Some commentators have dubbed Méliès's film A Trip to the Moon the first science fiction movie. Not all critics, however, agree. Tom Gunning, the author of our essay on that film, argues for the contrary view. He states, " 'Science' fiction implies a certain sobriety and serious concern with scientific and technological possibilities. . . . But Méliès cannot take his scientists seriously at all, introducing them first as wizards with pointy hats, figures out of fairy pantomime . . . (70). What do you think? While you may not be able to judge whether this is the first of its kind, you can make a judgment about whether or not it qualifies as science fiction. Compare this film with other science fiction movies you have seen. How is it the same? How is it different? Can we call it a science fiction film, a precursor of such films, or something entirely different?
A Trip to the Moon is not a science fiction film because it does not accurately reflect the world’s scientific knowledge in 1902. Science fiction is defined by Dictionary.com as a genre of fiction that creatively depicts real or imaginary science and technology as a part of its plot, setting, or theme. A movie is only science fiction if, “you have some element of realism with your science. Otherwise, it is simply fantasy” (Book Riot). While the elements of space travel may make an argument for the world’s current knowledge of rocket ships, certain scenes in the movie completely contradict basic scientific knowledge, even for its time. The opening scene of A Trip to the Moon shows a group of wizards- looking people beginning their blueprint for their rocket and trajectory toward the moon. While the film isn’t yet outright fantasy, the use of wizards begins the fantasy argument. The first scene that completely disregards science, is when the group of wizards land on the moon. Not only does their rocket ship seem to take up a large margin of the moon’s surface, the moon has a face and bleeds when the rocket lands. Soon after landing, the wizards quicky encounter grasshopper looking aliens who fight with spears and turn into smoke when killed. Despite a valiant effort, the wizards are captured and taken to the king of the aliens. The use of a monarchy is much more parallel to a medieval movie than a sci-fi movie. When the wizards make their eventual escape, they push their rocket off the side of the moon and fall all the way down to earth (and remain unharmed because they land in the ocean). While the world has progressed significantly in space knowledge since 1902, this scene is still egregious in terms of scientific realism by any stretch of the imagination. While A Trip to the Moon is an incredibly fun and ahead of its time movie, it is by no means a sci-fi film.
ReplyDeleteThe classification of Georges Méliès's film, A Trip to the Moon, as the first science fiction movie is a matter of interpretation, as pointed out by Tom Gunning. Gunning argues that true science fiction involves a certain level of sobriety and a serious engagement with future scientific and technological possibilities. Like many science fiction films, Méliès's work explores fantastical and otherworldly themes that such technology brings to bear. A small group of wizards makes a journey to the moon, an estranged world with no life. Once there, they discover a society of boorish creatures that trap them, so they must make an escape. What a plot. It is a story more akin to fantasy than science fiction as it fits some of the classic tropes of the genre. Accordingly, it is much easier to present a classical interpretation for Melies’s ‘trip’ as opposed to some serious argument for the potential impacts for technology. This departure from a more sober tone raises questions about whether A Trip to the Moon fits the conventional definition of science fiction.
ReplyDeleteA Trip to the Moon can be seen as an early exploration of science fiction that embraces a fantastical and imaginative approach. The film takes audiences on a journey to the moon, incorporating elements of speculative fiction and otherworldly adventures. While Méliès may not take his scientists seriously in a conventional sense, the film still taps into the spirit of exploration inherent in science fiction. In this light, the whimsical portrayal of characters and the use of fantasy aesthetics is the only commonality that could liken the film to modern science fiction. While it may not conform to the contemporary understanding of the genre, A Trip to the Moon can be considered a precursor to science fiction, showcasing early attempts to depict imaginative and speculative narratives on film, even if it taken with a certain comedy and lightness.
