Book Reviews by Maxine Gee
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 2015
Conference Presentations by Maxine Gee
Posthuman noir sits at the intersection of posthuman science fiction and film noir, and includes ... more Posthuman noir sits at the intersection of posthuman science fiction and film noir, and includes Anglo-American films as Anglo-American films as Blade Runner (R. Scott, 1982) Gattaca (A. Niccol, 1997) and Dark City (A. Proyas, 1998) and anime such as Ghost in the Shell (M. Oshii, 1995), Ergo Proxy (S. Murase, 2006), and Darker Than Black (T. Okamura, 2007). I argue that, when a posthuman character in these films experiences an emotional awakening classic film noir narrative and character arcs are subverted—rather than being damned and destroyed by their emotions it is these characters that survive and thrive. The central shift from negative to positive connotations for emotional awakening demonstrates how integral this is to concepts of what it is to be ‘human’ and how these intangible qualities of the ‘human’ are positioned as something important to be preserved in posthuman futures.
In this paper, I will establish the subgenre of posthuman noir, before focusing on the ways one posthuman noir film, Ex_Machina (Alex Garland, 2015), uses and subverts film noir narrative structure and characters, especially in relation to Billy Wilder’s 1944 film Double Indemnity, to reaffirm humanist concepts of the human in the posthuman science fictional future.
I will explore the ways that film noir exists beyond its traditional basis in 1940s and 50s America, and the how the aesthetics, themes and narrative patterns of classic film noir have evolved into an investigation of the human and the posthuman.
Conference: Hardboiled History: A Noir Lens on America's Past, University of Warwick, 19th May 2017
This paper will explore the ways I use the method of research-led practice to interrogate the sub... more This paper will explore the ways I use the method of research-led practice to interrogate the subgenre I have termed posthuman noir. This subgenre exists at the intersection of the contested genre/not genre of film noir and posthuman science fiction.
Jane Goodall (in Smith and Dean, 2009), exposes a problematic tension to exploring genre through the method of practice, that ‘in theory, it should be possible to exploit a sophisticated awareness of generic elements by treating them as ingredients in a recipe for success in the market. Of course, it doesn’t work like that.’ My approach, through three screenplays of varying lengths, has been to test, subvert and manipulate the various generic conventions I have identified in posthuman noir across Anglo and American film and Japanese anime to uncover the way intangible attributes of emotional awakening and storytelling are posited as the qualities that make humans human.
Focusing on my feature screenplay Golems Inc., I will establish the genre conventions of posthuman noir before exploring the ways I engage in the feedback loop of research and practice to interrogate this subgenre and one of the qualities I have defined as signifying humanity: storytelling. It can be argued that humans are storytelling machines, we constantly recycle experiences, memories and other stories to develop shifting identities and perform as human. I harness in a reflexive way this self-same human qualifier in my research practice; analysing storytelling through the creation of a new screen story.
Conference: 5th Annual BAFTSS Conference, University of Bristol, April 2017.
Science fiction is a space in which to be subversive; a petri dish in which society’s current fea... more Science fiction is a space in which to be subversive; a petri dish in which society’s current fears and anxieties can be explored and probed. The anime, Psycho Pass (dir. Shiotani Naoyoshi, written by Urobutchi Gen, 2012-2013), presents a society in which the mental condition of each citizen is constantly monitored and maintained at a healthy, ‘normal,’ level. This is a society in which citizens are no longer confronted with difficult or challenging issues by their media; a society inexperienced in, and unable to face, stress.
During my field research as a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Summer Fellow 2015, several of the creative practitioners I interviewed discussed increasing the levels self-censorship they applied to their work in order for that work to be commissioned. If a topic is considered taboo, many writers now consider it safer to avoid the subject altogether, following a proverb that “if something stinks, put a lid on it.” This issue is reflected in other areas of broadcast media, such as the recent reshuffle of news anchors and presenters in Japanese television stations. Is this the start of the censored, Brave New World and 1984 influenced, society presented in Psycho Pass?
