So what is steampunk?

Steampunk.com handily gives us a definition:

“To me, Steampunk has always been first and foremost a literary genre, or least a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy that includes social or technological aspects of the 19th century (the steam) usually with some deconstruction of, reimagining of, or rebellion against parts of it (the punk).”

The writer goes on to say that steampunk has expanded out as a genre to include fashion, music, film, tv and even house design. They also point to an issue within the steampunk genre- that sometimes the ‘philosophy’ of steampunk can praise empire and gloss over its bad aspects in writing an alternative history. In other words, by rewriting history, even in fiction, silences around things such as slavery, child labour, gender inequality and imperialism are created.

The rest of the article is quite good and you can read it here:

http://www.steampunk.com/what-is-steampunk/

But let’s have another definition for good measure- this time from urban dictionary. For them steampunk is;

“A subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan “What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner.” It includes fiction with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes.”

Source: Urban Dictionary

A much less illuminating definition but still helpful!

So what are some contemporary examples of steampunk? Well the Robert Downy Jr. Sherlock Holmes films for starters, Emilie Autumn’s entire ‘brand’ but especially her music in both Opheliac and Fight Like a Girl (she describes her music as Victorian Industrial), her book, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls in the Emily sections and her fashion approach, the bestselling Protectorate books by Gail Carriger (which combine paranormal happenings with steampunk and romance), in Australia books by Richard Harland and Michael Pryor, and if you wanted to get really close to home, a lot of the fashion of the British thespian actress, Helena Bonham Carter, are also steampunk inspired.

Steampunk is everywhere these days! It is fun and inspired and fresh. It isn’t without its pitfalls but it is definitely a genre to watch!

Next post: Steampunk fashion

The plot of course, is standard action film, big, bad villain fare. Loki steals the Tesseract in order to subjugate earth and get back at his brother, Thor. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) assembles The Avengers with the aid of Black Widow, some willingly, and some grudgingly, to protect earth from a major threat.

Luckily, The Avengers was scripted and directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly), who is known for his character, and geek loving takes on science fiction. There are disagreements about the ethics of The Avengers as a fighting force, there are debates about the use of super powers, there are suicidal thoughts on the part of The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo in a stand out performance) who dreads the change each time, for the loss of his precious humanity. There is Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) being his usual cynical, caustic self, there is Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who are both pretty attractive eye candy, doing their fallen Gods thing, and Captain America (Chris Evans) doing his best to come to grips with the fact the world isn’t the way it used to be, and valour is no longer everything.

There were pop corn fight scenes aplenty for the action film buffs, but there were also quieter character moments, and serious attempts to deal with the psychological element of being a super hero peppered throughout. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was treated with the same respect as the super heroes with powers, and got to hold her own based on her own personal attributes. There was a very cool scene with a caged Loki approximately halfway through the movie that I loved (also nice shot from behind, Joss. I say this as a relatively straight female) , and I liked that her role wasn’t all about the usual faux girl power feminism so rife in Hollywood films.

It is not the best movie I have ever seen, and it is nowhere near as thought provoking as say, the recent Hunger Games film, but the script was full of humour and pathos, the visuals were good, and the fight scenes were exactly what you’d expect from a film of this nature. If you want a geektastic, source material respectful, and character driven action movie, The Avengers is for you.

The Avengers: 8/10 inky stars