I have been a science fiction fan since I was a kid. I couldn't possibly define what it is that draws any individual to a genre, but for better or worse, sci-fi was my "thing." I, like so many others, was blown away by the power of Star Wars, relished in the suspense of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and wept in the theater as E.T. died just fingertips away from Elliot. But as a grew older, I gravitated toward a certain sub-genre of sci-fi, that which combined imagined futures and technological advances with social commentary.
The science fiction genre is the perfect foil for social commentary as it places a mirror just far enough out of reach as to not startle the viewer with their own reflection. Movies like A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arrival, and Ex Machina immediately come to mind, but also TV episodes like The Twilight Zone's Two, where Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery play soldiers from opposing armies that find themselves the last survivors on earth, or Star Trek's A Taste of Armageddon, where computers are in a perpetual, virtual war. Although I am a fan of all kinds of science fiction, from the steampunk of Wild Wild West to the roller-coaster ride of Armageddon, I think that when science fiction speaks from a place of social awareness, it does so with an exceptionally beautiful voice. A voice of mythic proportions akin to the opera.
That's why I couldn't help myself.
When I started writing Zero Sum Game, my intention was to write a thrill-ride-of-a-movie where a brash and opinionated game show host gets chosen to play his own game. But as I muscled my way through the first few outlines, I gravitated towards social commentary. I've always been fascinated with the reasons people choose one religion over another, one political party over another, one ideology over another, and it seemed to me that the society I had created in the story was the perfect place to explore these ideas. Why do we deify anything? How do we become ensconced in political or religious beliefs? To what ends will we go to protect those beliefs? And maybe most important of all, what is the price we're willing to pay to maintain a particular vision of ourselves?
The sub-genre of socially aware science fiction is close to my heart, as it is one of the most powerful instruments in our societal orchestra for self reflection and commentary. I can only hope that Zero Sum Game explores the conundrums of life with the grace with which my favorite films have, but regardless of whether the voice of our film cracks or Zero Sum Game sings with power of Pavarotti, I will continue to make music because... well, it's my thing!
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