Drawing on my research in Japan, this paper explores the way in which the ‘safe space’ society presented in Psycho Pass reflects and critiques current trends of self-censorship in the Japanese media and how anime continues to act as a subversive space for social commentary, despite the fear that “the anime industry [too] is becoming close minded.”
Conference: 6th Annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction Conference, University of Liverpool, June 2016.
A talk on my PhD creative process drawing on research from the 2015 JSPS summer fellowship. Hoste... more A talk on my PhD creative process drawing on research from the 2015 JSPS summer fellowship. Hosted by Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Art Gallery and British Art Show 8, January 9th 2016
Our world is becoming increasingly considered in terms of global interconnectivity; technology en... more Our world is becoming increasingly considered in terms of global interconnectivity; technology enables diverse cultures to exchange their creative content using more traditional platforms such as the BBC Four foreign drama slot to the many internet platforms which host content from across the planet, all of which encourage creative collaboration.
As interest in screenwriting as a scholarly discipline expands in this world of global connectivity it is important to explore the ways different nationalities approach screen storytelling. My PhD by creative practice looks at a specific science fiction genre, posthuman noir, in both Anglo-American films and Japanese anime. To engage creatively with both cultures I am writing scripts based in their respective storytelling traditions. As part of my research, I am going to be based at Waseda University in Tokyo this summer as a JSPS (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science) and British Council fellow to investigate the way screen stories are constructed in Japan.
This paper will draw together the findings on this JSPS research trip, collected through interviews with scenario (シナリオ) writing lecturers, students and professional scenario writers and through some archival research at production companies like Studio Ghibli. Through exploration of the data gathered around four main components of storytelling—character, plot, structure and theme—I will present an overview of methods employed in Japanese screen storytelling, drawing comparison to the methods generally used by British and American screenwriters. Both of these cultures bring a different set of values to the interpretation of the screenplay or scenario in relation to performance and this will form an underlying strand to this paper. Although focus will lean towards production of scenarios for anime, it will illuminate the underlying theoretical, philosophical and practical considerations surrounding the Japanese construction of screen stories.
Conference: Screenwriting Research Network Conference
In science fiction the figure of the posthuman other is used to highlight just what it is to be h... more In science fiction the figure of the posthuman other is used to highlight just what it is to be human. Designed to be more reliable and trustworthy than their human counter parts, posthuman characters are created for perfection. Yet, posthumans are increasingly appearing in science fiction noir landscapes which are defined by their antithesis: unreliability.
This paper explores the idea that unreliability is a defining force in what it is to be human and that the science fiction noir genre is often chosen for these stories because of its inherent emphasis on this duplicitous fallibility in human nature. When posthuman characters display unreliable behavioural patterns, acting against their programmed objectives, they prove that the figure of the other is not so different from normal humans. Focusing on key posthuman characters in the anime series, Darker Than Black, (Tensai Okamura 2007) with reference to I, Robot (Alex Proyas 2004) and Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982) this paper will examine the role of unreliable protagonist and antagonists in relation to this inherent juxtaposition between the posthuman character and the noir world.
In Darker Than Black, the posthuman characters are mentally rewired to only make rational, logical choices, losing their emotions and in some examples their free-will. Yet, as this exploration will show, in the noir world these characters inhabit acting only on rational judgement proves impossible. The posthuman ‘contractors’ of Darker Than Black, once human now seemingly perfectly evolved, are revealed to be blank slates, reset characters who redraw our notions of what it is to be human.
Conference: 4th Annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction conference
Films adapted from pre-existing materials are forming an ever increasing percentage of what is av... more Films adapted from pre-existing materials are forming an ever increasing percentage of what is available for viewers, far outweighing the number of original screenplays that are made. This is hardly surprising in the current risk adverse landscape, after all adaptations have an inbuilt audience to fill the box office on opening weekend. My writing experience reflects this trend; I have already been involved in two large adaptations, with another to follow at the end of this year. Each has brought different challenges, requiring creative solutions to bring the material from page to stage and screen.
