Film Futuristics
Film Futuristics and the “Alien” other & the “Other” as Alien!
From the IAJS International Conference ‘Spectre of the Other’
Centre for the Book—Cape Town, South Africa
Friday 28.7.2017 PM Panels –Panel Theme 9 –Literary/Myth
Title: Film Futuristics and the “Alien” other & the “Other” as Alien!
Presented by Michael Glock Ph.D. IAJS Co-Chair, United States
Abstract
Film Futuristicsis a critical, action-oriented methodology that may be used to unpack the hidden dimensions and prospective suppositions perceived within films and to make the resulting knowledge and insight available to future planning.
This presentation will briefly outline the methodology of Film Futuristicsfollowed by a close analysis of a number of films depicting encounters with aliens. The following synthesis, consolidation and extrapolation in the form of three scenarios or future histories will explorethe uncanny relationship humankind has with the “Alien” as “Other” as shadow, healer, teacher and lodestar.
A close examination of the scenarios will show that the future may well be in plain sight as an external reality for civilization and as the Science Fiction “alien” in some instances exemplifies: a proxy for our own unknown self. Both levels may be unpacked across rich layers of symbolization and metaphoric rebirth in the great dance of creative destruction and renewal. This field of understanding is as broad as the body of spirit in dreamtime and requires “archaic, imaginative, associative and indirect thinking” (Brodersen, E., & Glock, M. 2017, p.4), to be of value for modern times.Importantly the attitude of the researcher performing Film Futuristicswill be touched upon particularly the importance of how the Western Apache of America tell stories about places in order to foresee danger before it arrives. “Drink from places, Apache boys andgirls are told. Then you can work your mind” (Basso, 1996, p.134).
By focusing on the myths, symbols, signs and powerful narratives within film, we can identify harbingers of events to come. Through psychologically understanding the symbolic material and the disguised insights, messages and meanings communicated by these artifacts, Film Futuristicsdevelops foreknowledge and oracular skills necessary for writing prescriptive scenarios or ‘future histories’ that articulate possible, probable and preferable future conditions. This work has relevance for both policy making in the public sphere as well as relevance for personal transformation and meaning making in the private sphere.
Keywords: Analytical Psychology, Future Studies, Scenario Planning, Depth Psychology, Culture Studies, Media Studies, InterdisciplinaryStudies
References:
Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache by
Your Instructor
Michael Glock Ph.D., is a director, digital architect and author, he gained his doctorate in philosophy from Pacifica Graduate Institute, California USA., in 2007. He has developed concepts and methodologies such as Cultural and Film Futuristics, Way Forward Engineering, and designed future forecasting tools for personal transformation and creative writers. From 2013 to 2017 he was the co-chair of the IAJS, (The International Association for Jungian Studies). In 2017 Routledge published Jungian Perspectives on Rebirth & Renewal, co-edited with Elizabeth Brodersen and he is the author of Raisin Bread Toast and other collected stories of fantastica, published in 2004 and DestinyOS in 2017. DestinyOS fuses the Jungian project, the philosophy of the Western Apache, journaling, and Descartes’ Scientific Method together in order to leave your own “dark ages” & reach personal renaissance.