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.
-- Editor
The Trouble With Drivel
emakes, remakes, comics on the screen--while real SF is ignored.
It has long been argued that the movie industry is ignoring vast chunks of literature in favor of remaking something that's already been done.
While I enjoy the "eye-candy" movies with new perspectives on old, familiar characters--why not reach into the literary past for the good stuff instead of settling for the "drivel" of today's society?
Let's face it, for all their fun, comics are literary drivel. Remaking Planet of the Apes is drivel. Yet another instantiation of older movies is drivel.
Where are the Lensmen? (E. E. "Doc" Smith)
Where is the Foundation Society? (Isaac Asimov)
Where is the Ringworld? (Larry Niven)
Where is Zane (a.k.a. "Death")? (Piers Anthony)
In short, where are the "mainstream" sci-fi authors when it comes to movies? Why don't we see these true sci-fi classics hitting the big screen? Do authors have to die before we can see their work come to the screen? Starship Troopers (Heinlein), Battlefield Earth (Hubbard), Bicentennial Man (Asimov), Dune (Herbert) have all been poorly received--and all their authors are dead.
Let's get some of the stories we grew up with that are truly the classics onto the big-screen and keep the drivel where it belongs--in comics and cartoons.
Evan Moore
evanmoore@aol.com
Beltran's Criticisms Galvanize Fans
t may seem like an eleventh-hour parting shot to some, but I'd
like to commend Robert Beltran for his candor and concern in
voicing his frustrations at the direction(or lack of) that
Star Trek: Voyager has taken in the past few years.
As someone who watched the first season regularly, then
became increasingly dissatisfied as the quality steadily
declined over the years, I can empathize with Mr. Beltran's
criticisms. His comment about the use of his character:
"That's up to the writers. They don't pay me to write,"
stirs me to reply, à la MST3K, "And, apparently, they
weren't paying the writers, either."
In an attempt to gather as many ratings points as possible
while spending the least amount of money for a show of this
type, the studio seemed to seek the lowest common
denominator in demographics, while alienating increasingly
larger portions of its core audience. Big explosions,
throwaway villains, holodeck disasters-of-the-week and a
woman in high heels and spandex does not adequately replace
intriguing stories, believable characters and a respect for
the genre. What I've seen lately reminds me of the latter
episodes of Space: 1999, when the production staff simply
stopped trying.
The actor I feel most sorry for is Garrett Wang. How long
was his character an ensign? Did he ever get a chance to
extend much beyond saying, "No, Captain," "Yes, Captain,"
and Treknobabble? Hell, even Wesley Crusher got to advance
beyond "Boy Wonder" status and show a human side!
I just hope that the suits don't punish Beltran for
displaying some backbone, because, as we've all seen before,
the business side of Hollywood can be thin-skinned, petty
and nasty. It's destroyed more than its share of creativity
in the name of a quick buck.
Linda Stoops
jassmoris@yahoo.com
Farscape Picks Up Trek's Torch
read your interview with Robert Beltran with a lot of interest and found myself agreeing with many of the points he was making about Star Trek: Voyager. His comments echoed many of the complaints your readers voiced in this space over the last several months. I am one of the few Star Trek fans who really enjoy Voyager and thought in the beginning it was a nice blend of Classic Star Trek and the Star Trek: The Next Generation with an interesting twist of trying to survive all alone in a distant part of the galaxy. Without the comfort of the Federation, many of the stories were supposed to relate how these people maintained their values and sanity over the long voyage home. Instead it degenerated into "lost in space."
Robert Beltran correctly pointed out the main problem with Voyager is in the lazy writing that has surfaced. I am so happy that he wasn't afraid to make these comments because it shows people still care about Voyager and Star Trek in general. There is so much talent behind these shows that the end product should reflect the hard efforts of these people. I believe Voyager and the concept of Star Trek can be saved by making good writing the mantra of the franchise. There is a galaxy's worth of stories still to be told and this means any new movies or new series must be held accountable to the higher standard established in Classic Trek. In the meantime, I have to get my sci-fi fix watching Farscape, which has picked up the torch dropped by Star Trek. Star Trek needs to take risks the way Farscape does in order to grow. But there is hope yet because I believe many more people involved in Star Trek feel exactly the same way as Robert Beltran. If enough speak up then we, the fans, will see a better product. I just hate to see Star Trek end so poorly because its legacy doesn't deserve it.
