[Lee Jong-gil's Autumn Return] If Absurd SF Movie Writers Majored in Science...

Dan Kobolt's 'Science Guide for Genre Writers'

A Guide to Avoiding Errors... The Drama 'Dark Matter' Cited as a Typical Example of Waste Management

If the Inefficient Future Incinerator Had Been Properly Designed, the Protagonist Would Not Have Faced Deadly Danger

The upcoming movie 'Space Sweepers' is a rare SF film in Chungmuro. The setting is the year 2092. Earth has become so devastated that people cannot live without oxygen masks and goggles. The space development company UTS establishes habitats in satellite orbits and grants citizenship to only 5% of humanity. The rest survive on Earth or work as space laborers like Taeho (Song Joong-ki) and Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri). They ride a garbage cleaning ship to collect decommissioned satellites or lost space shuttles.

Director Jo Sung-hee said at the production briefing, "We depicted a world completely different from now, based on imagination rather than verification." This raised doubts about whether it was just a baseless, absurd story without scientific grounds. For an SF film to appear realistic, it must be grounded in a basic understanding and knowledge of science. Technical aspects such as current advanced technologies must be portrayed convincingly to enhance the story's power.

Movie 'Seungriho' Still Cut

There are not many films in Hollywood that meticulously check scientific facts either. Even regarding space debris, there is almost no consideration of waste management. It only appears as a background element or as a detail indicating a changed society.

The trash compactor in the 'Star Wars' series is a representative example. The Millennium Falcon, piloted by Han Solo (Harrison Ford), hides within trash discarded by a Star Destroyer. However, in a closed system like a space station or spaceship, it is impossible to dump that amount of material into space. Matter is not infinite.

The waste disposal system installed on the U.S.S. Enterprise in 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' (2013) is also a flawed setting. Huge amounts of waste must be recycled onboard or stored to be recycled at planetary bases. It can be easily sent back to Earth on shuttles. Yet, dumping it into orbit requires enormous costs.

Movie still cut from 'Wall-E'

Unreasonable settings abound even in 'WALL-E' (2008), where a waste collection robot is the protagonist. If a spaceship had been humanity's only home for over 700 years, how could so much trash be dumped into space? The amount of material discarded in space would be comparable to the spaceship's weight after just ten years.

'The Science Guide for Genre Writers' is a guide that helps writers who are not science majors avoid such errors. Dan Koboldt, a geneticist and SF novelist, compiled it with fellow scientists by field. It explains expert knowledge in an easy-to-understand way and informs what related topics can be addressed. It provides various examples and guides writers to avoid pitfalls.

In waste management, the Canadian drama 'Dark Matter,' which began airing in 2015, is cited as a wrong example. It tells the story of people who wake up on a spaceship with lost memories and escape danger. Some of them work in the waste disposal department. They sort recyclable trash and send the rest to an incinerator. Trash is placed on a conveyor belt and sorted manually. 'The Science Guide for Genre Writers' points out this is a "rather outdated method."

"The remaining trash is loaded onto carts and sent to a large incineration room. This is absurdly inefficient. Then, naturally, someone closes the door, traps them inside, and operates the incinerator. Who designed such a system? Did they not study the risks and operability during design? What kind of mad person would design a system where the operator is likely to die?"

Drama 'Dark Matter' still cut

A waste system designed to put operators in danger cannot exist. Almost all systems have safety devices. Boilers are no different. Opening a safety valve allows safe ventilation. Even if it fails, a rupture disk lowers pressure and vents steam.

Carelessly designing a future incinerator like in 'Dark Matter' and throwing the protagonist into deadly danger is reckless. If the writer were the designer, could such a system have come about? There are plenty of plausible ways to threaten the protagonist.