Volume CXXXIII, Number 10 November 16, 2001 f

Prof. Kibbie presents sci-fi film class
TED REINERT
STAFF WRITER

A new course, Science Fiction Films and the Culture of the Cold War, will be offered in the spring semester. Taught by English Professor Ann Kibbie, it will examine early classics of the genre in relation to the psychological state of America under the Cold War.

"I'm not a science fiction buff. I've always been interested in early sci-fi films and what they reflect about Cold War anxieties," said Kibbie.

Courtesy of utenti.tripod.it

The half-credit class (English 030 and Film Studies 030) will study eight '50s films: The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, Them!, Forbidden Planet, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Incredible Shrinking Man - as well as remakes of The Thing and Invasion. The film viewings will alternate with readings of history, social history, and film criticism.

Kibbie, the Ladd House advisor, conceived of the course while on sabbatical last year, in part to be more a part of the House. "I think the social houses are doing a wonderful job of coming up with programming that is also of intellectual interest and I was interested in the ongoing programs," said Kibbie, citing Baxter's Loose Leaves.

"I'm hoping to use it to help me develop a first year seminar on the topic," she said. "This will be a way for me to get student reactions and input. And to give the course a kind of trial run."

The films reflect cultural fears such as massive invasion (War of the Worlds), Communism (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), and radiation (The Incredible Shrinking Man). Even gender anxieties are represented. Them! is about giant ants attacking California. "Them! is much like Alien, they have to get to the queen," said Kibbie.

The remakes benefit from the enormous changes in special effects - action maestro John Carpenter (Big Trouble in Little China, The Fog, Escape from New York) updated The Thing in 1982. They also use the original films to address new kinds of concerns, according to Kibbie.

"The 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers expresses a lot of anxieties about mind control that's more related to pop-psychology movements," said Kibbie. The film also addresses public health concerns, Kibbie said, with references to the bathhouses of San Francisco a few years before the AIDS epidemic broke out.

The class will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays at Ladd House. It is already full, capped at 20 students, but anyone may come to screenings.