Why are so many fathers in sci fi
Assholes? Like, just terrible, terrible men?
Vader sliced his son’s hand off and
Starlord’s Dad tried to turn him into a battery
Oscar Wao’s dad was never there.
And I guess I ask these things because
I watch these movies and read these books
And wish that, just once, Luke might say,
“I might’ve beat the Emperor quickly
If I had two hands!”
Or Oscar might finally find his father and ask,
“Why didn’t you stick around
And teach me how to throw a punch?”
That, just once, the chips might hold their
Rolling stones still enough
To see them
Hear them
Force them to reckon with the Dad-shaped holes
In their personal narratives.
To hold them accountable
For the rest of us.
Me and Baby M. Riverside, CA. October 2017. Credit: Carrell Jamilano