NOTE: This blog post is in response to the near real-time critique of The Phantom Menace that swept the 'net (available here , among other places)

-RB2

Yes. Twilight is not Science Fiction.

However, in this short essay before Science Fiction University goes on Winter Break, we'll use this brief foray into fantasy to illustrate an aspect of heroism that has been shoved aside lately:the concept of the Chaste Hero.

Is this important? It may be more important than you think...

Here is Dr. Starr, after the jump.

Avatar on big screen in 3D lives up to the hype. Stunningly beautiful. Cameron succeeds in bringing film to a new level. Will be interesting to see what reaction the film evokes on the small screen (i.e. DVD). As a big screen blockbuster, however, it achieves its goals. The movie is beautiful. Its archetypal motifs are familiar (but then that's what archetypes are). It acheives the effects of mythopoeisis which Lewis and Tolkien wrote so much about--Cameron creates an entire universe, through which the audience gets to walk.

Does the current rise in shows about Geeks and Geek Culture (like Big Bang Theory, Chuck, etc.) signal something more theological than we thought?

Well, maybe and maybe not... but Dr. Starr is going to dive in anyway!

Since it came up last week, I selected an essay about Meaning to see if we can delve a little deeper into the idea.

This first appeared in in CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society. ed. Robert Trexler. New York: The New York C.S. Lewis Society, May 2005.

For this morning's lecture, Dr. Starr looks at what he's termed "Punk-Gothic" film... which reminds me of my favorite bumper sticker of late:

If you're so Goth, where were you when we were sacking Byzantium?

Which has nothing at all to do with today's edition of Science Fiction University. Join the good Doctor after the jump!

Today's Lesson in the Science Fiction University Classroom is a quick course in "Lost" appreciation. Though he only covers a couple of seasons, it's thought provoking... let the discussion begin!