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Half Full, Half Empty: Russian Dieselpunk
Did you know that only one year ago the most populous dieselpunk community on the Web was the Russian one — about one thousand members? It was also among the oldest, established in 2006.
No surprise: starting conditions for the genre were extremely favorable. It was defined relatively early, in an article by Mikhail Popov published in SF & Fantasy Worldmonthly in December 2004. Actually, this…
Star Wars is the quintessential space opera with fans around the world. Rather than write the nth article about what makes Star Wars such a phenomenon, I am going to talk about how the movies have had an impact on mostly dieselpunk.
Stick around til the end, because your intrepid reporter managed to ask Anthony Daniels, the actor who has portrayed C3P0 since the beginning of the franchise forty years ago, some questions while he was a guest at Comic Con Brussels.
These are by no means dieselpunk films, with the exception of the two Ewok movies from the 1980s, which are ultralight family-friendly movies in the style of Mad Max and The Blood of Heroes. Pretty much the same kind of setting, none of the gore or brutality and a prime example of post-apocalyptic dystopian dieselpunk (probably why they’re not mentioned anymore now, they have a hard time fitting into the rest of the universe).
And yet, with only two dieselpunk movies in a very long list, Star Wars has had a surprisingly big impact on dieselpunk.
Although, considering all the dieselpunk elements there are in the movies, including the cartoons, it is perhaps not that surprising that ‘punks are drawn to the franchise like moths to a flame.
From the steampunk-looking, half-built C-3PO in The Phantom Menace to the post-apocalyptic feel of Tatooine and Jakku to the atomicpunk look of the planet-wide city Coruscant.
From the militaristic Empire and First Order, whose uniforms and hierarchy are strongly reminiscent of Nazi Germany, to the dieselpunky underdogs of the Rebellion.
It’s the characters, the droids, the speeders, the dirt and grit and the story which inspire fans of the ‘punk genres and draw them in.
Examples of steam- and dieselpunk-inspired fan art abound, including the work of Björn Hurri, Jesse Toves, “Cylonka” and “Rodolforever“.
The Star Wars galaxy, while far, far away from our own, is populated by our own visions of the future, including those from the past.
In chronological order, not in order of release:
Seeing Solo hasn’t been released yet, I haven’t added it to the list, as I am unsure where exactly it fits. I’m guessing around the same time as Rebels, but at this point it’s guesswork.
And now, as promised, quick questions with Anthony Daniels, who has been portraying C-3P0 since the beginning.
R2D2 is quite infamous for getting Treepio in all sorts of trouble. But what has been the nicest thing he’s ever done for C-3P0?
Absolutely. The nicest thing is that he has been Treepio’s friend for many, many years. And like all friends, they tease each other. They have moments where they don’t get on. But then they get on even better the next time.
C-3P0 is an iconic part of not just the Star Wars universe, but sci-fi and robotics full stop. What makes you most proud of him being such a phenomenon?
Because one of the earliest examples of human cyborg interaction. And he has survived so much that he must have been made very well made from the beginning. He has become a little more quirky since the beginning. Like an old automobile he gets idiosyncrasies that you get used to. But he particularly likes the fact that humans relate to him, even though they don’t always listen to what he says.
If all of this isn’t enough for you, currently Star Wars Identities is at its very last European stop in Brussels, Belgium until September 2.
The exhibition not only shows you a wide array of movie props, concept art and costumes, but also immerses the visitor into the Star Wars universe via unique RFDI-powered bracelets allowing you to create your own Star Wars character.
Well worth the visit to see these items in real life. They’ve done a marvelous job both presenting all the items and integrating the interactive technology in one fluent and comprehensive expo.
Make sure to also pick up the exhibition guide, because it’s a beautiful book that would not look amiss on the shelf of anyone into the franchise.
More info here.
The #steampunk and #dieselpunk in Star Wars Star Wars is the quintessential space opera with fans around the world. Rather than write the nth article about what makes…Punk is dead. Long live #steampunk!
I didn’t get into steampunk to be an activist. What got me hooked was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003, then discovering it was based on a graphic novel (which was even better), and then discovering that there was an entire genre of this stuff. I was already into nineteenth-century history and I was into science-fiction. Putting those two together was brilliant. (more…)
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