Genre as a recognised set of conventions and iconography categorises

literature according to their features and specific ideologies. Pohl refers to

science fiction as “the literature of change”, as it’s conventions are in
constant flux to accommodate changing values and examines emerging
ideologies and technologies. Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey
and William Gibson’s novel “Neuromancer” use science fictions as a
medium to presuppose the estrangement from familiar values and
principles. The Stepford wives (2004), Directed by Frank Oz, delivers
different perspectives on certain concerns and criticisms that are valued in
a contemporary context- such as feminism and the consequences of
technological experimentation- through the way his fictional society
accommodates for the technologies it paradoxically critiques. Similarly,
Google's hypertext April Fools prank CADIE reflect a contemporary context
as old fears are re-introduced with a new perspective. The means of social
inquiry these texts provide through Science Fiction provide the “family
resemblance” that Wittgenstein claims constitutes a Genre.

Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey presents social commentary

which highlights the fluid nature of the genre as the technology that is being
criticized alters with the context. . As American’s in the film speculate over
"what could be the greatest discovery of mankind" in reference to space
travel, conflict between America and USSR is indicated through the visual
contrast in uniforms during a conversation with evidently Russian citizens
on the spaceship. Thus influenced by the Cold War, the film utilizes the
idea of a 'race for technological superiority', as the Jupiter mission
demonstrates the way speculation has been derived from hindsight. 2001
presents Science Fiction as an evolving function, as it self-reflexively
mirrors it’s own progression by addressing evolution through SFX
technology. New filmic technology of a "temporal jump-cut" allows Kubrick
to juxtapose the bone of the newly transformed ape-men with the Space
Station- an image of technological sophistication. Non-diagetic music
represents the genre as valued for spectacle, as Strauss' Zarasthura,
contrasts the Romantic sophistication of “The Blue Danube” alongside the
visual juxtaposition. Recurred use of “Zarasthura” represents the gradual
evolution of the human race, to the eventual emergence of the "Star-Child".
Susan White notes that this music was also the music of German fascism,
representing military revolution and thus highlighting the correlation
between technological progression, militarism, and the evolution of
mankind.2001 thus exemplifies Thwaite's definiton of Genre as
"foregrounding the influence of surrounding texts", postulating fears and
values relevant to the 1960's.

In the 1980's William Gibson's Neuromancer marked a new era of

contemporary society and subsequently of Science Fiction. In
Neuromancer, Gibson exemplifies Darko Suvins’ Cognitive estrangement”
to defamiliarise technological ideas which are marginalised in society-
employing “Sprawl” lexicon such as “flatlining” and “jacking into”
cyberspace. These provide a linguistic veil through which readers can
examine the potential of such new networks of the 1980's as ARPANET,
Usenet, and the World Wide Web. Cyberspace is projected through visual
imagery as "a consensual hallucination", in which "bright lattices of logic
unfold across that colourless void", suggesting a drug-induced bliss within
the dystopic new, presenting Gibson’s idiosyncratic criticism of such
technology by hypothesising it’s ramifications. Neuromancer subverts
traditional science fiction, utilising elements of film noir in the subgenre of
cyberpink that offered according to Huntington "the new, perhaps the final
stage in the trajectory of Science Fiction". Neuromancer expresses the
atmosphere of Cyberpunk from the famous opening lines "the sky above
the port was the colour of a television screen, tuned to a dead channel",
which suggests an antithesis of the generally utopian visions of the future
popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Contrasting verisimilitude presented
through traditional human functions, as Case “ went into the bathroom and
brushed his teeth”, further subvert the "out of this world" nature of
"conventional" science fiction literature, demonstrating how the Genre has
shifted to accommodate changing values.

The Stepford Wives represents how Genre can be used to question the
changing values of society relevant to the context it is composed in.
Throughout contemporary technoculture, Springer suggests that in Science
Fiction we find that our representations of technology “express ideas about
sexual identity and gender roles”. The dystopic town of Stepford can be
considered an indictment of the stultifying roles afforded to women, as well
as a vantage of the patriarchal determination of portrayal of feminity. In the
“Clairobics” scene, Oz deliberately juxtaposes Johanna’s ‘dark pants and
sweatshirt’ mien with with the vivid sexualisation of the female simulacra
under bright light, to compare these Freudian archetypes of femininity.
Betty Friedman’s interpretation of Freudian principles explains “the root of
women’s troubles in the past is that women envied men, women tried to be
like men”- an idea which Johanna essentially represents, explored
satirically in her adoption of the archeypal overworked businessperson. By
hypothesizing the empowerment of women The Stepford Wives suggests
that since the creator is ironically female, they, like men can misuse
privilege, highlighting the ambivalence of contemporary feminism.
However, The Stepford Wives reflects Todorovs theory of equilbrium by
restoring order at the end of the film, to convey a message of hope for the
future of humanity, valued in science fiction. This provides one of
Wittgenstein's "family resemblences" that categorizes The Stepford Wives
and other texts such as 2001 into the Science Fiction Genre, but Genre
fluidity resonates through both Neuromancer and the Stepford Wives.

