BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
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The expansive landscapes of space have been defined through a combination of science and religion in science fiction storytelling. Speculation about the future revolves around religious and scientific interpretations. These familiar future settings are embellished with technology and often centre on philosophical questions to provoke thought. Most scifis are encumbered by similar questions in search of a greater truth. Sunshine (2007), directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, refuels popular space philosophy, whether it is mankind’s confidence in science and technology or a rejuvenation of faith in religion as a means of salvation. Science fiction explores future settings with a rationale based on scientific possibility weaved together with religion and mythology to offer an audience a familiar yet new world. In
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Science Fiction Cinema: F r o m Outerspace to Cyberspace (2000), Geoff King and Tanya Krzywinska note that the inclusion of “technological innovation and scientific discoveries” gives the genre relevance; science offers the technology and rationality behind science fiction. King and Krzywinska also mention that sci-fis “exchange ideas, forms and images”, arguing that religion, philosophy and mythology can become entwined in the vastly imaginative landscapes