The Story So Far...
Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 sci-fi novel written by Robert A. Heinlein and, for me at least, may be one of the most disappointingly-executed ideas in all of fiction. For a more thorough plot summary I suggest watching the Classics Summarized video done by Overly Sarcastic Productions on YouTube that I will now link here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jAkplrZci0&lc=UgzCgDwkCvHvswmUYxl4AaABAg.9IsRS4R-fzU9Vofr76aHCe
But the general story is that at some point in the future a young man is discovered living on Mars and being raised by aliens. This man is taken back to Earth, setting in motion a long string of political and cultural movements as he experiences human life and all it entails for the very first time, giving a broader perspective to the full range of human experiences, emotions, and relationships.
An exciting, nuanced subject, but there was a problem: Heinlein was a racist sexist libritarian who was less interested in exploring these aspects of the story and more interested in the Man from Mars starting a strictly-heterosexual sex cult.
Yeah...
I read the book up to a certain point and watched OSP’s video, and like many people, I was woefully unimpressed with the direction Heinlein had taken. As a screenwriter, however, the concept of the story stuck with me and I kept thinking of ways the story could have gone. If the story was more inclusive, if the struggles of this man were better explored, if every opportunity this premise created was taken advantage of.
I commented on the video with some of the ideas I had.
Let’s just say people were responsive.
As time went on a expanded the concept: got to work on the screenplay, created concept art and story maps, did research into how this future world should be built and operate... eventually it got too big for me to keep it simply in folders.
So, because so many people were curious about this project, I decided to make this blog dedicated to it! Here you’ll see my art, story drafts, document outlines, and how my process is going so far. I’ll answer any questions you may have about the project and may even do an Ask the Characters section as this goes on.
I hope you all will join me to see where this project goes!