{"id":28269,"date":"2015-02-25T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=28269"},"modified":"2015-02-22T17:54:24","modified_gmt":"2015-02-22T04:54:24","slug":"big-worlds-on-small-screens-fantasysci-fi-films-youve-probably-never-heard-of-rebecca-fisher-discusses-safety-not-guaranteed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2015\/02\/25\/big-worlds-on-small-screens-fantasysci-fi-films-youve-probably-never-heard-of-rebecca-fisher-discusses-safety-not-guaranteed\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Worlds On Small Screens & Fantasy\/Sci-Fi Films You\u2019ve Probably Never Heard Of: Rebecca Fisher Discusses “Safety Not Guaranteed”"},"content":{"rendered":"

~ by Rebecca Fisher<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1997, the following advertisement appeared in the classified section of the Backwoods Home Magazine<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"SafetyNotGuaranteed1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The true story behind the ad is simply that magazine employee John Silveira was asked by his publisher for something extra to fill up the classified pages. He duly obliged, perhaps thinking his little joke would go unnoticed, or be dismissed as a scam.<\/p>\n

But a few years later, after the advertisement made its way onto the internet, it exploded into a fully-fledged meme. As Silveira says on the magazine’s website<\/a>, his post office box was flooded with replies from people all across the world, intrigued by his classified and desperate for more information.<\/p>\n

It’s not difficult to see why. Silveira’s advert was based on an idea he had for a novel, and the seven sentences are brimming with intrigue and possibilities. Though he never got around to writing his book (and in his testimony he ruefully points out that the ad will probably be the most famous thing he ever writes), the words inspired plenty of others.<\/p>\n

\"SafetyNotGuaranteed2\"<\/p>\n

In 2012 the advert was used as the premise of Safety Not Guaranteed<\/strong>, a film in which three journalists discover it in the classifieds and decide to investigate its veracity. Team leader Jeff (Jake Johnson) is more interested in hooking up with an old girlfriend, while intern Arnau (Karan Soni) just wants to diversify his resume. But diffident and cynical Darius (Audrey Plaza, channelling her role as April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation<\/strong>) finds herself oddly charmed by the man they find on the other end of the post office box.<\/p>\n

Kenneth (Mark Duplass) is an intense and self-important guy who seems convinced he’s cracked the secret to time travel \u2013 and<\/em> is being watched by government agents. But as he puts Darius through a rigorous training period to prepare her for what’s ahead, she and her cohorts begin to wonder what’s really going on.<\/p>\n

\"SafetyNotGuaranteed3\"<\/a>Kenneth: quiet genius or just a crazy person?<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, the underlying question is whether or not Kenneth is for real. Has he really built a time machine? And what does he plan on using it for?<\/p>\n

Perhaps I’m stretching the boundaries here of what constitutes a science-fiction film, as Safety Not Guaranteed<\/strong> focuses just as much on the lives and relationships of the characters as it does on the subject of time-travel. But it raises questions that only the science-fiction genre can handle, exploring themes of regret and lost opportunities, and second chances that are given a surprising twist in the film’s final moments.<\/p>\n

It’s quirky and uplifting without becoming saccharine \u2013 and it’s certainly a film that’s going to linger in your mind for a while after watching it.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next Time:\u00a0The Company of Wolves<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

A film based on a book of short stories sounds like an odd proposition; after all \u2013 how can you create a linear narrative from a set of unrelated tales? But The Company of Wolves<\/strong> is an experimental film that plays around with the stories found in Angela Carter’s The Bloody Tower<\/strong>, crafting an intriguing assortment of vignettes and framing devices that are all based upon the dark fairy tales of old.
\n.<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

About The Reviewer:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com<\/a>, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com<\/a> and her They\u2019re All Fictional<\/a> blog.<\/p>\n

To read Rebecca\u2019s detailed introduction of both herself and the series, as well as preceding reviews, click on:<\/p>\n

Big Worlds On Small Screens<\/a><\/h3>\n

—<\/p>\n

Stop Press: Congratulations, Rebecca!<\/h3>\n

Rebecca has been shortlisted<\/a> for the Sir Julius Vogel Award 2015 for Best Fan Writing<\/strong> — in part for her regular Big Worlds On Small Screens<\/a> contribution here, but also for her reviews on FantasyLiterature.com<\/strong>, Amazon<\/strong>, and They’re All Fictional<\/strong> — all linked to in her bio immediately above.<\/p>\n

I’m thrilled to see Rebecca’s considerable contribution to SFF fan writing getting some well-deserved recognition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

~ by Rebecca Fisher In 1997, the following advertisement appeared in the classified section of the Backwoods Home Magazine: The true story behind the ad is simply that magazine employee John Silveira was asked by his publisher for something extra to fill up the classified pages. He duly obliged, perhaps thinking his little joke would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-worlds-on-small-screens-with-rebecca-fisher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28269"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28283,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28269\/revisions\/28283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}