We saw the latest, and probably last, of the Indiana Jones franchise last night. This is gonna be chock full of spoilers as I discuss many aspects of the film. Come back after you’ve seen the movie and let’s discuss!
Archive for the ‘Recommended Media’ Category
Cat Rambo’s “Events at Fort Plentitude”
Weird Tales Jan/Feb 2008 Issue
I haven’t finished the issue by any means (I read ridiculously little right now. It’s a combination of the impending move and having too much work to do), but I wanted to recommend this story, “Events at Fort Plenitude.” The only complaint I have about it was that it wasn’t novella length. The setting is a weird American West, including native tribes and harsh, starving winters. It has buffalo! But also demons in the magic, and royalty in the political structure. It hints at some larger place, one that I would very much like to revisit. Call me a country rube, but I am a sucker for fantasy obviously set in the Midwest. Also for stories told in the diary format. Cat’s a fine writer, and I doubt this is anywhere near her best story, just because of how good she writes, but I enjoyed it for the above reasons. If you like those sorts of things, then you should read it too.
The Mainstreaming of Science Fiction on TV?
Image via Wikipedia
The ABC series Lost is, quite possibly, the most broadly successful science fiction television show yet. While ratings have been on a decline in this, the fourth season, the season’s premiere pulled in 16.07 million viewers. Now, these are Nielsen numbers, which I consider suspect at best, but it shows that the show is very popular, and almost certainly not just with traditional SF fans (those numbers cannot be accounted for purely by fans). Current episodes have dealt openly with science fiction tropes (which I will not name exactly to avoid spoilers). You could argue about the true classification of the show, but it most certainly falls into science fiction, as well as maybe a couple of other genres.
When the show first started, fans knew something was unusual, but that was a bit subtle. Dozens of people had survived a horrific plane crash, landing on a strange island. Compasses don’t work. There’s a weird radio transmission. And there’s a monster in the jungle that nobody can see.
Still, I suppose, many audience members disinclined to like SF could make the case for the show being in the thriller/mystery genre. And it did have a heavy human, more dramatic element in the form of each episode’s character-centric back story arcs. It wasn’t until late season 2 that things really began to take a turn for the speculative. And even then, it was subtle, just a few elements. But as the show has progressed, it’s become clear that the entire foundation of what the show is about is science fiction (or at least science fantasy).
But as each season has gone on, it has been increasingly impossible for even the most determined to deny that Lost is, at its roots, a science fiction show. You could call the techniques they used to grab their audience bait-and-switch, because the show creators introduced the heavy speculative elements slowly. I’d also call it the frog in a pot of boiling water acclimation method.
My coworker, the Lost fan
An anecdote: I have a coworker who hates science fiction. In his words, he likes “real things.” He despises superhero movies, and pretty much everything a SF fan loves. Early on, the show creators of Lost said in an interview that everything presented on the show had a grounding in real science (something that at this point is highly debatable). Still– my coworker clung to this statement like it was a life preserver. It allowed him to keep watching the show no matter how fantastic things got, because it was still somehow “real.” At this point in the fourth season, he’s pissed off, because he realizes that statement was total bullshit. But he’s still watching, and still hooked.
The reason? A good mystery is compelling no matter what other genre tropes you add to the stew of your story. The characters, after 3 complete seasons, are sympathetic and well-known. All the foundations of a good story are there, to the point that, despite my coworker hating everything there is to hate about science fiction, he is still a huge fan of the show.
This is a good example of how genre is becoming the mainstream. For those fans who would like to see the genre remain distinct and separate, I think this turn of events is going to be a massive disappointment. Reviewing the past events of the show, it almost looks as if the show creators deliberately plotted out their introduction of SF tropes to create the frog in a pot of boiling water effect.
What’s especially fantastic in my mind is that Lost hasn’t given us SF-lite. It slowly introduced the elements, yes, but they are not watered down to be more palatable. We have full-fledged weirdness here. This is a show that Charles Fort would watch and clap his hands with glee.
The potential for new fans
By the time Lost completes its arc, there is going to be a whole new audience primed to accept our stranger ideas. New TV shows will come along to take advantage of this, but maybe, just maybe, SF publishers can lure some of them in too. Frankly, you could do worse than adding even 1% of Lost’s fanbase to your readership. You could do a hell of a lot worse.
