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
Drej-Flavored Bubblegum Resented
am aghast at your B+ movie rating for Titan A.E., a film fumbling its way
through a tired premise, ripe with all the sci-fi cliches.
The Drej aliens were graphically incomprehensible in most scenes; the vocal
direction (such as the lethargic Drew Barrymore) was horrific; and the blaring
rock music was more distracting than it was involving ... save for the
"flight with the space angels" and the end credits. The result will probably spell the demise of theatrical Fox Animation projects (the Phoenix-based studio, perhaps anticipating the dull box-office "thud," recently laid off 250 of its staff of 300). Serious sci-fi fans don't mind the bubblegum packaging ... what we resent is the representation that we all have bubblegum brains.
E. L. Zimmerman
NCC1205@aol.com
Quibbling Grade While Nibbling Gum
personally don't understand why so many people are saying so many negative things about Titan A.E. I agree with your reviewer wholeheartedly (though I might have given the movie an A- instead of a B+). It may not have an original plot and the music may be a bit intrusive, but aside from those two small gripes, there's nothing else wrong. Titan A.E. isn't genre-making stuff, but it's a great way to blow six or seven bucks and spend an hour and a half just having fun.
Reading the recent story about how Fox Animation is depending on Titan A.E.-- well, it's a real shame, because if that's true then Fox Animation's going to be shutting down. The movie cost a bit over $55 million, and on opening weekend it made $9.1 million and debuted at #5. It's a tragedy that these studios will probably never give us another good animated movie.
Sean E. Williams
Dragon1166@aol.com
Free Duchovny, The Rest Will Follow
avid Duchovny's attitude is perfectly justified.
Frankly, I am a little tired about people ranting on about how Duchovny "owes
it to the fans" to commit to some specified number of episodes for the eighth
season of The X-Files. This attitude is ridiculous. His role as Mulder is simply his job. The popularity of the show resulted in his success, but he should be no more committed to The X-Files than any of us who have career-advancing jobs should be to our own job.
If he is bored with playing Mulder or unhappy with the show, he should feel
free to leave once the contract is up. He may lose his successful career
by leaving the show or by doing fewer episodes, but that is his problem. The show may also suffer, but making him a slave is not the answer. David
Duchovny should do what he feels is best for himself.
Brad Cadle
bcadle@earthlink.net
Hunt For Prey Online
n answer to Marc Wilson's idea ["Turn TV's Cast-Offs Into Comics," Issue No. 165] that great but prematurely cancelled shows
like Brimstone, Prey and Kindred: The Embraced should be converted into comic book format, he might be interested to know that there is a Prey VR second season available at http://www.pvtonline.com/series/. I'm
glad to hear that someone else enjoyed this wonderful show as much as I
did--its fans will obviously go to a lot of work to keep that old Prey
spirit alive!
Mary Ann Beavis
beavis@duke.usask.ca
Awash In Religious SF
his is in response to Matt Shealy's Issue No. 165 letter "Public Enlightenment Proves Elusive" about the "enlightened public" only noting Battlefield Earth as a religious movie and not saying the same about The Omega Code. I must say that every article I saw on The Omega Code mentioned that it was a Christian movie. It was referred to as a small, independent Christian film by many of the national news sources and even my favorite entertainment magazine (to remain nameless, except that I receive it weekly).
The Omega Code made no effort to hide its religious message, unlike Travolta's dismal failure, Battlefield Earth. Anyone who has studied Scientology or Christianity, or is even agnostic (as I am) can see in Earth the complete listing of Scientological tenets and precepts.
Brian L. Miller
Sylverfox@aol.com
Borg Bark Worse Than Their Bite
hen we first met the Borg, there was a lot to fear. A seemingly all-powerful race that could not be defeated. The next time we saw the Borg, the Federation got lucky that Data was able to send a simple order putting them to sleep. Then we are introduced to Hugh, who showed us that there was another way than battling the Borg. The Enterprise crew taught him to think for himself. Next, we encounter Hugh's group of Borg, now separate entities, under the command of Lore.
So on and so forth. As with anything else newly discovered, as time goes on, we learn more and more about it. In his issue No. 165 letter "Assmilate Voyager Writers" Eric Vogel states that the Borg should return to the way they were in First Contact, but the queen was the same there as she has been in Star Trek: Voyager, Her own person. It was also stated in the Voyager episode "Unimatrix Zero" that these "mutant" Borg had been around for many years.
If Star Trek kept all of its villains the same, we would still be stuck with the cultureless Klingons as shown in the first series.
Todd Behrmann
tbaz2@powercom.net
B5's Originality Hotly Defended
o refute Adam Boudreaux's Issue No. 165 letter "Counting Up B5/Trek Similarities," one need only compare dates. The Babylon 5 concept was done in 1987, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1992. The "hero goes beyond the Rim/Wormhole" episode was written for B5 in 1996-1997 or so. DS9's counterpart was in 1998-1999. I could go on about this but will spare you the details.