Tim O'Mara
tomara@concentric.net
Cloned Trek Lacks Relationships
suggest that Star Trek: Voyager, a third-generation clone (no offense) has, indeed, weakened the essential elements of the original Star Trek. The interpersonal relationships were the show; what put them in play was the creativity.
Consider, due to some unknown event, Spock and Kirk have the closest "male bonding" (in a manly way) in TV. We don't really know why and it does not matter. The fact that they are closer than brothers, admitted to even by Spock, is what's important. It was established early, not belabored, but as true as warp drive.
I know we are "family-oriented" but is Voyager a crew of eunuchs? Alas, about all we have is the junior-high love affair with B'Elanna and Paris proceeding at glacial speed.
Chakotay was superbly, subtly and tacitly expressive in the episode where he and Janeway had to be left supposedly forever on this planet by themselves. She was snappish with him and only spoke with any hint of emotion to the little monkey. What would Kirk do? Even if he was stuck, with say, a beautiful admiral, premier, president, or whatever? Okay, Kirk was a hound doggy, but at least he had some cojones. He was fun. He did not take himself too seriously in these scenes. Not every encounter was halted because of some protocol or other.
Frankly, the doctor has the most personality aboard; unfortunately, no one relates to him in kind. This guy should be a goldmine--he acts, sings, recites poetry, develops his programming and is the EMH besides.
To summarize, go back to the source. Look at the original episodes. The themes are sometimes dated, sometimes trivial, even stupid, and sometimes profound or at least with a nice moral message. But they are all background to the ongoing interpersonal crew reactions. Sure, now they look dated and the dialogue is predictable or stilted. But it has been a success for how many years now?
C. Marzett
meowzett@home.com
Ellison's Screams Were Heard
our retrospective on The Terminator forgot to mention the affair with Harlan Ellison over the use of elements of his stories "Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand" in the movie script (as well as the concept of Skynet having potentially come from "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"). He won his plagiarism suit and I believe has a credit on more recent prints of the movie.
Alasdair Russell
arussell@cybscape.demon.co.uk
Learn Drac By Watching Movies
wanted to react to Jesse Kleitman's Issue No. 172 letter "Anyone Can Outdo Hollywood."
Kleitman's suggestion that Hollywood tones down its movies in order to
cater for an international audience is, frankly, insulting (even though it
may not have been meant that way).
I can only speak for myself of course, but I have never had any trouble
following American movies, even though English is not my native tongue.
Being someone who grew up with subtitling on TV and in cinema, I can also
assure people it does not make the movie harder to follow (but you have to
be able to actually read fluently, naturally!). You just have to pay a
little more attention. It becomes second nature in no time.
I think watching subtitled movies and TV series is a great way
to learn other languages.
My point is: Hollywood makes bad movies because it can get away with it. As
long as people pay to see them, who cares about story quality? The audience?
They paid to see it, so I guess it wasn't so bad after all, eh?
Lukas Mariman
lukas.mariman@skynet.be
Can A Lexx Wish Come True?
wish the Lexx TV series could be more like the Lexx movies that
originally aired on Showtime and recently aired on SCI FI. The movies have
interesting stories, better character development, and less emphasis on
the "love-slave" character Xev and how everyone wants to have sex with
her. In fact, Xev is a more three-dimensional character in the movies.
She doesn't necessarily enjoy being a love-slave--she would rather have a
romance with Kai. In my opinion, Kai is the most interesting character
in the Lexx universe, and Michael McManus is an excellent actor. I wish
that the good things in the series could be emphasized more in the upcoming
season. Then I could truly be a fan. As it is, I'm more excited about the
letterboxed version of Babylon 5 coming to SCI FI than the prospect of
another season of Lexx. Too bad--Lexx could've been incredible.
Tammy Smith
gkarfan@webtv.net
Editor's note: See our review of the Lexx Season Two Premiere on SCI FI; your wishes may have been granted.