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ReplyDeleteAn early hallmark of the film industry, George Méliès's legendary 1902 film, A Trip to The Moon, is sometimes regarded as the first sci-fi film. While many consider the film the first of the genre, others, like Tommy Gunning, argue that though the film may possess a few core elements of sci-fi, It can not be easily considered. The non-sci-fi argument, popularized by Mr. Gunning, suggests that to be considered Sci-fi, the film must be rooted in some basic legitimate scientific facts. For instance, fundamental ideas like space being a vacuum devoid of air or extrapolations of scientific concepts like genetic engineering or social intelligence usually remain constant between films in the sci-fi genre. Take solidified sci-fi films like Star Wars and Star Trek, for example. Though they may feature otherworldly creatures and aliens, they follow legitimate scientific principles. Specifically, characters are unable to freely breathe air throughout space and can only do so on specific planets where the atmosphere is developed. Méliès's A Trip to The Moon presents itself moreso as a fantasy film rather than a sci-fi one. Typically, in sci-fi films, it is a common theme that scientists develop the interspace technology used throughout the film. However, in A Trip to the Moon, the film portrays a group of wizards being responsible for space travel. Wizards seldom appear in sci-fi; if so, they typically have virtually no impact on advanced technologies. On the other hand, wizards and magical things are historically featured throughout fantasy films like The Hobbit. In addition, A Trip to The Moon uses an obscure and bizarre method of space travel, essentially shooting themselves up to the moon via a large bullet being fired out of a cannonesque vessel. I feel as if, even at the time of the film's release, it could have been inferred that slingshotting oneself into space is unrealistic. A Trip to The Moon is not founded in scientific reality well enough to be considered a sci-fi film, and its whimsical nature aligns it more with the fantasy genre.
ReplyDeleteDespite Tom Gunning's claim in his article that George Méliès's 1902 film, A Trip to The Moon, was not a science fiction film, I argue otherwise because of the inclusiveness of genres today. Ignoring minor scenes like that with scientists depicted as wizards, the film firmly displays accepted scientific knowledge of travel through space in the early 1900's. With the knowledge that shooting an object with a firearm can help it travel a long distance, it makes sense that the film's creators would tap into this in the scene where the rocket is launched into space. The rocket is shaped similar to a large bullet and is placed into a barrel resembling that of a firearm. This bullet is shot into space, traveling a long distance to reach the Moon. Here, the filmmakers used modern technology and scientific knowledge of the times to create a fictional idea of how to reach the Moon.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, there was no data collected on outer space at the time, so all depictions of the Moon and travel through space are based on what could be seen from Earth through telescopes, and what was known scientifically, which was close to nothing. This gave George Méliès the freedom to craft this outer space experience to the best of his knowledge, as shown in the scene where the scientists arrive on the moon. Here, scientists can walk as normal throughout the planet without the need for a space suit or air, and human-like alien creatures that are territorial and carry weapons. This interpretation is consistent with the widely accepted ideas of aliens, and the lack of understanding around gravity and atmospheres. Overall, by my understanding, no movie perfectly fits every criteria in a genre, however, George Méliès's, A Trip to The Moon for the most part maintains a consistent use of scientific knowledge of the 1900's while incorporating fiction into the unknown pieces, therefore introducing it into the science fiction genre.
Méliès's film A Trip to the Moon is a great representation of early filmmaking, but its ridiculous representation of science and the way that the world works, mixed with fantasy-like characters, does not let it qualify as a science fiction movie. In Méliès's world, the rules of nature constantly change and expand. Without explanation, the characters can breathe in space, the stars can come to life, and a spacecraft can be pushed from one world to the next. Similar to cartoon Disney Movies. Many science fiction films, even if not totally accurate, have rules of the world and power. There are realistic systems in place for how the magic or technology works that base those things on that world's reality. Star Wars, for example, has the force and lightsabers. These two things do not really exist. The force is exactly that: a force that lives inside of people and is used to control objects at will without even having to touch them. Also, Lightsabers are powered by magical crystals. But both of these things have rules and origins. The force has something called a Midi-Chlorian count that is used to measure character potential with this magic, and the rocks that power lightsabers are a rare material in the Star Wars universe that has to be hunted for and is a natural compound of the world. Engineers found out how to harness rock’s power and use it as a weapon, which created the weapon known as a lightsaber. With both examples in this Science-fiction Universe, these things have rules, measurement systems, and origins within the story. In A Trip to the Moon, Méliès shows crazy achievements by these beings without any explanation, and these achievements are so far out that the events are way closer to fiction and fantasy than any type of science. So, by comparing this film to other Science fiction films and universes, we can fairly deduce that A Trip to the Moon is, in fact, not a Science Fiction or the first ever Science Fiction movie.