Babylon 5 will always be remembered as the only show in history to win two Hugo awards. Deep Space Nine, as much as I may like it, will always be remembered as Star Trek's lost stepchild.
Tom Curran
adelrond@hotmail.com
"Rip-Off" Is Such A Nasty Word
n response to Adam Boudreaux's Issue No. 165 letter "Counting Up
B5/Trek Similarities," he is way off course. Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were two completely different shows.
He claims both shows were "set in the 24th century." B5 took place between 2258 and 2262. That's the 23rd century, not the 24th. He then claims that B5 ripped off DS9 by setting the show in a space station. In that case, let me be the first to accuse the creators of Farscape of ripping off Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager by setting their show in a spaceship.
Next, he claims that B5's jumpgate is just a disguised DS9 wormhole.
Clearly, this is not the case. There are thousands of jumpgates in the B5
galaxy, plus thousands of ships that can open their own jumppoints. There's
only one wormhole. It takes days, even weeks, of traveling in hyperspace to
get somewhere in the B5 galaxy. The trip is instantaneous in DS9's wormhole.
In short, the jumpgate isn't ripping off the wormhole; it's B5's answer to
violating relativity, just as warp drive is Star Trek's answer.
Finally, he claims that all these "similarities" between B5 and Star Trek
are the result of Harlan Ellison's role on the B5 writing team. B5 was the creative child of just one man, J. Michael Straczynski, who wrote the lion's share of the show (including the entire third and fourth seasons). Ellison made contributions, but it was essentially Straczynski's show.
Now, on to the numerous creative differences. B5 was a five-year show with a fully planned creative arc. DS9 was a seven-year show that made the story up as it went along. At the center of B5's plot was the ancient conflict between the Vorlons and Shadows: how it began, the motives for starting it, the war itself, how it affected the younger races, and what the political fallout was. DS9 had a war, but not until the last two seasons. It was fought for completely different reasons, and they ran out of time to explore the aftermath. B5 had characters that underwent major changes: they loved, hated, developed and died throughout all five years of the show. DS9's characters remained essentially static for all seven years, unless you want to count how Sisko came into his role as the Emissary.
Finally, B5 was in development for years (since the 1980s), while DS9 was in development for a few months. Therefore if the similarities between B5 and DS9 are the result of more than coincidence, Bergman and company would have to have ripped off Straczynski, and not the other way around!
I enjoyed both Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but apart from a few superficial (and meaningless) similarities, they are two entirely different shows and should be appreciated as such. To claim that one ripped the other off is simply absurd.
Michael Lyle
michael.r.lyle@vanderbilt.edu
Dishing Out B5 Apples, DS9 Oranges
'm afraid I have to refute some of the "similarities" Adam Boudreaux claims in his Issue No. 165 letter "Counting Up B5/Trek Similarities." He claims both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 take place in the 24th century. While DS9 does indeed take place in the 24th century, B5 takes place in the 23rd century. The comment that they both take place after a war is too broad. The Federation in DS9 (a galaxy superpower) was invited to run the station to prevent the Cardassians from returning after their withdrawal from Bajor. Earth was not involved in that conflict and the station was basically a military outpost to guard against future Cardassian attacks. Babylon 5, on the other hand, was built after humanity was almost obliterated because of a mistake. The main purpose of Babylon 5, while still maintaining a military presence for security reasons, was primarily diplomatic--to get two warring parties to sit down and talk out differences. It was only after the Shadows appeared that it took on a more military function.
As for the ships, DS9 had ships that used warp drive, which allowed faster-than-light travel. The wormhole in DS9 only allowed ships to travel from one fixed point in the galaxy to another fixed point. On Babylon 5, ships couldn't go faster than 75% of light speed, and "worm holes" generated by ships with enough power, or jump gates, didn't open into another part of the galaxy, they only allowed access to hyperspace, which still had to be traversed. While faster than travel in "normal" space, it was hardly instantaneous. And B5 ships could travel almost anywhere through hyperspace, while the wormhole on DS9 limited ships to the same point of entry and exit every time.
As for aliens gaining god-like stature in both shows, Sisko was from the outset seen as an "Emissary" because he was indeed chosen by the Prophets to act in that role, and he eventually accepted and lived up to that. G'Kar on the other hand started as a villain and through hardship and misery (not "divine intervention"), he gained wisdom that he tried to share in his writings. His people made G'Kar into a near-godlike figure, which he didn't try to live up to. Indeed, he walked away from it.
The problem is from what perspective you examine the shows. The broader the perspective, the more similar the shows will look. The closer you look, the more the two shows become completely different animals. You could say The X-Files and JAG are carbon copies if you want to. They both take place in the 20th century, they both have a male and female character that work within the government, and they both deal with investigating crimes. But only a fool would say the two shows are identical. Plus, J. Michael Straczynski, if I remember correctly, had the whole plot of Babylon 5 planned out in 1988 or thereabouts and knew the direction of the show before Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was even on the drawing boards. Unless he's a psychic, I think it would be hard to steal ideas from a show that didn't even exist when he was dreaming up his own, years before.
John Falzone
GreyWulph@hotmail.com
