CyborgCon Project

Tips:

• Have every member proof read every part of the report. More eyes = more mistakes will be caught before you turn it in
• Have a good balance of breadth and depth. This example's weakest point is its lack of depth when explaining each example.
• Organize your body logically. Here are some ideas of how you could do it:
• Chronological - earliest examples to most recent ones
• Media type - discuss movie portrayals, then books, then video games, etc
• Categorical - group your examples by their similarities or specific qualities (this is what I did in this example)

Ms. Sutherland

Mr. Miller

Ms. Quevedo

Cultural History Report

“No I’m not!”

“Yes you are!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too, times infinity!”       

Every kid knows that when another child makes the argument, “times infinity,” he or she has won. There is no fighting the “times infinity” reasoning. When it comes to protecting something important, force field is the “times infinity” of science fiction. Force field is generally understood to be an invisible, impenetrable barrier that keeps things in or out of designated area. It shows up in movies, television, literature, and gaming. Force field is not usually magical or mythical; it is a type of futuristic technology that does not exist in the real world – yet. Even though it is has traditionally been classified as fiction, this scientific technology would be extremely valuable if put into practice.

In popular culture, force field is often utilized by advanced alien civilizations looking to invade other planets or engage in space warfare. For example, in the film Independence Day, the aliens trying to invade Earth use force field shields to protect their fleet of space ships. The humans throw all their advanced weaponry at the ships, including nuclear missiles, but the alien ships are unscathed. A second example that features alien use of force field is the thriller, War of the Worlds, a classic science fiction novel by H.G. Wells that later inspired a Hollywood blockbuster. Once again, the human race is almost helpless to damage the enemy’s machinery because it is protected by force field. With this story, however, the force field is shown as having weaknesses. It is discovered that concentrating all firepower at a single point on the force field can breach the protective shield. Not all colonizing aliens use force fields to protect themselves from unwelcoming hosts, however. In the high fantasy novel The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, the force field protecting their ships is practical, not militaristic. For them, the technology allows them to travel through space and enter the atmospheres of new planets without being obliterated by meteors and other space objects that could cause debilitating damage to their crafts.

Aliens are not the only life forms using force field in fiction; humans also use it. In these cases, the force field is often in the form of a protective bubble, used as defensive tool rather than in an offensive strike. In the finale to the Harry Potter series, witches and wizards use the combined power of their magic to form a shield over the magical school of Hogwarts to ward off the incoming attack of Voldemort’s army of Death Eaters (bad guys). In the animated movie, The Incredibles, the superhero family’s only daughter, Violet, has the ability to create force field bubbles around herself or other objects that are near her. Interestingly, Violet’s force field takes on the color after her namesake (purple), which is dissimilar to the traditional portrayal of invisible force fields.

 The visual consistency and tactile impunity (ability to be safely touched) of force fields vary across our culture. Usually, they are invisible, but in many literary and theatrical adaptations the force field has “tells” or indications of its presence. In stories like The Hunger Games, characters are alerted the force field by a subtle shimmer, where the light bounces off the field and refracts. In Star Trek, force fields have a slightly sparkly quality as well as a crackling sound. In many other versions, the barrier is only visible when it has been disturbed. In Forbidden Planet, a disturbance merely causes a flash of light, able to be viewed from within the shield, even though the cause of the disturbance is not able to be seen. In The Hunger Games, interrupting force field results in a flash of light and a temporary suspension of the field’s invisibility. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, shoots an arrow at the force field bubble she is encased in and for a few seconds, she can see the mechanisms that form the barrier before it becomes camouflaged to look like the sky once more. Later in the story, the audience learns that disturbing the force field is dangerous, too. Another character, Peeta, accidently sliced the invisible boundary with a machete and was knocked unconscious. After that, another subordinate character is knocked out after shooting a spear connected to a wire at the force field in an attempt to neutralize it and escape to the outside. In other stories, like the film The Spiderwick Chronicles, things simply bounce off the force field like they had run into a sliding glass door.

Whether or not people are harmed when touching force field seems to depend on how the barrier is constructed. In The Hunger Games, force field seems to be electrically charged thus causing injury to anyone who tries to disrupt it, especially if they use metal materials like the machete or the spear. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, the protective shield is created through magic; it stops spells from the outside as well as zaps any individual who tries to physically walk through. In many videogames, like Tales of Xillia and The Legend of Zelda, the force field is similar to glass in that it can be shattered by an appropriate tool but not penetrated without appropriate force.

Force field makes an appearance in science fiction and fantasy within our culture. The qualities vary, such as visibility, tactile impunity, and method of production. The purpose for such barriers is also diverse. Sometimes, it is meant to keep things in. Other times, it protects its contents from outside intruders or attack. Despite these differences, one thing is clear: force field is one of the strongest and most effective barriers in the fictional world. The question that remains is, does force field only exist in fiction?