The Pulse Between Dimensions and the Desert (5 points)

 

The Pulse Between Dimensions and the Desert uses fantasy and sci-fi to explore the intricacies of Mexican culture, femininity vs. masculinity in said culture, and various other themes Rios de la Luz has intimate experiences with. It was so refreshing reading a collection of stories that center on Hispanic and LGBT characters.

 

Even though I’m not Mexican (Cuban-American myself), I feel a kinship with this work. That mostly comes down to the little things, like seeing a reference to “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” by Celia Cruz and suddenly being transported back to Hialeah in the early 2000s for a second. I felt the frustration seeping out of this collection, and not just in the obvious ways like the general disdain for white people and machismo men. This collection felt like the result of Rios de la Luz having read sci-fi and horror works for years and just asking herself where the people like her were. Where were the meaningful horror works written by and about Mexican women? It felt like her getting tired of asking herself that question and just doing it herself.

 

Every story reads like it’s autobiographical, even if the events aren’t. All the references are so specific that they can’t not be about her in some way. I mean, come on, how often do you see Killer Instinct referenced in a collection of short stories twice? And referring to herself and her friend as Goku and Piccolo in such specific ways had to come from something more than just an observation made by a casual fan. It sounds silly basically saying, “I like the stories because the author likes Killer Instinct and Dragon Ball Z,” but it’s that specificity that makes it so personal and makes me gravitate to this collection so much.

 

The sci-fi elements aren’t used to answer ethical questions about science, they’re used to explore the characters in the stories and to say things Rios de la Luz has been dying to get off her chest. Time travel is used to make a grandmother reminiscing on her life literal, not to ask the reader to think about how changing the past affects the future in a material way. Unlike a lot of sci-fi, these aren’t what-if stories, they’re stories about what was and what is.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloodchild (2 Points)

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?  That was…a lot. There’s a lot to unpack with the relationship between the Tlic and the Terrans. It’s disgusting in a literal sense, but it also mirrors a lot of things going on in the real world. Their parasitic relationship, which the Tlic make out to seem mutually beneficial, reminds me of how some white people view Black people. In America, the whites are the ruling race, like the Tlic in the Preserve. They make it seems like Black people are just part of the “mutually beneficial” system of capitalism, but really, they are an oppressed class, being used to further the wealth of those in charge. This parallels how the Tlic use the Terrans as host bodies for their young, but make it seem like they’re doing the Terrans a favor by “protecting” them, when in reality they are putting them in harm’s way.  2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect?  I was able t
Read more

Metropolis (2 Points)

A lot of Metropolis barely feels like fiction at this point, at least when it comes to its commentary on society. As a matter of fact, it weirdly feels like a predecessor to Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite. Both visually portray class in similar ways; the working class literally live under the upper-class, who don’t really care about those beneath them. Sure, you can argue it’s a bit of an obvious visual metaphor, but I don’t think it takes away from how effective it is. I’d argue that some of the most powerful imagery seems obvious. It speaks to the core of what it’s representing, in this case how the working class is seen as below the upper class. It’s kind of hard to analyze it beyond that, because the film sums it up better than I could with its final card: “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart.”
Read more

Future Tense (2 Points)

The year is 2220. Humanity has, in essence, created immortality. When the body dies, an AI copy of the consciousness can be created and can live on through virtual reality. Some people use this to continue to interact with dead loved ones, and others meet AI versions of their idols. There has been a lot of debate over how legitimate these AI copies are considering they are created by humans. No matter how hard they try, the people who create these do have biases. This is especially true when the family is involved in crafting the AI version of their dead relative; is this a truly authentic version of the person, or an idealized version? How does this affect their legacy? In the end, does it really matter as long as the family is happy? The morality of turning this into an industry would be questioned, but capitalism was abolished after The Millennium War in 2100, so it’s no issue. VR has blown up in popularity after scientists figured out how to simulate the sens
Read more