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History of Popular Culture—Week 2, Assignment 3

After listening to an excerpt from Orson Welles’ radio production of War of the Worlds, transcribe one passage and relate it to the burgeoning political hysteria of the era in which it was aired. What general characteristics of early science fiction reflect the politics of the time?

Although first used in World War I, flamethrowers were used far more prevalently in World War II ¹. The concept of a “heat ray” was not too far a stretch for this science fiction novel to be believable. Undoubtedly, Americans had heard reports of these weapons used in combat and shuddered at their implications. With this broadcast, the perceived threat of being burned alive came much closer to home than any had anticipated.

For want of a better term, I shall refer to the mysterious weapon as a heat ray. It’s all too evident that these creatures have scientific knowledge far in advance of our own. It’s my guess that in some way they are able to generate an intense heat in a chamber of practically absolute no conductivity. This intense heat they project in a parallel beam against any object they choose, by means of a polished parabolic mirror of unknown composition, much as the mirror of a lighthouse projects a beam of light. That is my conjecture of the origin of the heat ray…

— Professor Pierson, from an emergency observation post at a farmhouse near Grovers Mill. ²

Although this is officially classified as science fiction, the story reflects political sentiment of the era. America’s stance on World War II was to stay out of it if at all possible. “If we leave them alone, they’ll leave us alone.” Eerily, just as Americans thought they safe in their homes when we were blindsided by Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, effectively bringing World War II onto American soil, this “fiction,” which was aired in 1938, contained surprising parallels with the event—surprise attack by an unknown aggressor, weapons against which we had no defense.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamethrower [back]
2. Quote from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. The transcript can be found at http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/script.html, and the full MP3 audio can be downloaded at http://sounds.mercurytheatre.info/mercury/381030.mp3. [back]