The Letters to the Editor department is intended to be a forum for our readers to express their own opinions and ideas. While we appreciate the many complimentary letters we receive each day, you won't find them on this page. Instead, you will find letters that go beyond or even contradict what we have written, letters that offer a different perspective and provide a different view of science fiction. If you would like to submit a letter, please use our feedback form or send a message to scifiweekly@scifi.com.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
You gave coverage to Y2K?
'm surprised that you'd even bother giving coverage to the
made-for-TV disaster flick Y2K. I certainly don't plan to justify the
existence of such a travesty by watching it. I have far better things to do
with my time (such as making sure my own computer clocks all roll over
gracefully).
The mere existence of such a movie serves only to illustrate a
point that
I think cannot be made strongly enough: That the real "damage" of the Year 2000
rollover is going to come from unfounded and hysterical fear rather than
massive systems failure.
Speaking as an electronics engineering student, with the added
benefit of
20-plus years of hands-on experience in the field, I think I can speak with
confidence in saying the following:
Yes, there will be glitches. That's inevitable. Do I believe that
F-18s
and passenger jets are going to drop out of the sky, as so dramatically
portrayed in the movie? No! Don't be silly. No aircraft maker in their
right mind would tie the functionality of primary flight controls to
date-sensitive equipment, especially with military aircraft.
Besides, basic manual navigation is required training for every
single
pilot. I know: I went through it myself. Every airplane driver or jet
jockey I've ever met knows at least enough basic visual navigation to get
themselves safely down if something does go flooey.
Do I believe there are going to be widespread power blackouts? No!
Remember, the very people that own, or are majority shareholders in power
companies, are just as dependent on the product in their possession as we
are. It is in their own best interests to make sure that whatever plant
they control is ready to handle the date change.
Do I believe that humans are, at the drop of a millennial hat,
capable of
totally abandoning reason, logic, and any vestige of common sense that
they've either gotten from God or learned along the way? Absolutely! That's
why I'm staying quietly at home on New Year's Eve.
The millennial rollover is nothing more than a date change, no
matter how many greedy and irresponsible Hollywood producers try to
convince you otherwise.
Bruce Lane
kyrrin@bluefeathertech.com
Exposing The Pokémon Conspiracy
bviously we've all probably heard a lot about the Pokémon craze that's going around. I realize that your Pokémon: The First Movie reviewer did his best to present it in an unbiased fashion, but I disagree strongly and feel that some context is required to deliver a real verdict on the Pokémon franchise.
I didn't mind Pokémon all that much until your reviewer Tasha Robinson, in her review of the first Pokémon episode on tape, took some time to point out what's wrong with this entire franchise. The very phrase "gotta catch 'em all" makes it clear--the more Pokémon you own, the cooler you are. This is more than your usual little-kid craze of the week--this is pervasive and reaches deep into every form of entertainment available to children these days. Movies, cartoons, video games, plush toys--it's all there. It's sickening. The commercialism is so blatant that it's ridiculous. This is something constructed from the ground up by big thinkers at Nintendo to appeal to children in every culture possible, in every possible way, in every possible facet of entertainment. Usually franchises start in one area and build their way into others. Not Pokémon. Pokémon was expertly crafted, engineered, and targeted, and it shows.
I've heard arguments that we should forgive Pokémon because it's bringing anime to the American mainstream. Well, if this is pop-culture anime, I'll keep my Neon Genesis: Evangelion, thanks very much. If Pokémon: The First Movie is Akira, then I'm Mickey Mouse.
Brian Guthrie
Radagast4@home.com
Pokémon Isn't Difficult For Newcomers
almost hate to admit this, but I really enjoyed Pokémon: The First Movie. Having a child to take gave me a reason to see what all the hype was about, and I'm glad I did.
After sitting through many, many, many Disney et al movies, I was so happy to be entertained by something other than singing chipmunks, birds, mice (you get the picture). It was also nice not to see stereotypical blonde, blue-eyed characters. (No offense to blonde, blue-eyed readers.) The animation was fantastic (as any anime lover will tell you) and the story line kept my attention.
Perhaps the moral was a little too obvious, but it was an important statement for both the kids and adults.
All in all, I enjoyed the movie (I could have done without "Pikachu's Vacation," however) and although a little lost in the beginning, any true SF reader shouldn't have a hard time picking up on the background.
I don't even mind buying a Pikachu or two for Christmas.
Mary Puls
menoly@email.msn.com
Pokémon's Message Is Clear
our reviewer took issue with the message from Pokémon: The First Movie, stating "The movie's attempt to inject a moral lesson is also a major stumbling block, coughing up a thin and contradictory message about how it's wrong to fight. At least, it's wrong sometimes (because that's what Pokémon do, they fight)."
