With today's blockbluster demographic, where everything is nerdy is now Cool and Good, it's probably safe to say that, in popularizing sci-fi, fantasy, and other nerdish favorites, we've kept the glitz and the glamor of these epic stories, but lost a lot of the heart. This is where Battle Beyond Planet X comes in. Its creator, Harrison Chute, teases nuance and feeling from sci-fi works, new and old, experimental and cliche. He puts under the microscope not just the works, but also himself.
Though the topic comes with a requisite amount of navel gazing, BBPX is far from a hoity-toity, pie-in-the-sky work. What Harrison is doing here is ground game, laying bare his own personal biases in difficult ways. What does this film, or this TV show, or this video game say about society? And what does it say about ME, that I like it, or that it was made expecting people like me to like it? Genre sci-fi usually goes hand-in-hand with socio-political commentary, and it's wonderful to have a podcast address the topic so directly, with Harrison not just the creator, but also the sociological subject, in a sense. BBPX is so deeply personal--often coming off like a narrated diary entry--it probably won't resonate with everyone, but what's important about it is its audacity. Confronting difficult, hot-button topics like sexism, racism, and gender identity, Harrison conveys the Generally Acceptable Liberal Position we're all expected to adopt as Good People, but always comes the constant refrain, the one far fewer of us are willing to speak out loud, even though we feel it trenchantly in our hearts: "...but what if I'm NOT one of the good ones?"
These are troublesome topics to grapple with, and Harrison acknowledges many times how he is probably not the perfect person to do so. At the same time, he is all that he is, just one person, and to see his struggle with these ideas displayed more or less in real time, with all the flubs and misspeaks that entails, imbues this podcast with humanity. This is one person's vision. Though it may sometimes be flawed, it is in pursuit of personal growth. And BBPX imbues a similar desire in the listener: to be better, to not accept yourself as unilaterally good just because you subscribe to the correct bullet points, to examine your opinions, your motives, and your biases, and, to, like Harrison, continue the painful process of growing day by day.
So, much respect for Harrison. It takes a certain amount of guts to speak so personally, to bare your soul, and to risk being (publically) wrong in the pursuit of self-betterment and understanding. An overall great pod!
