Zardoz and the Problem of Infinity: Levinas and Heidegger Beyond Love and Death

Date

2011

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Press

Abstract

This exciting new anthology brings together many diverse views on blockbuster and cult science fiction films of the 1970s. These essays, which range in focus from Alien to Zardoz, explore some of the most fundamental questions about the meaning of being human. The chapters of the first section challenge our notions of heroism, confronting our ideas with issues of history, gender and embodiment. The second section's contributions delve into the human caused monstrosities of our own ingenuity and curiosity whereby our technology transforms the human into a source of horror. The anthology's final section is a chorus that speaks to the cinematic depictions that disrupt our religious and moral assumptions. The international group of contributors have produced a surprising, entertaining and enlightening work that will appeal to both science fiction and film enthusiasts the world over.

Description

Content Notes: Part I. Heroes in History. 1. The Corporate Challenges to Recovery of the Individual and History in Rollerball (1975) -- 2. The Nature of the Female hero in Alien -- 3. Performances of Spectacular and Stressed Embodiment in Star Treck, The Motion Picture -- Part II. Monsters of Technology. 4. Colossus: The Forbin Project: The Evolution of a Monster -- 5. Zardoz and the Problem of Infinity: Heidegger and Levinas beyond Death and love -- 6. The Tragic Life of Sol Roth: Why He Won't Just Eat Soylent Green and Shut Up -- Part III. Values in Disruption -- 7. Who is Your Daddy? Star Wars and the Ethics of Lying -- 8. Choosing Goodness: the Many Moralities of A Clockwork Orange -- 9. Winning Is the Only Standard of Excellence Left: Death Race 2020 and the Dissolution of the Virtues -- 10. Beneath the Planet of the Apes: Killer Apes and the Status of Nature -- 11. Religious Transcendence in Logan's Run -- 12. The Man Who Fell to Earth: The Messiah and the Amphicatastrophe.

Keywords

Science fiction films--History and criticism

Citation

Dalton, D. 2011. Zardoz and the Problem of Infinity: Levinas and Heidegger Beyond Love and Death (pp 73-87). In: Heroes, Monsters, and Values: Science Fiction Films of the 1970s. Editors R. Dalvi and M. Berman. Cambridge Scholars Press, Cambridge, MA

DOI