But he seemed to miss the real message of racial harmony. One of the characters who refused to fight his clone said something like "Maybe we should stop looking at what's different about us and start looking at what we have in common."
Later, a major character says "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it's what you decide to do with your life that's important," or something close to that. I don't think Dr. Stephen Covey could have put it better.
As for the message about fighting, the difference between the competition battles that the trained Pokémon partake in and the battles the cloned Pokémon participate in is that the trained Pokémon have a loving, trusting relationship with their trainers, and fight willingly, and only for a knockout. The cloned Pokémon are humiliatingly forced by their psychic master to fight to the death, (fortunately, no Pokémon were harmed in the filming of this motion picture).
I took my kids to see the film only because they are crazy about Pokémon, but I feel the message of the film is something all of us would do well to take to heart.
Mike Berger
mike_berger@yahoo.com
Mononoke Heralds A New Animation Age
s a fan of both animation and SF/fantasy, I'd like to thank everyone involved in Princess Mononoke's success, from its creator Hayao Miyazaki to Neil Gaiman to the Hollywood actors who lent their voices, to moviegoers who spent their money in support of this groundbreaking work. Groundbreaking? Okay, not exactly groundbreaking in the sense that a film of this type has never been made before, but groundbreaking in its acceptance into mainstream American cinema (mostly due to the Hollywood involvement I suspect). But thanks to its success, maybe now movie studios, actors and writers will be able to see animation as a legitimate medium for compelling cinematic storytelling.
Sure, American animation has made some very impressive strides in the past several years with such shows as Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, and others that have incorporated serious themes, rich characters and imaginative settings. But still, these shows haven't a chance of breaking out of the half-hour format (except for the occasional straight-to-video movie). And the only obvious place to put the blame for that is, of course, Disney, which has made "animated movie" synonymous with "musical fairytale"! It's my theory that The Iron Giant's failure at the box office was probably due to its choice not to capitalize on a grandiose, diva-studded soundtrack. But it's always easy to blame Disney for...everything. It's almost always a two-way street: We see them, because they make them, because we see them, and so on.
Hopefully more people will see movies like Princess Mononoke so they will continue to make more like it...or others completely different from anything we've seen before.
Andy Brown
galactor@hotmail.com
Will Hamilton Be In Terminator Films?
o, they want to do two more Terminator films back to back. I hear there's no Cameron and no Arnie.
What about Linda Hamilton? Was she not the main character, the person the story was really centered around? Without her contribution to the movies, there would be no story, not really.
Linda did a fantastic job of placing a strong woman in the lead and upping the status of women in science fiction, and then everybody just ignores her.
I'm sick of watching, reading, hearing about the usual boring role women have taken in science fiction: the sex kitten type or the amazon women, who are still, of course, "very sexy." Sure Linda was pumped in the movie, but it wasn't the usual kind of thing we see women doing, and it was good. Have we forgotten that she practically made T2 what it was...good?
So, I want to know, is Linda Hamilton into it or not? I've heard enough about John and Arnie.
Jennifer MacDonald
sacro@startrekmail.com
Wonder Woman Needs Strength, Poise
ohen and company are missing the point regarding Wonder Woman. The
Amazonian princess we grew up with should be played by
someone who can command respect the minute she walks into a
room. Sandra Bullock's image lies in the realm of put-upon
female protagonist, not heroic savior-of-the-day. This [potential]
casting sounds like something Joel Schumacher would come up with,
and we all know how he likes to portray women.
Since she's already playing a similar part, Lucy Lawless
should be out of the running for this. So who's left that
has the box-office potential, the looks and the experience
in action films, as well as presence? Can you picture Catherine Zeta-Jones in red, white, and blue?
Linda Stoops
jassmoris@yahoo.com
Coincidence Dilutes Star Wars Novels
he Star Wars novels have, for the most part, diluted the epic nature of that universe so masterfuly crafted by George Lucas. New writers, many of then highly talented, have fallen short of the lofty goals that they have set out to achieve. Overused plot devices (super weapons capable of obliterating something bigger than the last one) have all but destroyed any originality of script. The planet of origin list needs to be increased vastly. Not everyone needs to come from Corellia, Alderaan, or Tatooine. Not every character needs to be sensitive to the Force. The galaxy does not need to be threatened every other week. Continued cosmic menacing only defaces the value of all threats, small or wide scale.
