[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Following a devastating nuclear war,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lilith Iyapo awakens\Nafter 200 years of stasis
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to find herself surrounded by a group \Nof aliens called the Oankali.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These highly intelligent beings \Nwant to do something
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they claim will be mutually beneficial:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trade DNA by breeding with humans
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that each species’ genes \Ncan fortify the other.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Should Lilith hold on to her ideas \Nof what it means to be human,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or make a leap into the biological \Nunknown?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These questions haunt Octavia Butler’s Dawn,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first in her trilogy Lilith’s Brood.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A visionary storyteller who upended science fiction,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler built stunning worlds throughout her work–
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and explored dilemmas that keep us awake at night.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Born in 1947,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler grew up shy and introverted in \NPasadena, California.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She dreamt up stories from an early age,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was soon scribbling these scenarios on paper.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At twelve, she begged her mother for a typewriter
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after enduring a campy science fiction film called Devil Girl From Mars.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unimpressed with what she saw,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler knew she could tell a better story.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Much science fiction featured white male heroes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who blasted aliens or were uninvited saviors for brown people.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler wanted to write diverse characters
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and bring nuance and depth to the representation of their experiences,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all while exploring mind-bending scenarios.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For Butler,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,imagination was not only for planting the seeds of science fiction–
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also a strategy for surviving an unjust world on one’s own terms.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Typically, her work takes troubling features of the world
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as discrimination on the basis of race, gender, class, or ability,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and invites the reader to contemplate them in new contexts. \N
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of her most beloved novels,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Parable of the Sower,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,follows this pattern.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as she makes her way through a world \Nruined by corporate greed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inequality, and environmental destruction.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As she struggles with hyperempathy,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or the ability to feel others’ pain,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lauren embarks on a quest with a group \Nof refugees to find a place to thrive.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There, they seek to live in accordance \Nwith Lauren’s found religion, Earthseed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is based on the principle
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that humans must adapt to an \Never-changing world.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Lauren’s quest had roots \Nin a real life event–
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,California Prop 187,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which attempted to deny illegal immigrants\Nfundamental human rights,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before it was deemed unconstitutional.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler frequently incorporated \Ncontemporary news into her writing.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In her 1998 sequel to The Parable of the \NSower, Parable of the Talents,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she wrote of a presidential candidate
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who controls Americans with virtual \Nreality and “shock collars.”
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His slogan? “Make America great again.”
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While people have noted her prescience,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler was also interested in \Nre-examining history.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For instance,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kindred tells the story of a woman
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who is repeatedly pulled back in time
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the Maryland plantation \Nof her ancestors.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Early on, she learns that her mission \Nis to save the life of the white man
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who will rape her great grandmother.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If she doesn’t, she herself \Nwill cease to exist.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This grim dilemma forces Dana to \Nconfront the ongoing trauma
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of slavery and sexual violence \Nagainst Black women.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With her stories of women who \Nfounded new societies,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,time travelers overcoming \Nhistorical strife,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and interspecies bonding,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler had a profound influence on growing\Npopularity of Afrofuturism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s a movement where Black writers and \Nartists who are inspired by the future
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,produce works that incorporate magic, \Nhistory, technology and much more.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And today,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Butler’s work remains a powerful reminder
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that imagination can be a tool \Nfor real change–
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as a rallying call for those who \Nseek other ways to be in the world.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As Lauren comes to learn in \NParable of the Sower,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"All that you touch you Change.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All that you Change Changes you.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The only lasting truth is Change.”