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(2019
midterm assignment) Model Midterm answers 2019 (Index) Essay 2: Start Research Report |
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Kimberly Berlin
Humans are Space Orcs: A Subgenre of Science Fiction
A recent trend in science fiction writing
prompts and short stories has emerged across the Internet, which is referred to
by many names: Humans are Space Orcs, Earth is Space Australia, Earth is a Death
World, and so on. These short story posts often propose scenarios in which
humans explore their own nature and environment through an alien perspective. In
traditional science fiction, aliens are usually described as ugly and dangerous,
in possession of exaggerated strength or intelligence, and their homeworlds as
bizarre and inhospitable. What makes this modern “Space Orcs” interpretation
appealing is the idea that perhaps we are as weird to them as they are to us.
The naming conventions for this sub-genre require some
context to understand. Anyone familiar with the
Lord of the Rings and
The Hobbit knows that orcs are a
mutant humanoid race that descended from elves. They are ugly, brutal, and
strong. In a similar way, Australia is stereotyped as being full of fauna that
can and will kill you. “Space Australia” stories deal with alien invasions that
are ill-equipped to survive in our hostile environments. Additionally, as humans
move toward interstellar travel, what are the chances that instead of aliens
being the ugly and dangerous invaders, it turns out to be us?
In The
Time Machine, the Time Traveler finds himself face-to-face with the
descendants of the human race: the Eloi and the Morlocks. The Eloi were
described as beautiful, frail, and childlike. “It came into my head, oddly
enough” he narrates, “that my voice was too harsh and deep for them” (p. 27).
The Time Traveler sees himself superior to the Eloi in both strength and
intelligence. But the Morlocks he described as inhuman and malign (p. 69). They
are predators, and the Time Traveler experiences a primal fear of them.
Encountering these two races allows him to view himself from an outside
perspective: to the Morlocks, he is prey; to the Eloi, he is a strange
entertainment.
This duality of perspective is explored in some
of the “Space Orcs” sample posts reproduced at the end of this document. In a
/rWritingPrompts thread on Reddit, user “Verifiedvenuz” posted a prompt about
aliens beginning an invasion of earth but not being able to follow through with
it because they discovered that humans are really cute. One endearing short
story written in the comments by user “jadefyrexiii” (which is titled
Thank You For the Cookies in the
sample posts) ended up mimicking the Time Traveler’s care when speaking to the
Eloi: “‘Yes, earthling,’ the mysterious figure boomed and whispered all at once,
careful not to burst her delicate eardrums with his natural voice as he had with
the last earthling he’d met.” In both instances, the outsider sees himself as
stronger and more dangerous than the native, who is frail and helpless in
comparison. The added detail of bursting eardrums in the Reddit post reminds us,
too, that these newer science fictions rely on modern scientific/medical
knowledge that previous generations might not have had access to. It may still
be soft science, but it is science, nonetheless.
Following that same line of thought, Tumblr user
“bogleech” writes, “How do we know our saliva and skin oils wouldn’t be
ultra-corrosive to most other sapient races? What if we actually have the
strongest vocal chords and can paralyze or kill the inhabitants of other worlds
just by screaming at them? What if most sentient life in the universe turns out
to be vegetable-like and lives in fear of us rare “animal” races who can move so
quickly and chew shit up with our teeth?” This scenario, presenting humans as
the dangerous invaders, flips classic science fiction on its head. Whereas
traditionally, authors use the positive language in terms of space-faring humans
as explorers and scientists, searching for knowledge, “Space Orcs” stories pose
the question, “Are we doing harm to the planets we visit and the people we
meet?” They also remind the reader that in situations like that,
we are the aliens invading a foreign
planet!
The evolution of these “Space Orcs” stories
stems from the introduction of fanfiction as available literature. Much of
classical art is, in essence, “fan”-made art of Biblical stories. Similarly,
Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s
Paradise Lost can be considered
fanfiction of the Bible. In modern usage, if a fan doesn’t like some aspect of a
story, he has the ability to write his own version and share it on Internet
forums. Since no publisher or editor is involved in sharing these stories, they
often come out as a garbled mess. Because of this unedited, literary
free-for-all and the fact that users can change their screen names at any time,
it is sometimes difficult to track down specific posts. For this reason, a
transcription of notable stories and their source links have been provided at
the end of this document.
Often, these stories present civil conversations between humans and aliens.
Topics I have seen range from mankind’s absurd ability to lift a car in a
life-or-death situation to them pack-bonding with literally anything --
including Roomba vacuums and feral alien wildlife. Most of these narratives take
place in a future where first contact with aliens has already been made and
space exploration is in its prime. A common theme among them is why an alien
ship should always employ a human (and instructions on how to care for it),
which often focus on the ingenuity and daring of mankind when faced with a
seemingly impossible problem. Humans are thought to be the “hold my beer”
species in these stories -- that is, if a human wants to do something fun or has
a solution to an unsolvable problem, even if it is dangerous and potentially
life-threatening, they will find a way to do it. This exploration into the way
an outsider might view humanity lends itself to a very comforting position that,
while we may not be the only life forms in the universe, we might still be the
weirdest.
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