Most importantly, retire the Heroes of Yavin. The have earned their rest. They fought valiantly and now it's time to pass the torch on to a younger, less capable, more interesting crowd. And for sanity's sake, everyone's background does not need to intersect with everyone else's. It was neat the first time you found out a character went to the Academy with Han, but enough is enough. Not everyone has to know each other. Last, and most importantly, Chewbacca is dead. Sometimes bad things happen to the people we love. That's part of life. Ask Luke and Leia. Next time aim for Lando. Please.
Philip Wielgus
twielgus@mail.netnitco.net
The X-Files Has Broken All Its Rules
have just watched part two of The X-Files's
season opener (part three of the three-parter). I feared
this extended episode would be a major disappointment,
and my fears have been mainly confirmed.
First, the mixing of
religious/visionary experiences with SF is something
almost never done well, and here it leaves the
viewer with the impression that he or she no longer
knows what to believe or what is real, or that things
can be tied together in any story-rational way.
In a sense, the rules of the story have been
washed away. Ironically, Scully herself complains
about this at the end of the three-parter.
To put it in another context, this mixing of genres
leaves me with the same feeling I would get from
reading a story where Satan returns to claim
the world but is destroyed by a hero directing a
laser-wielding robot. The feel of story unity is
lost--completely.
The second major complaint I have about The X-Files
season opener
is something I've noticed for a while now. Whenever
an X-Files mythos episode is run, Scully and Mulder
are no longer protagonists. They're either victims
or spectators. Nothing they do makes any difference
any longer. And I say, to maintain a good story,
you've got to have at least one strong protagonist
whose actions periodically mean something.
Joe Erhardt
jmegsc@erols.com
Make Galactica Prequels Instead
f a new Battlestar Galactica series is ever made, I'd rather it be a prequel to the original. I'm not interested in that "rag-tag fugitive fleet" crap. I'd rather see something like Captain Adama in command of the Galactica, with all the other Battlestars still around fighting the first wars against the Cylons. I think that way there's a better chance for episodes like "Fire in the Sky," where a Cylon fighter, loaded with explosives, crashes in one of the Galactica's landing bays, and fire spreads through the ship. However they bring back the show, I hope the Cylons look and sound like they did in the original series. When they remade Godzilla, I was hoping they would at least make him have the same roar (one of my favorite sound effects) from the Japanese movies, and they did. I hope whoever makes a new Battlestar Galactica does the same thing with the Cylons.
Chris Kidd
cckidd@yahoo.com
People Will Watch More Star Trek
think a new Star Trek series is a wonderful idea. Those people who negatively criticize the franchise and the paths they choose should come out of their homes more often and take in some fresh air. Making money on the franchise has nothing to do with the scope of the Star Trek universe. If the show didn't spark our imagination and gain our interests, we would spend our time and money elsewhere. We choose to spend our energy in this realm because it is what we simply enjoy. A new series would keep the new adventures alive. Have people forgotten the times in the early seventies when we dreamed of a new Star Trek series or movie? Well that dream came true in a big way. So if Paramount wants to make more dreams come true, just keep the new stuff coming. We will watch and buy more. Don't listen to the few negative people that want Paramount to focus on a different futuristic series. The concept of continuing the Star Trek futuristic ideology is a wonderful and powerful thing. When you view these shows, the familiarity of the series really brings the viewers into the show as if they are really part of the adventure, since we have all experienced the adventures together. That's a good feeling, and what is wrong with feeling good?
We are one big happy family, Miserable siblings should just leave and wait every eight years for a re-edited version of an old Star Wars movie with three minutes of extra footage.
Mike Ajlouny
macpross@aol.com
Only The Borg Make Practical Villains
suppose I ought to get my two cents in about Star Trek: Voyager before the Y2K bug wipes us all out. Someone complained recently that there is no foil for Captain Janeway week after week. I agree with this, but I don't see how there can be. After all, Voyager is constantly traveling away from their foes as they head home. You would need someone who really has it in for Voyager to pursue them all the way to the Alpha Quadrant. The Borg make good villains because of their "collective." Since they share the same thoughts, fighting new Borg is just like fighting the Borg you fought before. To me, they are the only villains that are practical for Janeway to face week after week.
I think the whole idea of Voyager trying to get back to Earth doomed the show. (Of course, there were some great ideas like having Starfleet and the Maquis on the same ship that were never realized, but that's another letter.) Kate Mulgrew said in an interview that she thought Voyager might make it home a season or so before Voyager ends. I think they could do a lot with that. Then, they could have a recurring villain.
That's my thought on the subject. I think Voyager could still have a great finish if they make it home soon.
Aaron Smith
cyric@angelfire.com
