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5 Ways Fantasy and Science Fiction Have Impacted Real Life


Science fiction and fantasy are often used as an escape from the realities of the world, but these stories are far more than an escape. In fact, sci-fi and fantasy comics, manga, movies, TV and literature have very real, palpable effects on the modern world. Let’s examine the bizarre and amazing ways these stories influence the world we live in. Never let them tell you stories can’t make a difference!

  1. Real Life Superheroes…and Supervillains

    Superbarrio, Bifurcaciones.cl

    Real life superheroes are an amazing phenomenon that has been in the press since the 1990’s.  It’s exactly what it sounds like- people dressing up in capes and tights to fight injustice, just like in a comic book. The earliest recorded superhero was Mexico City’s “Superbarrio” in 1997. The red-clad champion of the working class patrolled low-income neighborhoods and led protest rallies.

    Since then, the community of superheroes has expanded more and more. There’s even a website where you can look them all up. Superhero leagues and gatherings have even popped up, for example the “Capital City Superhero Squad” of Washington D.C. and most touchingly, Superheroes Anonymous, who gathered in Times Square in 2007 to clean, help the homeless and encourage crime prevention. 

    Phoenix Jones (l) and Rex Velvet (r), Facebook

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    Seattle superhero “Phoenix Jones” is one of the most prolific of the bunch. As an MMA champ, he often engages directly with criminals and has been involved in several incidents since 2011. He prevented a stabbing in March earlier this year.

    Of course, what is a superhero without a supervillain to fight? It was only inevitable that self-styled supervillains would pop up to oppose the heroes.  Back in 2012, a mustache twirling villain calling himself Rex Velvet released a snazzy Youtube video, declaring war on Phoenix Jones. Despite his threats, the only real action Velvet has taken was participating in an event for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where he set up a supervillain plot for Colby aka Agent C, a young hero diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, to foil. We could use more villains like that.

  2. Fiction-Inspired Violent Crime

    Slenderman, Mike Langguth, People.com

    Inspiring murderous imitators is definitely the darkest influence fantasy can have on real life. The most recently publicized fantasy-related attempted murder was the incident last year where two twelve-year-old girls stabbed another girl repeatedly in what they claimed was an effort to please the internet horror meme “Slenderman” (the subject of many creepypasta videos by MarbleHornets). Fortunately, their victim survived.

    But this is only the tip of the iceberg in regards to fantasy-inspired violent crime. For instance, a real life murderer referred to himself as "Kira", the killer from the manga Death Note. Back in 2007, police in Belgium found a pile of severed body parts next to a note reading "watashi wa Kira dess". It took the police a solid five hours to figure out the murderer meant "desu"- meaning the note was supposed to read "I am Kira" in Japanese.

    Death Note, Studio Madhouse

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    It’s frankly bizarre that a killer would be devoted enough to the manga to style themselves after the protagonist, yet their dedication didn’t extend to getting the simple Japanese catchphrase down. In fact, a total of three killers were convicted of the crime last year, which means a whole group of weeaboo murderers couldn’t get “desu” right.

    Fantasy has played a part in many more murders, whether just because the killer felt like imitating their favorite story or because the killer is unable to separate fiction from reality. For instance, multiple killers have also used a belief that they were trapped in the Matrix as an explanation for their crimes. 

  3. Amazing Inventions

    Kirk with a communicator on Star Trek, CBS Television Distribution

    The positive impact sci-fi has on real science can’t be denied. Believe it or not, we owe inventions like the submarine, the helicopter, and the rocket to sci-fi. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.is what got the father of the modern submarine jazzed on nautical travel. The man behind the modern helicopter, Igor Sikorsky, was also inspired by Jules Verne literature. The inventor of the rocket became a space junkie because of H.G .Wells’ War of the Worlds. We even owe the idea for cell phones to Star Trek. Martin Cooper stated that his goal was to make something like the crew’s communicators.

    The Honda Asimo Robot, Gustavo Amorim

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    Sci-fi continues to inspire innovation even today. For instance, mecha anime has caused many Japanese people to build really cool robots. There are several examples of Japanese robots being inspired by anime, including Honda's ASIMO robot, which was inspired by Astro Boy. Robots aren't the only machinery with an anime influence, car design is starting to owe a lot to anime. Belgian designer Felipe Roo Clefas gave his car design a 3-D interface that referenced the futuristic Ghost in the Shell anime. Nissan designer Eunsuen Yuu says her interior of the Nissan Mixim was influenced by the same anime. 

    Gizmag

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    There’s even an effort to create complete replicas of fictional machines. Kazuhiko Hachiya spent a decade designing a single-person jet-powered glider inspired by the one the eponymous heroine of Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind used. Calling it the OpenSky project, he began working on it in 2003 and it was working and ready for exhibition in July of 2013.  There are no plans for mass production, but if Earth ever becomes the ravaged, monster-ridden wasteland Miyazaki envisioned, this glider may be our only hope.

  4. Battling Oppression with Fantasy

    Fantasy can help in the battle against real life oppression in ways other than inspiring people to don a cape. Studies show that people who love the arts are more likely to be engaged in activism in general. You can certainly see this in a bunch of organizations that use fantastic fiction as an inspiration to fight for the disenfranchised.

    The Harry Potter Alliance

    The Harry Potter Alliance is an example of a collective using their love of a fictional franchise as a do-gooder’s rallying cry.  They’ve done fundraising for Darfur, sent supplies to Haiti and donated books to many different places. Their “Odds in Our Favor” campaign used The Hunger Games to spread awareness about economic equality.

    The Adventures of Superman

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    Probably one of the most palpable examples of fiction having an impact on real life evil was when the Superman radio program hit the Klu Klux Klan where it hurt.  The Adventures of Superman was an incredibly popular program in the 1940s. Stetson Kennedy had infiltrated the Klan and learned their secrets, but the police had no interest in his information. So he took it to the Superman radio serial writers and they enthusiastically used the material in an arc where Supes went up against the KKK.

    The Klan was exposed and humiliated. Within a couple weeks, hardly anybody wanted to join the hate group anymore. And that’s how Superman saved the day in a most unusual way. 

  5. Fiction Aiding Disaster Prevention

    There have been several instances where fiction has been instrumental in real disaster prevention operations.

    Neon Genesis Evangelion, Studio Gainax

    For instance, a real anti-earthquake operation was inspired by the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime. After the 2011 Tokyo earthquake and tsunami, the Tokyo Electric Power Company promoted an energy conservation plan they named "Operation Yashima", after a military operation used in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the anime, the robots piloted by the protagonists sap all of Japan's power in order to defeat their enemies. The electricity conserving plan made its way through twitter quickly thanks to its nerdy codename.

    Popeye the Sailor Man, E.C. Segar

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    An older example of this sort of thing is when Popeye inspired Americans to turn to canned food during the Great Depression. In fact, this was a plan concocted by the government. Spinach was considered a good meat substitute and canned food was encouraged during this emergency famine. Popeye’s super-strength was originally unexplained, but a little federal nudging, and his iconic lust for canned spinach was born. Canned spinach sales shot up as a result and the American diet became slightly more sustainable during those hard times.

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