A few times now I have alluded to an event that happened earlier this year called Utopia – A Science Fiction Marathon. I’ll tell you about it now and maybe it will tie together some of what I’ve been posting on this blog.

There were 3 parts to the event. There was a movie session that consisted of six sci fi movies about utopia and dystopia. The second part was presentations about utopia and the third part was a supplemental reader for the event. The idea behind the event was to have a great time watching sci fi movies, and without being too formal, to discuss the application of utopian and ideal visions into our own realities.

The event started at 8:00pm with the movie The Lathe of Heaven. This is one of my favorite sci fi movies because, even though it may be a little cheesy, it has a lot of application for today. It was written by a Portland writer, Ursula K. Le Guin she wanted it filmed in Portland (only small parts of it were), and it is about trying to create a universal utopia for all people.  In the movie, George Orr’s dreams change reality. When his doctor finds out about this, he attempts to use George for his own prideful purposes and can’t seem to realize that the world was better before he tried fixing it. In my opinion, this is a lesson we can keep in mind – not that I don’t think we should attempt to turn our world into a better place, but that we must be sensitive because we aren’t the only ones on the planet.

After the first movie there were five presentations: My friend, Ezra, talked about what “utopia is found between the cracks” could mean (Between the Cracks is the name I gave the supplemental reader that accompanied the event). Ezra said that many people dream up utopias because they think of their current world or situation as messed up (he used the words “like dirt”). He encouraged us to find utopia in the present because looking to the future to solve our problems will not help. I think he meant this in a way that meant if you are always hoping for a better future, but never do anything about it in the present, nothing will change. Three of the M.O.S.T. members gave a news broadcast informing us about how their world is doing. I have talked about the M.O.S.T. before here and here, and I think that they do a wonderful job at building and providing community. Gary Wiseman presented some found videos, including one where this guy is performing lines over and over for a science fiction movie until he gets them right. Harrell Fletcher was a last minute replacement for a German friend who was going to talk about Basic Income, something he had been studying. I included information about Basic Income in my zine instead. Harrell talked about John Holt’s book “Escape From Childhood” and its relation to alternative education and children’s rights. He also led a discussion to see what other people thought about children’s rights, asking questions such as “What is an appropriate voting age?”

Finally, I gave a presentation as well. Mine was about how I created my ideal schedule and in so doing I became more fully aware of my priorities. And even though I could never fulfill my ideal schedule completely, I was able to see where and why I had high anxiety. I was then able to make some changes to my current schedule as I felt necessary. I talked about what sorts of questions one might ask when creating their own schedule. In the zine I provided further information.

The content of the zine was a juxtaposition of utopian texts and pictures of people drinking beer. More and more I am seeing beer and pubs as great catalysts for thought expansion and social dialog. I have found that my best art has been produced either under major pressure and deadlines, or while hanging out with friends at pubs while scribbling notes on napkins.

Before we knew it, it was 8:00am. I served pancakes to the guests who stuck it out until the early morning hours. All in all, we watched The Lathe of Heaven, Logan’s Run, Soylent Green, H.G. Wells Time Machine (1960), Gattaca, and just for fun we watched Plan 9 from Outer Space. We were also going to watch Alphaville, but we ran out of time somehow.

The event was a lot of fun and intellectually stimulating. Thank you to all who came. Please feel free to contact me for any additional information, movie recommendations (although here’s a great list of recommendations that I have compiled), questions or suggestions, or proposals for making this event happen in other settings.