Science Fiction has become a poisoned well . .

7-27-06 | Marc Costanzo

[marc costanzo]

The essay below was originally written in the early Spring of 2001:

With the passing away of LEXX ends an intriguing albeit tawdry experiment in Sci-fantasy. One that breaks with conventions, or should I say cliches of TV sci-fi of the 90's . The politically correct pabulum, the multicultural indoctrination, the BladeRunner motifs, and not the least; the steroid mutated superbabes that can punch the lights out of men, but never get punched back in return !?

How about creating a new sci-fi anthology with none of the puerile baggage of Rod Serling, Rockne Obannon, Michael J. Stracinsky, etc .. It is time to end their reign of un-American cynicism and fatalism !

[marc costanzo]

Let us create a future of infinite possibilities devoid of the agenda of the social engineers who work their corruption on us thru the one way world of television . A world where anything is possible , but not everything is possible . Anything can happen , but not all things can happen at once . That is what 'Time' is for , to keep all things from happening at the same moment . That shall be the only rule of our new fantasy world . That an event happens only once . What has been done , cannot be undone . There is no turning back the sands of time . You can review the past but you cannot change the past . That a vision of a possible future - to the present , must be taken in the context of the present . A Cosmos not governed by compassion or tolerance or equality , but common sense and merit . A Universe of strange and totally new lifeforms and not distorted reflections of human characters , just to make some social allegory ---- THAT is the insipid barren road of Political Correctness that Sci-fi entertainment has been a slave to for so many years . The future is not the current events of our world thrown into Outer Space . The future is not with the Liberals , not with the Multiculturalists (both hate America) , and it is certainly not to be found in some cheapo TV production made in Canada ! The future is not written , the future is unformed . . .

[EveningStar]

ping

[cripplecreek]

I liked LEXX. That was one bizarre show. It's where I learned what a "fluffer" is.

[marc costanzo]

That Canadian series LEXX I now realize is another example of Canadians ripping off someone else's ideas(for once, not one of ours) .

The British series RED DWARF was first, and better .

It started out as a comedy stage act on UK TV, then became more Sci-Fi . .

And yes, I had a guilty pleasure of liking that bizarre show too !

[Conan the Librarian]

Red Dwarf is playing again here in Georgia!

Smegg off!

[marc costanzo]

>>I liked LEXX. That was one bizarre show. It's where I learned what a "fluffer" is.<<

You are talking about the last season, the episodes that take place on earth and Stanley Tweedle gets a job in the porn industry . .

[Phsstpok]

The recently departed Jim Baen will provide you a source for science fiction that you can identify with. And the first "fix" in the free library is, in fact, free.  Like all good capitalists they don't give it away out of the goodness of their heart.  They assume that you'll get hooked on their authors and series and buy more from them.  Clever them.  They've got me buying the books as "advanced reader copies" ebooks even before they've finished proof reading them.

http://www.baen.com/

I suggest all the stuff by Ringo, the Niven/Pournelle collaboration Angel's Down, the stuff by Rick Cook, Eric Flint's 1632 universe and the Honor Harrington books.  I think you'll be pleased.

[marc costanzo]

What are you ? A GIT :-)

[cripplecreek]

I wanted to visit Potatoho.

[Perdogg]

Maybe they should make a series based on Heinlein's Lazarous Long character.

[IronJack]

I think it's amusing that everything that passes for science fiction these days is dystopian. It's all this angst-ridden bleakness that belies man's innate stubborness, the parasitic persistence that causes him to defile one creation after another, only to create yet another. But in the PC future, there is no light, only tunnel.

[KevinDavis]

[LRS]

*Sigh!* In a better universe, there would have been an anthology series "Tales of Known Space", with installments of Gil 'The Arm' Hamilton, Beowulf Shaeffer, and Man/Kizn Wars...

[mark_interrupted]

Robert Heinlein

[DBrow]

I liked Firefly. Never saw it on TV but I have all the episodes on disc.

No "aliens" with latex glommed on their faces, no space monsters or exploding suns, but it was a western in the old tradition, people dealing with people problems, but in a ship named Serenity.

I never saw LEXX, though, is it worth the effort?

[BlazingArizona]

How about creating a new sci-fi anthology with none of the puerile baggage of Rod Serling, Rockne Obannon, Michael J. Stracinsky, etc .. It is time to end their reign of un-American cynicism and fatalism !

We can all dream about "The Jerry Pournelle Theater", but good luck trying to interest anyone in Hollywood in such a concept.

On the other hand, improving video technology is steadily reducing the cost of production, while the Internet is reducing the cost of marketing. Is there a TV Rutan in our future?

[marc costanzo]

>>I suggest all the stuff by Ringo, the Niven/Pournelle collaboration Angel's Down, the stuff by Rick Cook, Eric Flint's 1632 universe and the Honor Harrington books. I think you'll be pleased.
<<

Oh really ?

I have only read the works and short stories of:

H G Wells
EE Doc Smith
Larry Niven
Robert Heinlein
AE van Vogt
Issac Asimov(Second Foundation, History of the Greeks)
Edgar Allen Poe(Facts in the Case of Mr Valdemaar)
John W Cambell Jr(Who Goes There?)
Arthur C. Clarke(Exile of the Eons)
Dean R Koontz (Phantoms)

[Dr Stormfist]

What gets my blood boiling is the Sci-Fi channel is billed as Sci-Fi...why do they constantly show horror films. If that's what they want to do...then CREATE a horror channel.

Put on episodes of the Dark Knight, Poltergeist, Nightstalker, etc...even Ghost Hunters.

[sionnsar]

I have no idea what "LEXX" is, but my perception (and I admit to having moved to the periphery over the past few decades) is that Science Fiction in a written medium is alive and well.

Whether it lives on in the video world -- well, I can't say and I don't care, but I will say that well over 90% of I see in SF movies... leaves me cold. It's shallow, it plays to what the producers think is "today's market" (right or wrong, at best it soon becomes "yesterday's market") and most of it is best ignored.

I'd like to have a copy of the "original" "War of the Worlds" in my DVD collection. The last remake.. forget it.

"When Worlds Collide" is there, proudly. (Did they ever do "After Worlds Collide" by Wylie & Co?)

And the weeklies.. well. several years I got so bored by the Star Trek follow-ons I quit watching broadcast teeeeheeeeveeee entirely. I think I turned the tube on early this year to watch the Rose? Super? Cereal? Sugar? Finger? bowl -- but I'm not sure which nor when.

[marc costanzo]

Can't, it was destroyed by Mantred's drone arms !