Mary Ann-Doane explains how “science fiction, a genre specific to the era
of rapid technological development, frequently envisages a new, revised
body as a irect outcome of the advance of science”. Neuromancer
suggests the blurring of boundaries between the human and the inhumane,
emphasising fluidity in a postmodern realm. This is epitomised as Case is
vexed by Molly’s bodily enhancements from a third person perspective,- as
he notices "the nails looked artificial" and then suddenly sees "blades slid
from their housings". The presentation of Case as an ignorant victim of this
dystopia reflects the 1958 short story "Super Toys Last All Summer Long"
In it's criticism the possibility of equally ambiguous body enhancements in
the form of plastic surgery and artificial limbs that are actually emerging
today, and this postulation is extended into a new era in The Stepford
Wives. Developments of a contemporary society such as artificial intelligence are
utilised to examine what it means to be human,with the film suggesting
verisimilitude in the characterisation of Bobbie and Johanna.' Walter's reaction
“she gives singles?” is immediately juxtaposed with a young boy's foreshadowing
excitement “Aren't robots cool!”, presenting Oz’s fears about the direction of
contemporary society that considers technology as progressive, ironically
eschewing a consideration of ethics. In this way, The Stepford Wives and
Neuromancer subvert the conventions of the genre as a new era in society brings
new forms of Genre.

Similarly, Googles Hypertext April Fools Prank CADIE as a medium to

extend old conventions of Science Fiction such as the Prometheus myth
and a sense of wonder associated by new technology.CADIE is authored
by Google Co and made feasible by internet technology, employing
Barthes' post-structural concept of hypertext as a "network of resources" by
connecting multiple lexia - including blogs, videos and articles. Google's
2009 April Fools Prank catechizes contemporary fears by suggesting a new
sentient form of Artificial intelligence which is capable of of free thought.
The hypermedia takes advantage of the "senses of woner" associated with
new technologies, as viewers are influenced to "Google search" to find out
more about the "Robot", blurring the boundary between reader and
composer. The prank, although intentionally comedic, is an embodiment of
the science fiction genre as it evokes fear in audiences that the internet is
being taken over by a new life form. On a "Blogger" page, which CADIE
supposedly made herself, the hoax "robot" takes the persona of a typical
younger generation internet user, using language such as "LOLz" which
reflects Wittgenstein's language theory, that "the limits of my language are
the limits of my world". This explicates science fiction's ability to
hypothesize the deconstruction of the traditional boundaries of our world,
as new languages have been created to accommodate for new realms.

The transposition of the Frankenstein myth into the digital-age with the
allusion to 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000 echoes Marshall
McLuhan's aphorism that "we see the future through a rear view mirror". In
2001, Kubrick differentiates "expectation and the limits of the possible in
futuristic speculation”, in the representation of HAL- a depiction of
technological singularity derived from Fritz Lang's 1934 film Metropolis.
HAL describes itself as "perfect" and turns against "his" creator, portraying
the genre's representation of fear at being displaced by technology that is
deeply rooted in the western psyche, especially since The Cold War.
Google's CADIE appropriates HAL completely into a modern context, as
she takes the form of a Youtube video and quotes HAL "I am....foolproof
and incapable of error" invoking the prometheus myth in light of recent
rapid technological developments concerning creation and experimentation
with new technologies. After frightening claims to "Rule Google.com",
CADIE in her final hours appropriates Bladerunner's Roy Batty in another
Youtube Video, as she laments "I have seen things you people wouldnt
believe". However, CADIE comically appropriates the proceeding lines into
a more relevant context- "Darth Vader as a supermarket Clerk"-and "all
those moments will be lost in time, like tears in Chocolate Rain" in
reference to the popular viral video.Like The Stepford Wives, the hypertext
demonstrates Genre fluidity between comedy, horror, and predominantly
Science Fiction, but also demonstrates the nature of Genre to shift
according to the values and ideologies relevant to the Composer's context.

Consclusively, these texts exemplify how the Science Fiction genreis used
as a medium to reveal the social commentary of their composer, in the
reflection onto the values and ideologies relevent to their respective
contexts. The changing nature of Genre is evident from the dissimilarity of
the texts, from the exploration of new spaces, filmic technologies and
evolution in Space Odyssey, to the suggestion of the ramifications of
technology and subgenres present in Neuromancer. conclude properly.
Genre can be used as a mean to provide a new perspective on contextual
ideologies, with the science fiction genre being able to provide a new
perspecitve on moral and social construction.