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.
-- Brooks Peck, Editor
Check Out The Roughnecks
ny fan of "dark future" SF should be watching Starship Troopers: The Roughneck Chronicles. Granted it is a cartoon, but the computer animation is impressive. That's what got me watching. But, to my enormous surprise, the stories and characterization are equally impressive. I enjoyed the black humor of the movie Starship Troopers, and this series certainly taps into it, while, I think, giving a much better nod to Robert Heinlein's vision of man's future from his novel of the same name.
Sure, I enjoy Farscape, and Lexx is starting to make sense finally, and Star Trek is, well, there. But for something new (and for all you war-freaks out there), take a peek at this show.
David Herschel
skyngangor@aol.com
Jack's In An Alternate World
ecently on this page there was a brief debate about the historical accuracy of Jack of All Trades.
I get as annoyed by historical inaccuracies in TV and film as anyone. I didn't watch Hercules: The Legendary Journeys at first because of this. But as I got hooked on Herc and then Xena: Warrior Princess I developed a theory to reconcile my annoyance and enjoyment. The two shows don't get just a few details wrong, but contain so many huge discrepancies and anachronisms that they could not possibly take place in our past. They must then occur in the past of some alternate universe that shares some place and people names in common with ours but is very different. Their's is a world where Christ was born before the death of Julius Caesar. Gilgamesh and Genghis Khan were contemporaries and Odysseus got home a mere year after the Trojan war.
I believe Jack of All Trades takes place in the year 1801 of this same alternate universe. Therefore it isn't inaccurate. In Jack's world Thomas Jefferson was not as much of a francophile as he was in ours, thus the willingness to team up with the English against Napoleon. In our own world Jefferson's predecessors were willing to stab the French in the back, but Jefferson himself liked them.
I suppose Cleopatra 2525 takes place in the future of the same universe.
The one part of Jack that I do have a problem with is the heroine's hatred of Napoleon's imperialism. Certainly the British and Americans wouldn't want Napoleon getting in the way of their own imperialism, but she seems to have a problem with the idea of imperialism itself. Her position is hypocritical since she is clearly not a native of that island and her fortune was made from her import/export business. She couldn't live there or have that business without imperialism. (I'm not an advocate of imperialism myself. I'm just saying she's a hypocrite.)
Dominic Lopez
dominic_lopez@yahoo.com
Lexx Should Be Ignored
ollowing all the sturm und drang here over Lexx I finally stumbled upon
an episode and decided to watch. So let's see: writing--poor, acting--poor, plot--didn't notice one. Sexual content--abundant, but with the
sensibility and taste of a hormone enraged 14-year-old boy. The science
fiction of this series is a thin veneer to try and find it a home on SCI FI. Should it be censored? Certainly not. It should be ignored.
And to the writer who compared it with the original Star Trek: surely you
jest. While the quality of acting on the original was not of Emmy grade, it
showed infinitely greater subtlety than Lexx and the writing was lightyears
beyond this drivel. The criticism of Star Trek showed the shallowness of
the critics. Lexx reveals only the shallowness of its creators.
Jay Phillippi
jdrp@cecomet.net
Lexx Is Just Disgusting
don't like Lexx. While the majority of letters seem
to think that watching sexual innuendo bordering on soft porn is fine, I
personally don't like it. I find it disgusting. I don't want to watch it.
If I did, I would rent something from a video store, or get the Playboy
channel. But I don't, to the point that when a commercial for Lexx comes
on
the air, I turn the channel. And many times, I don't turn back.
Many letter writers decry the double standard between sex and violence
on television. Whether one is worse than the other is not the point, or a
standard that should be confronted in a television series. The fact is,
television is getting close to pushing the envelope too far, in the arena
of
language, sex, and violence, and I don't think that SCI FI should be one of
the channels that contributes to this problem.
Elisa Day
esaday@hotmail.com
Maybe Farscape Copied Lexx
am not a fan of Lexx; I find that the series is predictable. But, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Lexx is a copy of Farscape. Lexx is a Canadian-German co-production that was aired in the 1998/99 season on Space in Canada. So maybe it is Farscape that is the copycat. I find that Farscape is one of the best shows SF shows I have seen in a long time and enjoy a lot of it's darker aspects.
