The Stories We Are Missing
I hate Disney. I really do. I hate them, because they are shitty to a lot of workers. I hate them, because they consolidate so many IPs only to then make the most generic stuff with them. I hate them, because they don't invest in new ideas anymore. And I hate them for being such cowards.
However... I will give them credit for producing Iwájú and Kizazi Moto. Two afrofuturist series. Iwájú being one series that actually just tells one story - while Kizazi Moto is an anthology series like Love Death + Robots on Netflix. Well, that is all that it has in common with LD+R is that it is a scifi anthology series. It has less issues with the sexism and racism of LD+R.
And thinking about this has brought me to the one aspect of our lack on Solarpunk media, that I think gets ignored too much. Again, because white people. And this is... Well, the lack of well published afrofuturist and amazofuturist stories - or movies. And I would assume also the equivalent for other indigenous cultures. (I think the name right now is "Pacificafuturism" for the polynesians, I have no idea whether the indigenous people still living in Asia have something along the lines.)
The irony is that I actually think, well... Let's face it: There is a reason why Disney of all people is investing in some Afrofuturist projects. And that reason is that there is a big audience for this stuff. Disney probably just saw how Black Panther was printing money and was like: "I guess we'll make more of that!"
Now what does this have to do with Solarpunk?
Well, I will remind you: Solarpunk originated with Amazofuturism. And futuristic indigenous stories tend to have a lot of Solarpunk vibes at the very least. Not all of those stories will be Solarpunk, no, but even those that are not will offer us things to learn. Because I will say it once again: We really, really do have a big issue in a lot of SciFi/Fantasy that way too white and way too stuck in the storytelling conventions of western society.
And here is the thing: I doubt most people will be able to name a lot of afrofuturist media other than Black Panther, and maybe the series above. Or maybe you actually can think of some novels like the ones from N. K. Jemisin, Octavia E. Butler, or Nnedi Okorafor. But not much more.
Now, in terms of Afrofuturism there is a bit more - but the other things? Most Amazofuturism is only ever published in Portugese or maybe Spanish in some cases. And I am honestly not certain if there is even anything that is not self-published out there in terms of Pacificafuturism. (I mean, I know a few Maori movies that I guess you could consider, but...)
What I am trying to get at: I think we need more indigenous futurism/indigenous scifi. Not only so that we read more that breaks out of western storytelling conventions, I think we also just need other perspectives on the future. Because our western, white perspective is limited - and we got to imagine the future for way too long.
