1 year ago
340
This might not seen at first to have much to do with Ukraine. There’s not a tank or APC in sight and though there are drones, they’re of a very different sort. Still, hang with me for a moment.
There are not a lot of great things to say about 2022, but fans of thoughtful, adult science fiction definitely had reasons to go out of this last year feeling at least somewhat satisfied. The year began with the adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, a deeply evocative look at what it means to create community and preserve culture under the most dire of circumstances. That this show didn’t walk away with an armload of awards, especially for Mackenzie Davis’s performance in the role of the adult Kirsten, only shows that the various academies must have been sleeping through the winter.
Then, late in the fall, viewers got what may be the most nuanced, thoughtful, and well-presented visual essay on the perils of authoritarianism; one that touched on themes that are deeply, deeply connected to both the war in Ukraine and the social schisms in the United States. And viewers got this gem under a banner not exactly known for subtly and politically-challenging drama: Star Wars.