This paper will examine the creative process of adapting material from page to screen, or stage, through comparing my own process with my recent research into Ian Watson’s unproduced screenplays adapting Supertoys Last All Summer Long into A.I: Artificial Intelligence for Stanley Kubrick. Through analysing some of Ian Watson’s numerous drafts I will show how the intense process of adapting for Kubrick sheds light on the ways writers approach the issues of adaptation; not only in adapting the material with fidelity to the source, but in adapting their writing to match the shifting demands other creative partners i.e. a director or producer while maintaining room for their own creative expression.
Conference: 5th Annual Postgraduate Symposium, Department of Theatre, Film and Television - Exploring Conceptual and Creative Practices in Theatre, Film and Television
Papers by Maxine Gee
Posthuman noir is a new subgenre I have identified at the intersection of posthuman science ficti... more Posthuman noir is a new subgenre I have identified at the intersection of posthuman science fiction and traditional film noir. In this thesis, I establish the defining features of this new subgenre; explore its antecedents in the body of films labelled as film noir and in the philosophical concepts of transhumanism and posthumanism; and examine the way the subgenre privileges two human traits — emotional awakening and storytelling ability — arguing that these intangible traits act as essential definers of what it is to be human in the posthuman future. In this thesis, I argue that this subgenre explores what it is to be human through adapting or subverting the tropes found in traditional film noir. My creative practice methodology seeks to explore a non-hierarchical approach to knowledge production, through chapters which interlink academic scholarship with my creative practice of screenwriting. Through figuring the screenplay as a posthuman text evolving towards becoming-film, and through channelling myself as a cyborg-screenwriter, my creative practice — an expression of the human storytelling ability which aims to generate an emotional awakening in the reader — aims to mirror the themes around these essential human traits within the subgenre. Therefore, the reader is encouraged to engage both their emotional and rational thinking processes when reading the thesis; it is this balanced combination, which reflects human thought processes, that is validated within the subgenre. It is particularly pertinent to discuss this subgenre at this present moment as human beings are on a rapid path to becoming posthuman, if we aren’t already there, as critics like N. Katherine Hayles argue. However, I posit that this subgenre has a conservative impulse which seeks to maintain an anthropocentric view of the future and validates humanistic notions of the human rather than pushing a posthumanist vision.
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Jun 29, 2015
for Hegemony in British East and Central Africa, 1935–1937 (2009). Animation from the independenc... more for Hegemony in British East and Central Africa, 1935–1937 (2009). Animation from the independences until 2000 is the subject of the second chapter mostly devoted to the animation film-maker Jean-Michel Kibushi Ndjate Wooto. Although, animation film has been largely absent in the Mobutu-era, the Congolese comic strip was then at its height (Barly Baruti, Mongo Sisé). The comics were influenced by both the Belgian tradition in cartoons and by colonial films such as Matamata and Pilipili. In turn, Congolese comics, together with the workshop Graphoui from 1988 on, had a major influence on later developments of cinema, including on the work of Kibushi. The third chapter relates the proliferation of production companies in the digital era thanks to cheaper facilities, even though some productions stick to older techniques such as puppet theatre. It is also the period in which multiple collectives and art initiatives grow. Detailed attention is given to the film-maker Maurice Nkundimana and the studio Art Azimuts in Rwanda, to Camera-etc. in Burundi, and to the studio’s Malembe Maa, Ngomy, Matrix Melodies, Pix Images, Beyshoo and SamDistri in the DRC. The last chapter is devoted to different training programs, and the epilogue to Ngando, les larmes de crocodile, a feature-length animation film by Kibushi based on the novel of the same name by Paul Lomami-Tchibamba. Images & Animation, is interspersed with interviews, illustrations and explanatory frames (but also with spelling errors). These visual and discursive extras prevent the reader from drowning amidst the stream of anecdotic facts which are enumerated without any other narrative or logic than a chronological one. However, the book is very useful and a unique resource alongside the small number of other written resources on the topics such as the works of Maria Silvia Bazzoli (African Cartoon: Il Cinema Di Animazione in Africa, 2003), Jules Emongo Lomomba and the contributions in his edited book on African animation film (Hommage au cinéma d’animation d’Afrique noire. Une poignée de soleil, 2001).