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Spidey
'm responding to a letter whose author thought Tobey Maguire would be
bad as Spider-Man because he is too scrawny. Hey, look at the original
Spider-Man drawn by Steve Ditko--he's supposed to be wiry! I'm glad he
got the role and not some sex symbol like Freddie Prinze Jr. Peter Parker
is supposed to be something of a nerd. You want to talk about physical
miscasting of a superhero, then talk about Michael Keaton as Batman. His
acting as Bruce Wayne was good, but Keaton was way too scrawny to be
Batman. Anyway, I think Maguire is a good actor and should be great as
Peter Parker and Spider-Man.
Bill Farrand
farrand@rmi.net
What's Up In The Empire's Pages
've read every Star Wars book written since the 1991 Heir to the Empire series. I kept wondering if anything big was ever going to take place again or if new villains would arise to be a worthy challenge for the Jedi. Last year when the new story arc The New Jedi Order started, I was spellbound by how, without really changing anything I loved about the old Star Wars universe, they reinvented it. Three words describe "TNJO": dark, personal and refreshing. Vector Prime literally breathed new life into the Star Wars realm. The latest book, Agents of Chaos, Vol. 1: Hero's Trial, is the best as of yet. It tells how Han, devastated by the demise of his friend Chewie, becomes a double agent. This book is a 12 out of 10! If you're looking for a place to pick up TNJO, this is it!
Theodore Wilczynski
toysoldiers2001@yahoo.com
Ultraviolet Seduces More Viewers
have to echo the sentiments expressed by Pam Talkovsky in her Issue No. 172 letter "Ultraviolet Is The Best TV." The series is one of the best SF/fantasy-related programs I've seen in some time. I had been apprehensive because of some of the negative critical buzz but I went ahead and taped the program anyway (it was a busy week so I had to settle for watching it later.) I'm glad I did. The writing is top-notch. The acting is well done (no performances stand out in my mind but that's a good thing: no one was memorably excellent but no one was memorably bad either). The series tends to be grim in tone but it works for them.
I find the avoidance of the term "vampire" an interesting style quirk. I can't help but remember the stories I've heard about The Godfather--both the book and the movie--in which the term "Mafia" was studiously avoided. It provides a darkly amusing parallel.
I hope that if Ultraviolet becomes a series that the same amount of care will be given to the writing. Perhaps the occasional miniseries and/or movie would be the better way to go?
Stewart Tame
sbt@ans.net
Play By "The Cold Equations"
just saw Hollow Man. Although it has elements of horror and action thriller, it makes an effort to be hard science fiction, rather than science fantasy. If they want to play that game, they have to play by the rules. The rule is that the writer of a hard SF story is playing a game with every one of his readers: they are invited, indeed challenged, to find holes in the science. The special effects are great, and the movie is entertaining, but if the screenplay was a story, it would never get past the readers.
There is, of course, the problem of how can the invisible man see, if the visual pigments of his retina are invisible? Vision starts out as chemical changes when those pigments absorb light.
And then there's the walk-in freezer room with the lockbolt on the outside of the door. There is no contractor in the world, or certainly in the USA, who would build such a freezer. Cold rooms and freezer rooms must have doors constructed so it is impossible to be locked inside. There is always a sign on the inside of the door saying "You are not locked in," followed by instructions on how to use the push bar to open the door. The door may be latched, but the pushbar is constructed to have leverage that will defeat any latch, even if it is frozen shut. What if the coldroom is a high-security installation? Then you put it inside a larger conventional room that can be locked. Or else you equip it with the type of lock used in many houses and apartments: requiring a key from the outside, but operable from the inside by turning a handle or knob with your naked hand. Of what use is a simple bolt-bar on the outside of the door? Only to keep what is inside the coldroom from getting out. It has no earthly "security" function. And why was the defibrillator stored inside the freezer? What a dumb place to keep it!
Am I quibbling? Isn't there such a thing as poetic license? Not in hard SF. The rule in hard SF is that you are allowed one gimmick which requires "the temporary suspension of disbelief." You may not litter the story with traps that cause knowledgeable readers, or viewers, to "fall out" of the story. In Hollow Man, the one allowable gimmick was the invisibility serum. More than that and it should not be allowed to deck itself with the trappings of hard SF.
Steve Block
ironhand@stlnet.com
