Thursday, December 17, 2015

Mind vs. Body

Image result for the waiting stars
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After reading the short long story, "The Waiting Stars", I was particularly drawn by how Aliette de Bodard separates the ideas of "mind" and "body". We see that the Dai Viet “Minds” race becomes integral to space ships and its controls. It’s as if technology gains consciousness and knows how to do everything on its own. However, the “Minds” face oppression from the “Outsiders” when they are captured and their consciousness is sent into different bodies on the planet Prime.

On Prime, we see a whole other perspective as to what is really happening to the Dai Viets. They are put into fake bodies, different from their own, and their memories are all erased. Then, at the institution, they are forced to learn “proper behavior” through the cruel treatment of the Matron. No matter how hard they try to escape, even to the point of killing themselves, the Minds are just redirected into a new body and the process starts over again. We see this predicament especially in the case of Catherine, when she gains her memory back as the effects of the memory wipe wear off towards the end of the story. She remembers her real name, Mi Chau. The name “Catherine” is fake and masks who she really is and Jason and the other Outsiders try to assimilate her into the culture. The Outsiders try to force the Dai Viets to be something they are not.


It turns out that Mi Chau is the Great Aunt of Lan Nhen, and her family tries to rescue her from her entrapment. Her mind just yearns to be free and back to where she belongs—the waiting stars. The separation of mind and body here shows how though we may try to change our appearance and the way we act, our minds and the way we think reflect who we are and there is no changing that. 

Friday, December 11, 2015

Freedom Rocks

Image result for snowpiercer kronol
Image from http://bigronfilmreviews.tumblr.com/
post/97465956362/snowpiercer
I truly enjoyed watching the film Snowpiercer with its intricate plot and one’s ability to look at the movie from many different perspectives. I was particularly drawn to the purpose of “Kronol” in the film. Apparently a highly addictive drug, “Kronol” was something that was enjoyed by BOTH the lower and upper class passengers on the train. What is the purpose of “Kronol”? At first I thought it was just a futuristic drug they decided to put in the movie. But then I realized it was so much more…

We encounter the drug when Curtis buys some off a dealer at the back of the train. We don’t know exactly what it is yet, but there’s a feeling that it isn’t anything good. Next, after they free Namgoong and his daughter from their captivity, the “Kronol” is used as a currency to bargain with them to open the locked doors in between cars. In this post-apocalyptic world where people have nothing and actual money is useless, it is interesting to see what they use for currency instead.


Towards the end of the movie, we see Namgoong and his daughter frantically stealing and collecting “Kronol” from the other passengers on the train. It seems like their addiction has gotten out of control. But instead of falling victim to the drug again, Namgoong sticks them all together and one is able to realize that he has a different plan in mind. By derailing the train, they are able to liberate themselves from the social hierarchy that controls them. Looking back, “Kronol” becomes crucial to the plot as it is a driving force that allows key events in the movie to take place.