East Asian journal of popular culture, Apr 1, 2017
In January 2016, an interdisciplinary conference was held at the University of York titled East A... more In January 2016, an interdisciplinary conference was held at the University of York titled East Asian Popular Culture Conference, supported by the White Rose East Asia Centre, which aimed to reassess the position of East Asian popular culture research in the United Kingdom. Integral to the rationale behind the conference was an interest in exploring new methodological approaches to East Asian popular culture, therefore, one of the keynote speakers was a creative practitioner, Elena Vitagliano an Italian artist who lives in the United Kingdom. This interview explores how Vitagliano has been inspired by Japanese popular culture and has transformed these inspirations into comic book art that is a positive hybrid of European and Japanese styles. In this discussion Vitagliano assesses her creative process and examines her relationship to Japanese popular culture.
Journal for Cultural Research
There is an inherent contradiction at the heart of posthuman noir in Anglo-American film and Japa... more There is an inherent contradiction at the heart of posthuman noir in Anglo-American film and Japanese anime; this sub-genre focuses on science fictional futures where characters have moved beyond the traditional boundaries of what is considered human; however, the emphasis is often on more typically human traits of emotion and irrationality and their awakening/re-awakening in these posthuman characters. This hints that the sub-genre is not in fact positing a truly posthumanist standpoint but reaffirming an older humanist one, assuaging fears that what is traditionally considered human still has a place in these technologically advanced worlds. Posthuman noir is concerned with the fears and possibilities afforded by the modification of the humanity and how human nature is preserved or perpetuated through these changes. These concerns are presented through adopting elements found in the traditional film noir corpus—spanning from The Maltese Falcon (J. Huston, 1941) to A Touch of Evil ...
East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 2017
The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development, 2021
Posthuman noir is a new subgenre I have identified at the intersection of posthuman science ficti... more Posthuman noir is a new subgenre I have identified at the intersection of posthuman science fiction and traditional film noir. In this thesis, I establish the defining features of this new subgenre; explore its antecedents in the body of films labelled as film noir and in the philosophical concepts of transhumanism and posthumanism; and examine the way the subgenre privileges two human traits — emotional awakening and storytelling ability — arguing that these intangible traits act as essential definers of what it is to be human in the posthuman future. In this thesis, I argue that this subgenre explores what it is to be human through adapting or subverting the tropes found in traditional film noir. My creative practice methodology seeks to explore a non-hierarchical approach to knowledge production, through chapters which interlink academic scholarship with my creative practice of screenwriting. Through figuring the screenplay as a posthuman text evolving towards becoming-film, and ...
In January 2016, an interdisciplinary conference was held at the University of York titled East A... more In January 2016, an interdisciplinary conference was held at the University of York titled East Asian Popular Culture Conference, supported by the White Rose East Asia Centre, which aimed to reassess the position of East Asian popular culture research in the United Kingdom. Integral to the rationale behind the conference was an interest in exploring new methodological approaches to East Asian popular culture, therefore, one of the keynote speakers was a creative practitioner, Elena Vitagliano an Italian artist who lives in the United Kingdom. This interview explores how Vitagliano has been inspired by Japanese popular culture and has transformed these inspirations into comic book art that is a positive hybrid of European and Japanese styles. In this discussion Vitagliano assesses her creative process and examines her relationship to Japanese popular culture.
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Book Reviews by Maxine Gee
Conference Presentations by Maxine Gee
In this paper, I will establish the subgenre of posthuman noir, before focusing on the ways one posthuman noir film, Ex_Machina (Alex Garland, 2015), uses and subverts film noir narrative structure and characters, especially in relation to Billy Wilder’s 1944 film Double Indemnity, to reaffirm humanist concepts of the human in the posthuman science fictional future.