I’m sure there are downsides to the mainstreaming of SF tropes. It makes us feel less special and unique, maybe. But as a working creative, I will just have to swallow my pride on that one. With this kind of potential for fans out there, it gives me hope that we could actually make a good living telling genre stories, and not just the ones marketed to an aging, increasingly conservative SF fanbase.
But then, maybe I’m all wrong
But then, the decline in ratings that Lost is suffering right now might be an indicator that the broader audience of Lost has been alienated by the speculative aspects of the show. For the week of May 4, the show didn’t even break the top 20. There may be many reasons why this show is falling in the ratings. And even if it is popular by genre show standards, it pales in comparison to reality shows involving dancing and singing.
Battlestar Galactica S4E4 Thoughts
Wow, was there a really big revelation tonight, or am I reading too much into things?
Recommended Reading: The Wreck of the Grampus by Jeremy Adam Smith
Lone Star Stories — The Wreck of the Grampus by Jeremy Adam Smith
“Do you understand the story, you machine? If there is an intrinsic design to the universe, humanity has not been able to find it. We must make our own, and so are most fully human when in situations that are wholly artificial.”
Picking something from this story to quote was not easy. This is one of the best, if not the best science fiction story I have read this year. It has senswunda note after senswunda note–a veritable senswunda orchestra. It has robots and deep philosophical questions and giant undersea creatures. Believable human characters, deeply human in their ways, and some deeply strange. This is a future that does not leave me cold like many post-singularity stories do, which are so common these days. In those stories, you can almost feel the silicon wrapped around you. Not here. There’s so much I want to say, so many surprising bits, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
I think it’s absolutely fantastic, and the author, Jeremy Adam Smith, and Eric Marin, the editor and publisher, should have as many kudos I can throw at them. This is damned good science fiction. Read it. Let me know what you think. Let the editor and author know.
My only problem is, the author’s name is Jeremy. I can’t stand that name!
Viewed: There Will Be Blood
It was okay. I’m mostly just excited that I finally get those “I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE. I DRINK IT UP!” jokes. Those were killing me. I hate being on the outside of a meme-joke
I’m trying to remember the last time Daniel Day “IDRINKYOURMILKSHAKE” Lewis did a piece that didn’t involve him snarling and shouting a lot. My Left Foot?
“Where We Live” by Daniel J. Pinney
Strange Horizons Fiction: Where We Live, by Daniel J. Pinney
Grim, grim, grim–as I’ve come to expect from Strange Horizons lately. A future without hope, and yet, the characters themselves continue to exist. This story is full of telling details. I didn’t have to read the author’s bio to know that he had lived in the Middle East. Every descriptive line speaks with authority.
The character’s life unfolds slowly, in a nonlinear fashion, moving back and forth through time. The protagonist moves through life, ever forward, never hesitating, never despairing, despite the apparent end of the world around him.
The ending–I have to mention the ending–fucking perfect. Absolutely god damned perfect. The scene before it, even more so. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who might read it, and if you read this, go read it.
It builds slow, sets the stage, fleshes it out, piece at a time. It’s horrific, and beautiful. And hopeful. Did I say that?
More, more of this, please. Daniel J. Pinney is going on my “to watch” list, you can bet on that.
“We Love Deena” by Alice Sola Kim
Strange Horizons Fiction: We Love Deena, by Alice Sola Kim, illustration by Hellen JoIt’s the classic tale of love lost, obsessive love. Girl meet edgy girl, who kills people professionally for the government. Girl loses edgy girl. Girl possesses half the other women on the planet attempting to seduce edgy girl once more. Haven’t we read this one a million times before?
Well, no, actually. This is actually pretty good. The protagonist is believable, even sympathetic in her stalker ways. The story moves along at a very nice clip, and it ends in the only way it could. I’ve never heard of Alice Sola Kim before, but I will be looking forward to more.
Still have that death obsession going a little, Strange Horizons. This story was perky, but still kinda dark and twisted like everything else lately.
Favorite Films of 2006
This is not a year end review post. Okay, maybe a little.6. The Fountain. Winner of the 2006 Cohen Brothers Cinemagraphic Award Usually Reserved For the Actual Cohen Brothers When They Can Be Bothered To Make a Film. This is on the list because it was very pretty to look at, even if the plot left me sleepy. I still like watching Rachel Weis very much, but my patience is wearing thin for Hugh Jackman. He can act, so why doesn’t he?
