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I've been taking in more Asimov/Bradbury/PKD sci-fi tales over the past year, and I've discovered something kinda depressing.
It bugs me if something was written in, say, 1950 and has a line in it like," The Venus colony radioed Earth to send assistance, but everyone on Venus knew of the prophecy. They knew that on June 22nd, 1991 that the rocket carrying vital foodstuffs and surgical robots would get hit by a meteor en route to Venus."
What bugs me about it isn't in the plot or the syntax or in the author's ideas of what technologies would be commonplace in the future. What bugs me is that sense of, "All of us who are currently alive in real life must be totally incompetent, because we were supposed to have colonized other planets before a date that already passed."
It's one thing to balk at tales of Katrina and Iraq and Myanmar and child abuse in the daily news while wondering where our flying cars and rocket belts are. It's another thing when you get the impression that decades ago, when the sci-fi literary greats were writing their tales, that the rest of us dropped the ball.
"I know we're low on atomic fuel, but we've got to go back and save those villagers!"
"Affirmative. Nobody should have to drown in a flood. We're not animals. This isn't 572 A.D. This is 1972!"
Ouch.
It bugs me if something was written in, say, 1950 and has a line in it like," The Venus colony radioed Earth to send assistance, but everyone on Venus knew of the prophecy. They knew that on June 22nd, 1991 that the rocket carrying vital foodstuffs and surgical robots would get hit by a meteor en route to Venus."
What bugs me about it isn't in the plot or the syntax or in the author's ideas of what technologies would be commonplace in the future. What bugs me is that sense of, "All of us who are currently alive in real life must be totally incompetent, because we were supposed to have colonized other planets before a date that already passed."
It's one thing to balk at tales of Katrina and Iraq and Myanmar and child abuse in the daily news while wondering where our flying cars and rocket belts are. It's another thing when you get the impression that decades ago, when the sci-fi literary greats were writing their tales, that the rest of us dropped the ball.
"I know we're low on atomic fuel, but we've got to go back and save those villagers!"
"Affirmative. Nobody should have to drown in a flood. We're not animals. This isn't 572 A.D. This is 1972!"
Ouch.
What Do Characters Think When the Book Closes?
I wonder if the characters from my favorite cancelled t.v. shows or RPG campaigns ever look up into their skies and have this sense that the stars over their heads went black, that the book cover was closed for the last time, that their existence was entombed and forgotten in a box underneath the stairs? Or put another way… Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5 “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Iron Mask Deserves More Love
I rented Iron Mask (2019). If its title doesn't ring a bell, Iron Mask is the American title of the adventure/fantasy movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger is dressed as a British redcoat while warning Jackie Chan that no one escapes the Tower of London. It might not win Oscars, but it's happy with what it is. Is Iron Mask for everybody? Nope. (Some people still dislike Star Wars.) Iron Mask is hard to classify, but it reminded me of a mix among: Around the World in 80 Days, Big Trouble in Little China, Detective Dee, The Princess Bride, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor of Thieves, and Xena: Warrior Princess. Note: while my own political views regarding Putin and Xi might ordinary detract from a film which was made in Russia and The People's Republic of China, I DO think this movie deserves more love. All politics aside, I like Iron Mask. (It was also filmed in the Czech Republic, which is one of the few countries in the world that still seems to not hate my country. Thank you, Czech
My Muse Is Too Far Ahead of Me
It could be the harsher-than-usual winter weather which is sabotaging my artistic productivity in recent weeks, but I've had a frustrating type of art block where I ironically do know what I want to create. I'm inspired by someone whose work I admire, but I don't have the skills or the gear to do what that artist does. When I have time off to sit down and work on the art project I have in mind, it just ends up being busywork where all I get out of it is a reminder that I will never get anywhere close to the level of the artist whose work inspires me. It's like I'm firing a gun with no bullets. "Oh, look! That shot would have been a bullseye if I actually had bullets. Or a gun." (Then you didn't actually get a bullseye, did you?) There's this frustration where every time I'm driving or walking somewhere through the snow, I'm thinking about the art project, but when I sat down to work on it, it was a waste of everyone's time. I hate that.
Atheists and Christians and Soup
Y'know, I'll bet that when YouTube and TikTok atheists complain about organized religion, they're forgetting that back in the day, a major selling point of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (in chronological order) was, "Our God doesn't do human sacrifices." That was a really good deal in comparison to the competition! Unfortunately, I think this benefit of no-human-sacrifices stopped being appreciated several centuries ago. In 2023 A.D., it's like seeing an ingredients label which states, "This can of vegetable soup was not built with lead solder or radioactive cesium," or, "This physician washes his hands, with soap!" or, "This day care center promises to not sell your children while you're at work." I think monotheism gets a bum rap nowadays.
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I think that is part of the reason I have trouble with picking up certain older sci-fi books. Even watching old sci-fi movies (thank you MST3K) can be kind of painful, because I keep thinking we screwed up somewhere and have become technologically stunted.
I went from being excited about the idea of flying cars and meal capsules to fearing my own mortality because I will likely die before I get to see any technological advances that come remotely close to the stuff our predecessors were thinking of.
I went from being excited about the idea of flying cars and meal capsules to fearing my own mortality because I will likely die before I get to see any technological advances that come remotely close to the stuff our predecessors were thinking of.