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
Bicentennial Avoided Mork and Mindy
think Melissa Perenson did a fine job of reviewing the film Bicentennial Man. It is unfortunate that she limits her comments and comparisons regarding the written material on which the movie is supposedly based to a single paragraph. And it is on this written material that the movie both succeeds and fails.
I was terrified that with the casting of Robin Williams, and the direction the commercials seemed to take us, that we were going to be subjected to a robotic Mork and Mindy. Thankfully not.
The movie would imply that Little Miss did not love Andrew during her adulthood, but the short story brings them closer together without the clumsy tool the movie uses of sexual encounters between Andrew and Portia, Little Miss' granddaughter.
I agree with Perenson that the script was weak and the cast was strong. And I would still recommend the public go see the film for the parts of the production that are true to the story, and for the cast when it is not.
Mark Fingerman
fingerman@mindspring.com
Bicentennial Wasn't The First Asimov Film
n response to the interview with Robin Williams in Issue No. 140: I would recommend that Williams find a copy of Isaac Asimov's autobiography I, Asimov and read it. He will find that there was in fact a very, very low budget movie based on Nightfall some years ago. As I recall, it was an extremely limited release (only one theater got it, I think), and Asimov was extremely disappointed by the film. There were also plans to produce an I, Robot movie at one point, I believe, but these fell through. This would still make Bicentennial Man the first good movie based on Asimov, the first produced by a major film company, and the first to have a wide scale release.
Incidentally, I felt that the movie was excellent; I wasn't bored at all, as a reviewer in Issue No. 139 suggested audiences might be. Despite its brilliance, however, I was still inspired to put it through the Mystery Science Theater 3000 routine; I had a great time quietly heckling the film.
Spencer M. Lease
beyondzine@mindshiftdesign.com
Pokémon Will Be Just A Memory
really don't see much difference between Pokémon and its predecessor Tomogatchi. They're both pervasive, annoying and obsessed over by our children. Adults complain about them and hate them. Pokémon, like Tomogatchi will be but a memory in two years while our kids are obsessing over something else we adults find annoying and don't understand.
Rich Durbin
Rdurbin@neo.rr.com
Universal Holds The Galactica Purse Strings
hile I'm not a big fan of Battlestar Galactica, I can certainly
sympathize with James Chambliss's opinion of Glen Larson ("Larson Disrespects Galactica Fans," Issue No. 140). I am no
fan of the man or his work. I also think that Richard Hatch
has a pretty good take on the future of the series. His
ideas are intriguing and he seems to have a real passion and
affection for the show. However I feel that if it comes to a
fight between Hatch and Larson that Larson will win hands
down every time. Universal executives hold the purse strings
and the show's copyright. If they were inclined to back a
new Galactica venture they would side with Larson. In their
eyes he's the show's creator and producer, whereas Hatch is
merely an actor who hasn't had much of a career since.
Randy Barrett
jrbarrett101@yahoo.com
Can Star Trek Be Serious?
would like to commend Lucien Popa on a well-thought-out concept and framework for a possible new Star Trek series ("Bold New Ideas For Star Trek," Issue No. 140). Exploring the internal changes in the Federation and its allies and adversaries can be just as dramatic and exciting as exploring space itself, if not more so. Trading phaser fire with the villain of the week or tripping over the fourteenth space-time anomaly in the same season can try the patience of any but the most blindly rabid Trek-fan (as witnessed by the verbal spitting war over Star Trek: Voyager ever since second season), and the issues and ideas we insist are being discussed in every incarnation of the Trek universe are becoming harder to tease out of the overwrought soap opera and SFXtravaganza that the series (both TV and film) has become.
Having an ensemble cast of multiplanetary characters dealing with the never-ending brushfires of diplomacy is more in the realm of serious SF, where the present-day world is reflected in futuristic fantasy. And I've always had a problem with Earth being considered the "center of the Federation", since it's only logical that some form of interplanetary organization had to have existed among the other races in order to function among themselves before the Earthfolk entered the mix. Redressing this oversight will put a more diverse face on what seemed to be an exclusive, "humanoids-only" club.
