Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Is Sci-Fi wasted on Allegory? (Spoilers for 'Counterpart')

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Is Sci-Fi wasted on Allegory? (Spoilers for 'Counterpart')

    Again Spoiler Warnings for Counterpart Look Away

    So I have started watching Starz Counterpart. Going into the show all I knew was that a man played by J.K. Simmons discovers there is a doorway from our Earth to an alternate Earth and encounters his 'Other' also played by J.K. Simmons.

    Both men are named Howard Silk an American living in Germany with his British wife. If you don't see where this is going you will.

    Now then 30 years earlier in the midst of the Cold War there was an experiment done by scientists that opened the doorway between the two Earths at the moment of, well fracture, they were identical in every way.

    People who cross from one Earth to the other are called Defectors. While on our side their is one solid chain of command that regulates travel the other side is a mishmash of commanders all with in fighting.

    Basically the whole show is allegory for East/West Berlin and the Berlin Wall. The focus even seems to be less on "how things are different for the same person" and more on how "Life on this side of the wall turns out better for those involved"

    Making it clear that West Berlin is opportunity and happiness while East Berlin is despair and hopelessness.

    I just wonder was the sci-fi angle necessary? Why not just create a show about living on either side of the Berlin wall? Why include the sci-fi angle at all.

    It feels like an extra step that is just as often ignored as it's used. Thoughts?
    Jack Faire
    Friend
    Father
    Smartass
Working...
X