Kevin Roberts
r_kevin_@hotmail.com
Bring On The Farscape Flick
ome people feel it's too early for a Farscape movie, but I don't think
that's quite true. Unlike most TV series that become movies, a Farscape
movie wouldn't be trying to capitalize on the show's success to generate an
audience. While Farscape is a success for the SCI FI Channel, you've got
to
remember the scale here. A success for SCI FI is still only one share.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys reruns do better than that. Hell, Tales From the Crypt reruns
still do better than that! The purpose of a Farscape movie would be to
pull
in a larger audience for the series. Remember, SF movies are
respected,
while SF shows are still relegated to a cultural niche. A Farscape
movie, if done right, will pull an audience in on its merits alone, not
even mentioning the show in the trailers. Then, when it's a success, the
SCI FI Channel does an ad blitz proclaiming the "show that inspired the
movie!" Hopefully.
Zachary Shuford
zshuford@yahoo.com
DiCaprio Isn't Evil Enough
eonardo DiCaprio as Anakin Skywalker would be a horrible turn for the Star Wars saga. For starters, Anakin is not the type of role DiCaprio plays, but even more important is the size of the actor. Darth Vader was 6' 7"; can we have such a smaller actor play the unmasked Vader? Whether it's Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader, the man needs to have a powerful presence, evil or not.
Daniel Rasmussen
rasnet@rconnect.com
Who Wouldn't Want To Be Vader?
n response to a couple of letters detailing how wrong Leonardo DiCaprio is for the part of Anakin Skywalker, I would like to point out that DiCaprio is not being cast as Darth Vader. Rather, according to some previews I have read, he would be playing a young Jedi who suffers a failure of nerve, whose fatal character weakness provides an opportunity for Palpatine to seduce him to the dark side of the Force. If you were Leonardo DiCaprio, wouldn't you jump at the chance to change into Darth Vader, even at the cost of your soul?
Steve Block
ironhand@stlnet.com
DiCaprio Should Stay Away From SF
here have been numerous reports and rumors involving Leonardo DiCaprio being in the running for certain SF roles. First is the role of Anakin Skywalker. I believe it would be unfortunate if he did so because of the many Star Wars fans that would not bother going because of the belief that DiCaprio would ruin the movie. There is only one movie that I feel that DiCaprio did well in which was What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Other than that, I feel he has gotten more credit and attention than he deserves.
The other movie, Spider-Man, is one I just heard recently. I have only one question: Does he have the physique necessary to make a believable web slinger? That is actually worse than casting Nicholas Cage, who I do feel is a wonderful actor, as Superman. Can someone please tell me what is going through the minds of some of these casting directors? Obviously not logical thought.
Matt Seibert
laoch_dorcha@hotmail.com
Fire Those Idiots At Paramount
n all the kvetching about Star Trek, no one has come up with the
perfect solution. I kind of like the idea of TV movies, but I would
rather see the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast on these. I tuned out after it went
off the air, no doubt missing some good episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and
I don't really care for Star Trek: Voyager. There was a good episode, "Think
Tank." It was good because it had some non humanoid aliens, which Trek
is in short supply of. Star Trek also needs less technobabble, which
doesn't even make sense within the confines of the show anymore. You
want to do Trek right? Fire those illiterate idiots at Paramount, who
accept spec scripts and rip off ideas from high school students, and
replace them with people who know how to do science fiction, like it
could have been in the '60s when all the current SF writers came on
board to support the show. (Until their ideas were destroyed by business
executives who thought they were creative). Also, get some good makeup
artists like Rick Baker or Tom Savini to do some really alien aliens.
James Palmer
jamesandkelley@usa.net
Make Trek Less Pleasant
have my own idea for the next Star Trek series. For too long, we've seen cushy, comfortable starships: Enterprise, Voyager, etc. Even when something breaks, they can bypass the system and get along just fine. Virtually every ship has a holodeck, and so forth.
I want to see one of those tiny little science/medical vessels. Something that's cramped, distinctly uncomfortable and held together with little more than duct tape and hope. A crew filled with people who just want to get transferred off the ship. (In fact, a dynamic crew could be interesting--we would get to see the reactions of the rest as the new crew member was brought into the fold.) Every week, they're rushing off to face some new problem--a plague breaking out on Betazed, or a strange new spatial anomaly at Wolf 359. No time for rest, no time for relaxation, no time for holodecks. You work with any species that's there and willing to work with you at the moment, whether they're Bolian, Klingon, Romulan, Tholian, or renegade Borg. No one wants to be there and no one lets you forget it, either. Maybe we'll actually see the crew under some real stress for once!