Unfortunately, I fear that such a vision of the Federation's future is too much to hope for with the current production staff at the helm. "Same-old-same-old" and "Nothing substantial can change" seems to be the ironclad standard, all for the sake of syndication, since a discernable cycle of story arcs would put pressure on local stations to actually show the episodes in order.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine tried something like that in its last few seasons, and was criticized for being "dull" and "too complicated." Apparently, the fans aren't expected to remember plot threads longer than two or three episodes, or be interested in any episode that didn't have at least one fight. After all, this is Star Trek, not Babylon 5.
Linda Stoops
jassmoris@yahoo.com
Destroy The Federation!
agree with Joe Beaudoin's Issue No. 140 letter "A Rest Won't Kill Star Trek." Star Trek: Voyager has become a very weak series and has seriously hurt the franchise. If it were up to me, I would wait at least 10 years before launching a new series. However, I disagree with Lucian Popa's ideas for a new series ("Bold New Ideas For Star Trek," Issue No. 140) that it should be a Diplomatic Corps series. The United Nations concept sounds very familiar to Babylon 5, and it would just be duplicating that series.
My idea would be to have a Fall of the Federation series. In certain aspects, it could be a lot like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, having great action and drama, and unlike Voyager, have effective and intelligent villains that fans could really love to hate like the Dominion did for DS9. The series could be set in either the late 25th or early 26th century and the principal villains could be the Terrans of Star Trek's savage mirror universe who have come back into power by forming their own alliance with the Kazon and unifying their forces to overthrow the evil Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. After infiltrating the Federation for decades, the new Terran-Kazon Empire makes its move to annihilate the Federation and succeeds by programming the Borg to launch a massive fleet to assimilate Federation Earth and several worlds at series' end.
There could also be a second new series, which I could suggest be an anthology series like The Outer Limits, which chronicles the efforts of various crews of various ships and stations to save the fallen human race. This second series could explore old issues like human genetic engineering and the need for cloaking technology and hopefully not resolve them as conservatively as seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation and DS9. Of course, the new war will result in victory for the formerly fallen Federation.
Even a third new series can be formed based on my ideas. It begins with the birth of a new Federation which is not as conservative as the old one. Genetically enhanced humans serve with normal ones and renew their mission to explore and defend the space that awaits them in new regions of space even beyond the Gamma and Delta Quadrants. And of course, the first flagship of the new Federation will be the USS Enterprise G, which has a smaller Defiant-like ship that can attach, detach, and go to warp for effective combat missions.
Clifford Simmons
Cliffbxny1@aol.com
Food Chain Is Quite Enjoyable
was fortunate enough to have attended the screening of Top of the Food Chain at the Toronto
International Film Festival. As a fan of Nigel Bennett, I'd gone up to
see
a blue-goo-spewing-human-flesh-eating alien. I was hardly expecting to be
so
thoroughly entertained by a movie that will probably be listed among my
all-time favorites.
Yes, I enjoyed it immensely.
Although your description of the movie was fairly accurate, I pretty much
disagreed with your opinion. So much so that I wonder what it was about
the movie that turned you off to it.
Granted, the movie contains much to offend, especially the more
narrow-minded
American audiences. However, science fiction is about breaking social
mores
and expanding the mind, and I felt the science fiction viewer would have no
problem with anything this movie contained.
Besides, the movie is camp--plain and simple. The fact that it maintained
itself throughout the entire movie I felt was brilliant. There is no
depth.
There is no deep meaning. The gags are both visual and verbal, and their
timing is excellent. My entertainment began as the opening credits
started,
and my laughter continued long after Guy says to Karol, "Oh, and I hosed
off
your he-she doll."
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Top of the Food Chain, but I did want to let you
know that not everyone would agree with you.
L. J. Conk
TheLadyT@aol.com
