Octavia Butler

Octavia E. Butler

June 22, 2017 — Leave a comment

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Tomorrow on what would have been Octavia Butler’s 70th birthday, The Huntington Library is hosting the Octavia E. Butler Studies: Convergence of an Expanding Field.  In honor of the conference.  Here is a link to fascinating factoids about Ms. Butler:

https://theportalist.com/15-fascinating-facts-about-octavia-butler

I love B sci fi movies and I love the fact that a terrible movie help inspired a notable career.

“At 12, Butler saw Devil Girl from Mars (1954) on TV, a movie about a Martian woman sent to Earth to capture human males and replenish her own planet’s dwindling male population. Butler knew she could write better sci-fi, and would later say the movie inspired her first forays into fiction”

For information on the conference here

The title says it all

January 17, 2012 — 3 Comments

 

 

Why Hasn’t Octavia Butler’s Work Been Adapted

In a town that loves adaptations, it’s a shame that no one has embraced the fascinating stories told by one of our nation’s unique writers: Octavia Butler.  As a fan of both Octavia Butler and Sci Fi, I would love to see the disturbing tale of Fledgling brought to the big screen.  An original vampire tale regarding Shori, a 53 years old vampire who looks 10.  With the success of the Twilight series, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, it’s surprising that no one in Hollywood willing to take a change an bring this character to life.

I would love to see a character who looks just like me moving through time and space.  There is still some trepidation in Hollywood to feature a sci-fi movie featuring a person of color, who is not Will Smith? Can’t you imagine Tarji P. Henson or Thandie Newton starting in Kindred – the time traveling tale dealing with slavery and familial connections.

Tyler Perry has the means and resources, namely his own studio, to take a chance a tackle one of Ms. Butler’s complex.  There is an audience for this material.  Racialicous has started a book club devoted to her works Octavia Butler Book Club. To quote Field of Dreams “Build it and they will come.”