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ReplyDeleteThe film “A Trip to the Moon" by Méliè shouldn't be seen as a science fiction film. The early film "A Trip to the Moon" by George Méliès was one of the first of its type, portraying acting and having a plot. The story includes a group of astronomers who are interested in exploring their neighboring planet, the moon. While there are certain sci-fi aspects, classifying this film as scientific would be a stretch. A science fiction film is defined as a film that is centered around scientific facts but can extend its ideas into the near future to create futuristic sciences. Though the understanding of space travel was minimal during the 1900s when this film was released, Some of the pieces of the story are unrealistic to the point where there isn’t an explanation. The story had different aspects of science blended with fiction and magical possibilities; some examples of these are the astronauts breathing the air without a helmet, meeting aliens, and the use of their extremely strange weaponry. Also, the way they got to the moon is comical—the clear disregard for the fundamentals of science and gravity and disregard for its significance. A Trip to the Moon not only disregards gravity but also the concept of an atmosphere. The point of this film wasn’t necessarily to have a scientifically accurate film, but to have a film that allows the viewer to have a fun and unrealistic experience of filmmaking and what wonders they can portray through the lenses of a camera. Because of this, we shouldn’t expect them to have an understanding of science and technology.
"A Trip to the Moon" by George Méliès, to me, is the birth of science fiction in film history. While some concepts in the movie defy the current understanding of physics, it still has some concepts of reality. First we must define science fiction, according to Oxford Languages, science fiction is "fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets." Certain scenes from the movie fit this definition, like when they get in the bullet and shoot to the moon. They did not know how space travel worked at the time and needed to figure out a creative way to represent the fiction aspect. Now a large counter-argument is that the moon has a face on it as well as the aliens exploding into powder. These scenes were well beyond the realm of fiction because we know the moon doesn't have a human face as well and aliens cannot explode into powder when being ended. But we need to consider that our view on this movie is 100 years in the future. People may look back on movies like Interstellar and argue that it is a non-sci-fi movie. So considering the period we should consider the birth of sci-fi as what could be its replacement. Also, the movie was groundbreaking for its time so it has been pushed into the spotlight, but over time we need to realize that not every movie will look the same. The public outlook on the film has changed but I feel like shouldn't change is at the time it was the birthplace of fiction.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, “A Trip to the Moon” directed by George Meliess in 1902 is considered the first science-fiction film, but it is far from what we expect from this genre nowadays. According to Tom Gunning, this film is closer to fantasy than science fiction since it sees its scientists as magicians and does not engage in scientific and technological prospects. From the perspective of modern science-fiction movies, which frequently rely upon realistic science and technology to tell their stories, Méliès's film reads more like a fairy tale. This is not the case anymore - modern films such as “Interstellar” or “The Martian” are much more pragmatic when it comes to scientific accuracy and what technology might look like in the future, and this characteristic is much discussed in this current movie and absent from the older “A Trip to the Moon”. On the other hand, science fiction is focused on creating other worlds and opportunities that is, “A Trip to the Moon” builds on the theme of travel to the moon as viewers' heads are taken to the moon. Perhaps, it may not be true to scientific facts, however, it makes us expand our imagination about the miracle of plane travel, which is an important feature of science fiction, while “A Trip to the Moon” might not match the exact definition of science fiction that is set today, it is one of the best places to start the genre from there. It depicts the early promise of movies to bring us to exciting when and unknown places, which is why it is a predecessor of science fiction films of the future.
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