Science fiction has long been more than just a genre of entertainment filled with starships, aliens, futuristic technology, and everything else that could potentially tickle our scientific imagination. At its core, science fiction often mirrors and reflects society’s flaws, anxieties, and aspirations in a way that makes complex issues more digestible to a typical viewer — just look at how Star Trek and how Nichelle Nichols redefined television history with a kiss.
However, Star Trek isn’t the only franchise that uses fictional storytelling to challenge and address societal issues. Movies such as Alien, Starship Troopers, Mars Attacks!, and They Cloned Tyrone are perfect examples of sci-fi using satire to criticize and challenge societal norms and systemic inequalities. Some of them even warn us of a dystopian future that feels all too plausible — especially given the rapid, unregulated, and often outright unethical development of AI technologies.
For example, Ridley Scott’s Alien, a movie that’s often referred to as a masterpiece of the sci-fi horror genre (and it truly is) is also a satire on corporate greed and the expendability of workers. The movie opens with the crew of a space tug, the Nostromo, being sent to investigate a distress signal. However, they’re not sent on their mission out of altruism. Their employer, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation — which is the largest supplier of technology, synthetics, and spaceships to industrial and commercial clients — is only interested in profit.
In fact, Weyland-Yutani is consistently portrayed as exhibiting the worst aspects of corporate profiteering and expressing willingness to sacrifice decency and life in an endless pursuit of monetary profit all throughout the Alien franchise and its crossovers. The Xenomorph, the perfect organism Weyland-Yutani tries to exploit later in the franchise (and fails miserably), becomes a metaphor for the unchecked and unmoderated exploitation of the unknown for profit.
This is obviously a criticism of late-stage capitalism that’s becoming more and more apparent in modern society, especially when we take into account massive workforce turnover rates at major corporations and their willingness to engage in illegal or outright harmful activities for profit. The movie itself is actually a really good portrayal of the chasm that divides the decision-makers sitting in comfortable chairs and blue-collar workers (in space) who directly bear the consequences of their unethical decisions.
The themes of labor exploitation and the corrupting influence of capitalism, along with racial inequality, are also explored in Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, which follows the story of Cassius “Cash” Green, whose rise in the dystopian telemarketing company (whose business practices border on slavery) depends on his ability to “sound white” over the phone. Besides this obvious commentary on the compromises people of color have to make while navigating systemic racism, the movie also offers some vivid metaphors for the dehumanization of workers in capitalistic settings.
Similar themes are also explored in They Cloned Tyrone. The narrative is completely different and follows three characters from a fictional neighborhood as they uncover a government conspiracy that involves cloning and mind control. The central premise criticizes systemic racism and the way in which marginalized communities are often treated as guinea pigs for social and scientific manipulation, all the while keeping the audiences engaged with humor and absurdity.
Another sci-fi masterpiece that relies on absurdity humor is Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! which satirizes political incompetence, media sensationalism, and humanity’s arrogance. The Martians and their nonsensical aggression represent an unpredictable adversary that’s an obvious commentary on humanity’s inability to respond coherently to crises. Given the recent global pandemic, Mars Attacks! is almost prophetic in its satire. It also depicts politicians as self-serving and bumbling functionaries who care more about personal image than actual substance.
And lastly, there’s probably the most misunderstood movie of all time: 1997’s Starship Troopers. The majority of movie critics didn’t really understand Paul Verhoeven’s work when it first came out. The film follows a group of high school graduates in the 23rd century who enlist in military service to advance their careers. Often characterized as a straightforward B-list action movie, Starship Troopers portrays a future in which humanity is led by a hyper-militarized government in a war against an insectoid alien race.
It’s a biting satire of militarism, nationalism, and the glorification of war, with absurdly cheerful propaganda and fascistic undertones, that forces the audiences to question the dangers of blind allegiance to authorities, especially those glorifying militaristic ideals. Starship Troopers has been somewhat critically reevaluated; the societal shifts made the satire more obvious, particularly when it comes to its criticism of right-wing militarism, the military-industrial complex, and reactionary violence. The movie is now a cult classic.
It’s easy to see that while the context of each narrative differs, the core themes remain strikingly similar, which makes these movies relevant to this day. Alien criticizes corporate greed in today’s debates regarding workers’ rights and automation; Starship Troopers becomes more and more relevant as nationalism, war propaganda, autocracies, and totalitarianism continue to grow; and Mars Attacks! remains nearly prophetic in its depictions of political absurdity and crisis mismanagement.
Let’s not forget They Cloned Tyrone and Sorry to Bother You, which address systemic inequalities that, sadly, remain pervasive to this day. In the end, what really makes sci-fi satire important is its ability to reach broader audiences and ensure that its messages and social commentary are disseminated widely and understood by all, regardless of what part of the world they come from, because societal issues like racism, totalitarianism, and corporate greed know no bounds or borders.