I will explore the ways that film noir exists beyond its traditional basis in 1940s and 50s America, and the how the aesthetics, themes and narrative patterns of classic film noir have evolved into an investigation of the human and the posthuman.
Conference: Hardboiled History: A Noir Lens on America's Past, University of Warwick, 19th May 2017
Jane Goodall (in Smith and Dean, 2009), exposes a problematic tension to exploring genre through the method of practice, that ‘in theory, it should be possible to exploit a sophisticated awareness of generic elements by treating them as ingredients in a recipe for success in the market. Of course, it doesn’t work like that.’ My approach, through three screenplays of varying lengths, has been to test, subvert and manipulate the various generic conventions I have identified in posthuman noir across Anglo and American film and Japanese anime to uncover the way intangible attributes of emotional awakening and storytelling are posited as the qualities that make humans human.
Focusing on my feature screenplay Golems Inc., I will establish the genre conventions of posthuman noir before exploring the ways I engage in the feedback loop of research and practice to interrogate this subgenre and one of the qualities I have defined as signifying humanity: storytelling. It can be argued that humans are storytelling machines, we constantly recycle experiences, memories and other stories to develop shifting identities and perform as human. I harness in a reflexive way this self-same human qualifier in my research practice; analysing storytelling through the creation of a new screen story.
Conference: 5th Annual BAFTSS Conference, University of Bristol, April 2017.
During my field research as a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Summer Fellow 2015, several of the creative practitioners I interviewed discussed increasing the levels self-censorship they applied to their work in order for that work to be commissioned. If a topic is considered taboo, many writers now consider it safer to avoid the subject altogether, following a proverb that “if something stinks, put a lid on it.” This issue is reflected in other areas of broadcast media, such as the recent reshuffle of news anchors and presenters in Japanese television stations. Is this the start of the censored, Brave New World and 1984 influenced, society presented in Psycho Pass?
Drawing on my research in Japan, this paper explores the way in which the ‘safe space’ society presented in Psycho Pass reflects and critiques current trends of self-censorship in the Japanese media and how anime continues to act as a subversive space for social commentary, despite the fear that “the anime industry [too] is becoming close minded.”
Conference: 6th Annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction Conference, University of Liverpool, June 2016.
As interest in screenwriting as a scholarly discipline expands in this world of global connectivity it is important to explore the ways different nationalities approach screen storytelling. My PhD by creative practice looks at a specific science fiction genre, posthuman noir, in both Anglo-American films and Japanese anime. To engage creatively with both cultures I am writing scripts based in their respective storytelling traditions. As part of my research, I am going to be based at Waseda University in Tokyo this summer as a JSPS (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science) and British Council fellow to investigate the way screen stories are constructed in Japan.
This paper will draw together the findings on this JSPS research trip, collected through interviews with scenario (シナリオ) writing lecturers, students and professional scenario writers and through some archival research at production companies like Studio Ghibli. Through exploration of the data gathered around four main components of storytelling—character, plot, structure and theme—I will present an overview of methods employed in Japanese screen storytelling, drawing comparison to the methods generally used by British and American screenwriters. Both of these cultures bring a different set of values to the interpretation of the screenplay or scenario in relation to performance and this will form an underlying strand to this paper. Although focus will lean towards production of scenarios for anime, it will illuminate the underlying theoretical, philosophical and practical considerations surrounding the Japanese construction of screen stories.
Conference: Screenwriting Research Network Conference
This paper explores the idea that unreliability is a defining force in what it is to be human and that the science fiction noir genre is often chosen for these stories because of its inherent emphasis on this duplicitous fallibility in human nature. When posthuman characters display unreliable behavioural patterns, acting against their programmed objectives, they prove that the figure of the other is not so different from normal humans. Focusing on key posthuman characters in the anime series, Darker Than Black, (Tensai Okamura 2007) with reference to I, Robot (Alex Proyas 2004) and Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982) this paper will examine the role of unreliable protagonist and antagonists in relation to this inherent juxtaposition between the posthuman character and the noir world.
