One of the more offensive points she had was this little gem:
“Those of you who pitch science fiction to wives and girlfriends who do not enjoy it are probably saying something along the following lines: “Space ships! Alien monsters! Men in tights!” Instead, for women who find that sort of thing distasteful, talk about it as a fairy tale–only a fairy tale with science instead of magic. The basic emotional space it taps is the same.”
Yes, that’s right. Sell it as a magical fairy tale populated by melodrama and unicorns and TRUE LOVE CONQUERING ALL! We chicks just eat that shit up like crazy! That and nothing else! For realz.
Um no. Have we seriously not yet passed all this needless gender warring? Or, much like fitting science fiction and fantasy into neat genres and subgenres, do we still seriously maintain as a species that men and women are so fundamentally different that our tastes simply don’t and can’t overlap?
It’s like watching a bad comedien spin his outdated “women are like this, and men are like that” jokes to an audience where one half of it is rolling their eyes, and the other is too stupid to know any better.
And ultimately it’s just a moot point; one that I’m tired of. I’m a woman. I do like romantic plots (and unicorns too, actually) but I also love hard science fiction, and I shouldn’t have to qualify that statement or explain myself.
This chick does a better job than I of explaining why this is so stupid, but I wanted to add my voice to the disconted masses of women wondering where this bullshit stems from.
His five are: The Matrix (1999); Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Incredibles (2004); 12 Monkeys (1995); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
I agree with The Matrix and Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, further on my list of best science fiction films:
Solaris (1972): The original Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky based on the novel Solaris by Polish science fiction author Stanisław Lem. Themes of love, loss, the nature of existence and our memory abound in this gloomy, existential masterpiece. Solaris (1992):Yeah that’s right. Again. Can you tell I’m a huge Solaris fan all around? The 1992 version is directed by Steven Soderbergh, and stars George Clooney. This version focuses too much on the relationship of the leads, but it is a stunning and under-rated film regardless. Read the book, watch the movies, prepare to ponder the mysteries of life and God. Children of Men (2006): directed by Alfonso Cuarón and loosely adapted from P. D. James’s 1992 novel The Children of Men. Starring Clive Owen. Dark City (1998): a science fiction film noir directed by Alex Proyas. I still remember walking out of the theatre after seeing this for the first time with friends. I was 14 and literally disoriented and dizzy, stumbling around the mall, and talking about the implications of humanity and memory and God (I seem big on these themes, don’t I?) this film had introduced to me. Brilliant. Blade Runner (1982): the cyberpunk classic directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford. Eyeballs. Thumbs. Eyeballs and thumbs….
“The desire to define things is a product of one of the more interesting quirks of human neural architecture; the desire for abstraction. This desire expresses itself as a tendency to see the world not in terms of individuals but rather clumps of objects that share characteristics, and which can therefore be expected to behave in similar ways.”
On one hand, the defining of the multitude of subgenres for fantasy and science fiction makes sense: I love to read dark fantasy. I love to read dark fantasy with a more “literary” bent. Therefore, I actively seek out work that’s been defined by critics and readers as such.
But the problem starts, when the lines become blurred, and when the work fits into more than one or two neat categories. That’s when the disagreements start. And they can get heated. But the negative here is that it really can have a limiting effect on a book to define it so narrowly.
So-called “literary fiction” doesn’t really carry any subgenres within it despite the fact that books falling within that particular bent obviously work on different trends much in the same way that genre or commercial fiction does. I mean, how much literary fiction has been published in the last few years pertaining in some way to the immigrant experience in North America? Dozens. At least. And that’s just what I’ve personally managed to read. Browse through a bookstore and you’ll see what I mean. Immigrant fiction is hot. So are stories that focus on a son or daughter relating their parent’s story and unraveling some mystery about them in order to come to a deeper understanding by the end of the novel about their own lives.
These could be construed as subgenres. But literary fiction does not carry any official genre card, unlike fantasy and science fiction which certainly do — and often to a ridiculous extent. Look at the wiki article on fantasy subgenres and science fiction subgenres. It’s absurd almost to the point of farce, and I feel one of the many reasons that the two genres have such a hard time gaining mainstream success or literary accolades. It goes beyond merely helping the potential reader find what they’re looking for and makes books published in the genre seem almost instantly formulaic.
Those of us who are passionate about fantasy and science fiction and who realize what a load of crap the snobbery is are fighting an uphill battle for literary acknowledgement. Especially considering that novels like The Road and The Handmaiden’s Tale, despite their science fiction leanings, would never be labeled thus except by those of us who already read the genre and can point and say — hey pretentious jackass! that is science fiction you’re giving the Nobel to!
And don’t even get me started on “magical realism,” which is essentially fantasy of another name.
But at the end of the day, who does really care and why should we be bothered? Isn’t it really a moot point? An argument no one will ever win? I like to think so.
Think of the possibilities, for both readers and writers of any type, if such strict classification was at least taken less seriously if not outright shunned.
Writing by Jana on Friday, 9 of May , 2008 at 11:49 am
Batman: The Dark Knight, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (working title, I think) and Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Three franchises that I have loved and been border-line obsessed with since I was a small child. Movie-wise, this will be an exciting summer indeed.
Yes, I am a nerd. Thanks for asking.
Batman: The Dark Knight.
I don’t want to talk about Heath Ledger and how this was his last film. The details of his tragic death have been delved into everywhere ad nauseum, and will be brought up again as this movie is officially released. I will say this though, and it has been said before, but you can’t tell it’s Ledger playing Joker. The voice, the character — amazing.
I’ve been a huge Batman fan ever since first coming to Canada at the age of five. I watched the cartoons, I watched the cheesy Adam West show, and I loved the movies. And I was obsessed with Catwoman. I would play pretend like I was her and in my childhood imagination, I commandeered a huge army of cats. Batman and I usually wound up married by the end of my game. Again — I was a child, this isn’t a recent thing!
Like alot of fans, I was hugely disappointed by cartoonish crap the films were becoming; the final straw being the horrible 1997 Batman & Robin, unfortunately starring the luscious and talented Clooney. Really, I felt bad for George, but he should have known better.
When Christopher Nolan took over and made Batman Begins with Christian Bale, I was in love with franchise all over again. It became the best of the bunch for me, and Christian Bale is without a doubt the best actor to ever play Batman.
The X-Files
The X-Files is probably what piqued my interest in Science Fiction. It was another childhood obsession (I was like 8, or something, when it debuted) that I never quite grew out of. I was also one of the crazy internet fans who would argue different conspiracy theories online and argue over inconsistencies and etc.And I’m going to admit now that I may have actually written some fanfiction. May have.
I stopped watching soon after David Duchovny left the show; as a huge part of the success of the series was the amazing partnership between Scully and Mulder.
The X-Files: Fight the Future came out ten years ago; and now, finally, we have the sequel which apparently is based on events between seasons 4 and 7. Not sure as to the truth on that one. There’s alot of secrecy (read: clever marketing) surrounding this one.
Finally, we have Indiana Jones 4: Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. Say all you want about Harrison Ford being too old, but as far as I’m concerned, even at the age of 97 (or whatever) he’s sexier than alot of guys my own age.
Indiana Jones made me want to be an archaeologist; and, even after I grew up and realized that archaeology equalled a decade of post-secondary education, relatively low pay, and mostly desk work, I always cherished the image of the intellectual adventurer discovering long-buried treasure and secrets.
I rarely — if ever –get excited about big blockbuster movies, so these had better not dissapoint.
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