Having viewed the last film, the class took a critical look at the film line-up, and none was voted off the syllabus. Sixth Sense perhaps came the closest because so many had seen it before, but they agreed it was worth re-watching and was a perfect fit with the novel Perfect Circle. Pan’s Labyrinth, the newcomer to the course, was very well-received. After reading their papers on films of their own choosing in which the bleakness of the class films comes up often, I’ll likely make one change to the syllabus and include at least one comedy. The current lineup is just too depressing. I’m thinking Harvey or Groundhog Day might brighten things up between the grim and the dark. We start Kafka on the Shore today, and I’ve heard early grumblings. We’ll see how it goes.

After some early casualties, there are a dozen students in the class, though at least one blinks in and out of view like the words in Jeffrey Ford’s “The Weight of Words.” A most congenial group. We meet in a ginormous classroom with seating for a hundred. It’s like an AA group meeting in the corner of a church basement. The fluorescents could brown toast. The AV equipment is state-of-the-art and temperamental as hell. All part of the adventure. Today, the power was out completely in the building for a scheduled electrical overhaul. Nobody told me. Fortunately the film, Donnie Darko, is one most have seen before. The ending of that film is one of my all-time favorite endings. I was sad to hear there’s a sequel coming out that Richard Kelly has nothing to do with, called S Darko, about Samantha, the younger sister some years later. The same actress, of Sparkle Motion fame, reprises her role. She couldn’t say no? Some sequels just shouldn’t be made. Take Terminator 3, for example.

At the conclusion of every course, I take a poll to determine what students liked and didn’t. Eleven students remain standing, and they were all present to vote. Interestingly enough this time, each book on the reading list was someone’s favorite, though Le Guin’s Lathe of Heaven got only one vote as favorite and four least favorite. Like last year Murakami split favorite/unfavorite down the middle with three votes for each. Dick and Bester also got 3 each as favorites and no least favorite. The Road was the least favorite of three and the favorite of one. Part of the problem with Le Guin may have been my lackluster teaching. The book is getting stale to me, and I need to give it a rest anyway. Hard-Boiled Wonderland etc. may also need to sit on the sidelines for different reasons. I’ve read it a half-dozen times now, but my students come to it fresh and confused. It’s hard to get on the same page. As for the films, the voting was lopsided in both categories. Starman was trounced with eight negative votes. Alien was the clear winner with six favorite votes. Children of Men did well also with four favorite votes. So once again, the books and films from the 80’s are problematic. Maybe I should just skip that decade… Actually, I’m considering reinventing the course as a topical survey, with a book and movie for each of five sf tropes—aliens, time travel, end of the world, etc. Any suggestions for topics and books and films are always welcome. There are anthologies out there I could use, but I dearly hate lugging the damn things and prefer teaching novels or single-author collections.

I like to end the sf course with recent work that’s gotten a lot of positive attention. The book can’t be too long, however, and that’s been a problem lately. No Neal Stephenson, for example. This year, however, the short science fiction novel, The Road, was blessed by Oprah and Pulitzer. The film Children of Men was widely admired and seemed to be a natural companion. Both are beautifully done. Neither one is exactly a day at the beach. I’ll be curious what my students make of them. I hope they don’t want to lock me in a basement.
Total immersion in the planet’s demise takes a toll, so I wanted to get away from the darkness for a while and catch up on email but found myself reading about peak oil. I could’ve clicked on a video. I’m not sure what of. A big straw—a sucking sound? I resisted the temptation and walked over to a bike shop in Carytown and bought a new bike to replace my stolen one, after a decent period of mourning. This proved to be just the thing, followed by a brisk ride through the park, the air redolent with smoke from North Carolina fires. Here’s hoping I never have to pedal it down McCarthy’s Road. The tires would melt, cannibals would eat me. Okay? Okay.

Children of Men gets to me in some new way every time I watch it, but it’s always exhausting. It’s like living through the Bush years on fast forward. In both book and film redemption is frail, perhaps an illusion.
Maybe I should rent Sullivan’s Travels. Maybe it’s time for a remake.