In Darker Than Black, the posthuman characters are mentally rewired to only make rational, logical choices, losing their emotions and in some examples their free-will. Yet, as this exploration will show, in the noir world these characters inhabit acting only on rational judgement proves impossible. The posthuman ‘contractors’ of Darker Than Black, once human now seemingly perfectly evolved, are revealed to be blank slates, reset characters who redraw our notions of what it is to be human.
Conference: 4th Annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction conference
This paper will examine the creative process of adapting material from page to screen, or stage, through comparing my own process with my recent research into Ian Watson’s unproduced screenplays adapting Supertoys Last All Summer Long into A.I: Artificial Intelligence for Stanley Kubrick. Through analysing some of Ian Watson’s numerous drafts I will show how the intense process of adapting for Kubrick sheds light on the ways writers approach the issues of adaptation; not only in adapting the material with fidelity to the source, but in adapting their writing to match the shifting demands other creative partners i.e. a director or producer while maintaining room for their own creative expression.
Conference: 5th Annual Postgraduate Symposium, Department of Theatre, Film and Television - Exploring Conceptual and Creative Practices in Theatre, Film and Television
Papers by Maxine Gee
In this paper, I will establish the subgenre of posthuman noir, before focusing on the ways one posthuman noir film, Ex_Machina (Alex Garland, 2015), uses and subverts film noir narrative structure and characters, especially in relation to Billy Wilder’s 1944 film Double Indemnity, to reaffirm humanist concepts of the human in the posthuman science fictional future.
I will explore the ways that film noir exists beyond its traditional basis in 1940s and 50s America, and the how the aesthetics, themes and narrative patterns of classic film noir have evolved into an investigation of the human and the posthuman.
Conference: Hardboiled History: A Noir Lens on America's Past, University of Warwick, 19th May 2017
Jane Goodall (in Smith and Dean, 2009), exposes a problematic tension to exploring genre through the method of practice, that ‘in theory, it should be possible to exploit a sophisticated awareness of generic elements by treating them as ingredients in a recipe for success in the market. Of course, it doesn’t work like that.’ My approach, through three screenplays of varying lengths, has been to test, subvert and manipulate the various generic conventions I have identified in posthuman noir across Anglo and American film and Japanese anime to uncover the way intangible attributes of emotional awakening and storytelling are posited as the qualities that make humans human.
Focusing on my feature screenplay Golems Inc., I will establish the genre conventions of posthuman noir before exploring the ways I engage in the feedback loop of research and practice to interrogate this subgenre and one of the qualities I have defined as signifying humanity: storytelling. It can be argued that humans are storytelling machines, we constantly recycle experiences, memories and other stories to develop shifting identities and perform as human. I harness in a reflexive way this self-same human qualifier in my research practice; analysing storytelling through the creation of a new screen story.
Conference: 5th Annual BAFTSS Conference, University of Bristol, April 2017.
During my field research as a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Summer Fellow 2015, several of the creative practitioners I interviewed discussed increasing the levels self-censorship they applied to their work in order for that work to be commissioned. If a topic is considered taboo, many writers now consider it safer to avoid the subject altogether, following a proverb that “if something stinks, put a lid on it.” This issue is reflected in other areas of broadcast media, such as the recent reshuffle of news anchors and presenters in Japanese television stations. Is this the start of the censored, Brave New World and 1984 influenced, society presented in Psycho Pass?
Drawing on my research in Japan, this paper explores the way in which the ‘safe space’ society presented in Psycho Pass reflects and critiques current trends of self-censorship in the Japanese media and how anime continues to act as a subversive space for social commentary, despite the fear that “the anime industry [too] is becoming close minded.”
Conference: 6th Annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction Conference, University of Liverpool, June 2016.