The Equinox was a step in the right direction. Now give us another Nova-class starship!
Spencer M. Lease
beyondzine@mindshiftdesign.com
Return Trek To Exploration
f there is going to be a new Star Trek series, perhaps the best ideas for such a series would attempt to recapture the original appeal of the series.
The original 1960s series was about a crew exploring the unknown, never quite knowing who or what lay around the next nebula. And while later series (Star Trek: Voyager excluded, obviously) like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine kept some small element of exploration, they ended up being more about political alliances, wars and the maintenance of an empire, not exploring a final frontier.
What I would like to see is a series set in the time period shortly after the movie, Star Trek: First Contact, where the Enterprise chases the Borg back to April 4, 2063 and encounters Zephram Cochran, inventor of the warp drive. This day happens to be the day of first contact between Earth and Vulcans and sets into motion a chain of events that leads to the founding of the Federation.
A series that explores the development of human/Vulcan relations, first contact with the Klingons, Romulans and others would have tremendous possibilities. With the "frontier" feeling of the new series, Star Trek would truly have returned to its roots.
Michael Ray
michael.l.ray@worldnet.att.net
Need Some Good Trek Feelings
n my opinion Star Trek V is one of the best Star Trek movies. Why? Simple: it's the most "human" movie. And I believe that's what makes the difference between the original series crew and every other crew. We see caring gestures, we see strong connections, we see love. To cite just a few examples: a) the Spock search drama b) the initial and final sequence of Star Trek V around campfire c) the tiny jokes and body movements that make you feel that these guys know each other and that they are really friends d) in Star Trek IV: The Search for Spock, when they finally get to Vulcan, Kirk holds Uhura in such a tender way.
I've see Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. I liked them. But I miss the humanity. All I see (most of the times) is a stone crew obeying cold scripts. And that's why, from time to time, I must take a "Old Star Trek Healing Process."
The original crew is the most diverse and human-like, not a bunch of Leonardo DiCaprios or Brad Pitts or top models reading some lines--they are just like you, and they like each other just like you like your friend.
Bruno Campos Trancas
Franktb@net.sapo.pt
Let's See Trek Enlisteds
et me express my support for a Star Trek series that centers around Sulu and the Excelsior. The current setting is starting to get old and stale; a "retro-Trek" I think would be exciting and refreshing.
However (and this is one of my big pet peeves with the series) I'd like to see more lower-ranked characters too, not just ensigns, but enlisted and non-commissioned officers. As far as I can remember there is only one major enlisted character in the series (Chief O'Brien). The military is run by its NCOs and things get done through the work of its enlisted; lets see more of that in the Star Trek setting.
Damon Agretto
dca@early.com
Take Trek Through The Mirror
fter watching Star Trek for years I have come to the conclusion, like many others, that there needs to be a change in the format for the next series.
I feel the next series should be set in the mirror universe. It could be set up by some transporter accident by one of the supporting characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, or Star Trek: Voyager, or it could be an intelligence mission gone wrong. My vote would be Ro Laren. She is a very exciting character and with her "morals" shaped by her dealing with the Cardassians, her actions would make an interesting show.
With this type of series, it would free Star Trek from the Federation "morality" that permeates the series, even the supposed alien characters. It would allow for the Federation to be corrupt and evil. The good guys would not win all of the time. They would lose at least half of the time and their struggle for freedom would feel impossible.
I can conceive of hundreds of interesting plot lines: The Dominion being good. Humans that sided with the Alliance vs. those being held captive at Bajor and other places. You could have guest appearances from each of the shows. All of the characters would have a new life and identity. You could even bring back Gul Dukat as a good guy.
It could be a very interesting show that showcases the struggle for freedom by all alien races from the Alliance. The key issue is not to focus the show on human main cast members, but allow aliens from several races to be the main members of the cast.
My main point is that the Trek universe needs to be shaken up a bit. Shows like Lexx, Doctor Who, and Law & Order have proven that it is okay to let the bad guys win. Just because they succeed doesn't mean the world ends. It makes the series more like real life. The key is to make sure that the bad guys have layers to their characters. They do not have to always be bad. There seems to be some confusion with evil and insanity, especially in the world of Trek. The insane have no conscience, while the evil or bad persons have a set of rules they live by. Hopefully, the writers will remember that.
Trevor Smith
TSmith8500@aol.com