5. Hollywoodland. The movie that reminded me why I used to like Ben Affleck, and the movie that was to L.A. what Black Dahlia really wanted to be. I was drawn into the mystery, left wondering what had really happened to the man who was superman, the man who killed himself with a Nazi pistol. Or did he?
4. Little Miss Sunshine Steve Carrell is worth watching in anything except The Office. I can’t get into that show because it is too realistic and I like my television to be a reprieve from the reality of office labor. Lest I focus on his small roll too much, all of the actors in this film put in a great performance. I still hate Greg Kinnear, but he plays parts that want me to, so that’s probably a compliment to him. Has Kinnear ever played a sympathetic character? He’s like that popular guy from high school who was always nice to you in person, but you knew he really didn’t like you, he just wanted your vote for student body president. Everybody knew that guy, right? No? Just me? Moving on then.
3. The Prestige. The actors were all drained of their emotions via a special process prior to filming, but I really enjoyed this for the setting, for the subject matter, and for the plot. It had a few small problems, but I was thrilled anyway. Christian Bale is really creepy, like, always. I imagine that children are especially frightened of him. I wonder if this bothers him?
2. Casino Royale. How weird is it that my second favorite movie of the year as of thinking right now was a James Bond movie that everyone seemed to think was doomed to fail? Sure, it needed about 15 minutes of poker-playing cut from it, and more (LOTS MORE) naked Eva Green (thank you, Mr. Internet, for making up for this deficiency in my celebrity nudity diet), but I loved how it took the Bond standards and turned them on their heads. I especially liked the car chase.
1. Brick. Jesus, that kid from Third Rock from the Sun can act. Noir dialogue plus crazy teen actors with mad skills plus high school setting equals, I dunno, usually I would say a really bad high school production of The Big Sleep. Instead, we have Brick, which mesmerized me completely. I want to make movies like this some day.
Movies I have yet to see but am sure will be added to the list:
Pan’s Labyrinth
Children of Men
Volver
The Queen
Overlord
Thank You For Smoking
Art Is About the Lonliness of Sentience, Especially SF
f you haven’t read it already, I recommend you go check out Jetse de Vries’ story in Clarkeworld today, “Qubit Conflicts.” I am kind of spoiling part of it here in this post, so if you are against that kind of thing, go read the story and then come back here.Interesting, wasn’t it? I like the unconventional stories, that take risks with not having conventional characters and storylines. I can’t write them, but I love reading them. Anyway, the ending of this story, I think, could be read as an interesting response to some of the ideas of Mundane SF. And it gets to something that I am only just now picking up on, which is maybe what purpose art serves and why we create art at all.
The end of the story has this super intelligent singularity AI remarking on how maybe it was a mistake to set a thinking pace so fast (Planck speed), and ultimately how lonely it is, waiting for aliens to contact it. And it got me thinking about something I read recently, a quote of the late great Kurt Vonnegut, about how every being needs to be reminded that they are not alone, that there are others like them out there.
I think there’s something inherent about the nature of our sentience that brings along a certain loneliness. I can’t quite put my finger on why being able to think and being self-aware means that we pine for the minds of others, to know them, but we do. Maybe it’s a side effect of being the evolutionary end product of a social species. Maybe a sentient solitary predator wouldn’t have this problem, and it’s only a peculiar side effect of our own sentience. But any sentient creations of ours will have this problem, as Jetse seems to convey. I think I agree with that. Their intelligence, while artificial, will be modeled after ours. And we definitely seem to be lonely, every one of us, and I think we create and consume art because it soothes that fear that we’re alone. We get to, through a complex invented system thousands of years in the making, enter the mind of another being. No matter what the narrative is, there is that, in the background, that comfort.
And SF takes that them and makes it explicit in tales of the extraterrestrial. Fantasy does the same thing. Honestly, I don’t find SF/F that completely rules out the idea of the Other Mind very satisfying. It can be compelling and entertaining, but aliens and elves and all of it, they are a salve that we have invented to soothe a pain of which we’re barely aware.
Oh no. What if our species is the Emo Kid of the Galactic Lunchroom?