As interest in screenwriting as a scholarly discipline expands in this world of global connectivity it is important to explore the ways different nationalities approach screen storytelling. My PhD by creative practice looks at a specific science fiction genre, posthuman noir, in both Anglo-American films and Japanese anime. To engage creatively with both cultures I am writing scripts based in their respective storytelling traditions. As part of my research, I am going to be based at Waseda University in Tokyo this summer as a JSPS (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science) and British Council fellow to investigate the way screen stories are constructed in Japan.
This paper will draw together the findings on this JSPS research trip, collected through interviews with scenario (シナリオ) writing lecturers, students and professional scenario writers and through some archival research at production companies like Studio Ghibli. Through exploration of the data gathered around four main components of storytelling—character, plot, structure and theme—I will present an overview of methods employed in Japanese screen storytelling, drawing comparison to the methods generally used by British and American screenwriters. Both of these cultures bring a different set of values to the interpretation of the screenplay or scenario in relation to performance and this will form an underlying strand to this paper. Although focus will lean towards production of scenarios for anime, it will illuminate the underlying theoretical, philosophical and practical considerations surrounding the Japanese construction of screen stories.
Conference: Screenwriting Research Network Conference
This paper explores the idea that unreliability is a defining force in what it is to be human and that the science fiction noir genre is often chosen for these stories because of its inherent emphasis on this duplicitous fallibility in human nature. When posthuman characters display unreliable behavioural patterns, acting against their programmed objectives, they prove that the figure of the other is not so different from normal humans. Focusing on key posthuman characters in the anime series, Darker Than Black, (Tensai Okamura 2007) with reference to I, Robot (Alex Proyas 2004) and Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982) this paper will examine the role of unreliable protagonist and antagonists in relation to this inherent juxtaposition between the posthuman character and the noir world.
In Darker Than Black, the posthuman characters are mentally rewired to only make rational, logical choices, losing their emotions and in some examples their free-will. Yet, as this exploration will show, in the noir world these characters inhabit acting only on rational judgement proves impossible. The posthuman ‘contractors’ of Darker Than Black, once human now seemingly perfectly evolved, are revealed to be blank slates, reset characters who redraw our notions of what it is to be human.
Conference: 4th Annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction conference
This paper will examine the creative process of adapting material from page to screen, or stage, through comparing my own process with my recent research into Ian Watson’s unproduced screenplays adapting Supertoys Last All Summer Long into A.I: Artificial Intelligence for Stanley Kubrick. Through analysing some of Ian Watson’s numerous drafts I will show how the intense process of adapting for Kubrick sheds light on the ways writers approach the issues of adaptation; not only in adapting the material with fidelity to the source, but in adapting their writing to match the shifting demands other creative partners i.e. a director or producer while maintaining room for their own creative expression.
Conference: 5th Annual Postgraduate Symposium, Department of Theatre, Film and Television - Exploring Conceptual and Creative Practices in Theatre, Film and Television
Posthuman noir is concerned with the fears and possibilities afforded by the modification of the humanity and how human nature is preserved or perpetuated through these changes. These concerns are presented through adopting elements found in the traditional film noir corpus—spanning from The Maltese Falcon (J. Huston, 1941) to A Touch of Evil (O. Wells, 1958)—and adapting or subverting them.
This article will examine, through a case study of Tensai Okamura’s Darker Than Black, two specific areas where the anthropocentric agenda of posthuman noir is particularly evident—narrative structure and characterisation. To examine these ideas three areas of critical debate are initially explored; the sub-genre of posthuman noir is introduced and defined; pertinent philosophical and ontological questions of what it means to be posthuman, transhuman and posthumanist are identified; and finally, relevant issues relating to the contested genre of film noir are raised. These theories are applied to Darker Than Black to demonstrate how posthuman noir validates the continuing status of the human at the centre of focus in science fictional posthuman futures.
Keywords:
anime, posthuman, film noir, anthropocentric, Tensai Okamura