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Gathered friends, listen again to the tale of the Bionicle. In the time before time, Spherus Magna was without leaders. All were lost, drowning in strife and confusion, fixated on selfishness and separateness. Yet out of this chaos rose those who would bring order: the Great Beings. They took control of the lawless word, and guided it into a new age of enlightenment. Under their rule, Spherus Magna prospered, and the land was at peace. To better organize the masses, the Great Beings selected a warrior from each Tribe to serve as their leaders. Upon these six, the Great Beings bestowed a great power…the power of the Elements. For a time, the Tribes were ruled over by these Element-Lords. But this was not to last. It was discovered that a precious, mysterious resource known as protodermis laid beneath our feet. The Element-Lords wished to control this substance, and entered into competition with one another. Their greed overtook them. Their lust for power drove the entire planet into war. Displeased by the Element-Lords’ shameful display, the Great Beings ordered them to relinquish their commands. The arrogant Lords saw fit to challenge the beings who made them…and were struck down. The brutal Skrall even sided with the Rock-Lord, thinking they could overthrow the Great Beings and seize power. They shared in his punishment. Only the Sand-Lord had the wisdom to surrender to her betters. She was allowed to live, and would rededicate her life in service of the Great Beings. The Great Beings knew they could not trust just anyone to solve this crisis, and so they created the perfect servants to accomplish it. Matoran were born to loyally bear the burdens that lay ahead, while Toa were made to enter the depths of the planet and wield its own Elements to repair the damage done to it. It took several years, but in the end, the Great Beings’ plan was successful. The Melding was complete. With the safety of all assured, the Great Beings wished to turn again to their work. However, they had learned that not just any being could be trusted to lead in their stead, and decided it was time for new leaders to be forged. And so the Great Beings crafted the perfect servants: the noble Makuta, second only to their makers in power and wisdom. With these valiant champions carrying out their will, the Great Beings led the world to peace once more…and this time, peace has remained. For a thousand centuries, we have been at peace, watched over by the Great Beings and the Makuta. May it last a thousand more, and may none ever again be foolish enough to challenge the Great Beings.

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Essays, Not Rants! 305: But For Adults Dennis Villeneuve is currently attached to the latest adaption of Dune. It's an exciting prospect: Dune is a rich novel and Villeneuve has shown himself to be both a skilled director and excellent at adaptations. Arrival was an excellent adaption of a terrific short story, one that managed to make the feeling of the ephemeral come as much to life on the screen as the page. Blade Runner 2049 somehow captured the moodiness of the original while injecting it with something new. So if there's someone who can do Dune, a big sci-fi epic novel, justice, it's probably him. And recently, when asked about it, he said “in a way, it’s Star Wars for adults.” Which, at first blush, sounds cool (lasers and spaceships with wanton sex and violence!), but it belies a frustrating intellectual divide when it comes to fiction, particularly genre works. Take Game of Thrones, which I've heard described as The Lord of The Rings but for grown-ups. Which, sure, makes sense. Both are epic fantasies, but Thrones has a more dubious depiction of morality, a stronger emphasis on politicking, and, of course, the sex and violence it's infamous for. It's a fair description. But, implicit in the comparison, is the idea that The Lord of The Rings is not for grown-ups and is thus a kid’s story, and a kid’s story not particularly suited for adults at that. In other words, if Game of Thrones is adult, then The Lord of The Rings is childish. Which is blatantly untrue. Sure, I first read and loved Rings as a kid, but the books and films resonate as much, if not more, today as they did fourteen years ago. Rings might have a clean-cut approach to the idea of good and bad, but is that any less appealing to an adult than what we get in Thrones? Isn't there something to be said for a story that works well on different levels? As a side note, it's kinda ironic too, given than when Rings first came out it was unique for taking fantasy tropes like wizards, elves, and dwarves and putting them into a more mature context. So Star Wars. George Lucas himself described the movies as basically being for kids. Which is kinda true, even if the prequels spent an odd amount of time discussing trade tariffs. But that doesn't mean it's just for kids. The story of a nobody leaving her home planet and finding herself to be more powerful than she ever imagined is as fun as an adult as a kid. Because the Star Wars films don't talk down to they audience, they doesn't feel geared too heavily to one audience. In other words, just because a movie works for kids, doesn't mean it's a kids movie. I think there's an overcompensation here when it comes to science fiction and fantasy works. Because these genres are seen as being less serious than, say, a period piece or a capital-d Drama, there's a need to make them seem grown-up so as to not be laughed off. Game of Thrones, with its incest and child marriages, gets lauded as showing the gritty realism of a fantasy world that Rings glosses over. And maybe Villenueve’s Dune’s Arrakis will have all the harsh brutality of desert world that we never saw on Tatooine. But isn't there room for both? Can't we have more adult-orientated works without dismissing others as childish? I describe The Last of Us as a grown-up video game. Not because video games are just for kids, but because it goes places most games don't; its rich exploration of grief and loss aren't the sort of things you'd find in Halo or even more adult-intended games like Spec Ops: The Line. The pleasure of the game (although The Last of Us can be a decidedly unpleasant game to play in places) comes from having the emotional maturity for the themes to really resonate. That's not to say games intended for a younger audience like Uncharted or, why not, Mega Man Zero 3 are inherently lesser because they don't go where The Last of Us goes; rather they're different games and great for different reasons. I love Mega Man Zero 3 and its epic story as much in my mid-twenties as I did at thirteen. I'm looking forward to this new adaption of Dune. I've been meaning to reread the book and it is one of the grandfathers of space opera as we know it. And of course I'm rooting for Villeneuve and I want the movie to be good. But I think this impression that the more romantic takes on genre fiction are childish is, well, childish. A story can be uncomplicated and romantic but still resonate strongly with an adult. And as an adult, sometimes I want a story uncomplicated and romantic.

Pull the lever, Christina WRONG LEVEEEEEEEER!