s
I write these words, the outcome of the United States presidential election is in
doubt, and I feel confident in stating that by the time you
read this we will be no closer than we are now to
knowing which candidate will occupy the White House
over the next four years. But contemplating presidential elections is
nothing new for me. I was also thinking of presidential candidates--albeit hypothetical
ones--last month when I was attending the World Fantasy Convention in Texas.
My mind was not tending that way simply because I had to change planes
at Houston's George
Bush International Airport while on my way to Corpus Christi. No, the cause of my
mental state was a panel I was on dedicated to the topic "Fantasy and Public
Perception." We were there to discuss how we and the literature that we love
were perceived by the wider world.
As I sat on the dais with Tippi Blevins, F. Brett Cox, Susan Kroupa
and Caroline Spector, I was struck by
the perfect metaphor to clarify the way the rest of the
society felt about those of us intrigued by the literature of the fantastic.
"Imagine this," I told the crowd, in an attempt to explain the regard in
which a great many people hold us. "It's the week before a presidential election,
and last-minute
disclosures come out about three candidates. Candidate number one is revealed
to have dabbled with drugs as a young man. It is uncovered that candidate
number two had a brief dalliance with a young aide a decade back.
And then there is candidate number three, about whom it is
disclosed that he had once written short stories that were published in
Weird Tales. Of which one of these sins do you think
the general public would be the
least forgiving?" By the sheepish laughter that rippled
around the room, I could tell that there was
agreement about my thesis. Where sex and drugs were concerned, the
populace would be understanding. But as for the act of writing tales of the imagination,
there I felt that
the public would find it difficult to forgive.
I come to this way of thinking because
most people, whether or not they've ever succumbed to the
attractions of the flesh, can understand one who has fallen prey to them. But
writing stories about vampires and werewolves (or rocket ships and time machines),
well,
that concept would be alien to most. Why would anyone want to do such a silly thing?
Poor candidate
number three. With a revelation such as that, the election would be as good
as lost. There'd be no need for Florida recounts. Such a candidate would be
barred from the White House by a landslide.
Shut up and read your vegetables
Most of the world, I've come to believe, supports what I call the "eat your
vegetables" school of literature. Our books, our movies, our games--they are
all supposed to be good for you, and not "merely"
fun. The things that fascinate us and fill us with awe are considered frivolous
by some, and of little value toward teaching how someone should live his or her life.
If a person cannot derive some practical application from a book or film,
these naysayers cry, then
what's the point? That's why at one time in the United States, to stock's one's
library with anything beyond Shakespeare and the Bible was looked on with
suspicion.
1 Corinthians 13 says, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as
a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." That is how most
of the world regards a love of the fantastic, as something childish that is to
be put away when we are meant to focus on other things--our mortgage payments and
retirement accounts, I imagine. But we here know better. We must all ignore those
who would discount the awe-inspiring visions that populate our lives, for
theirs is a shortsighted view.
Imagination
is the most powerful force in the universe, and is
the true catalyst for all of mankind's
progress. Remember, no genres quite embody the heart of imagination as do
science fiction and fantasy. Together these twin literatures are the way
the world dreams itself into existence, and together we must
be a continual reminder of this fact. We must
all stand up and shout, "We're here! We love science fiction and
fantasy. Get used to it!" And then maybe we'll really get something done
over the next four years in the United States, whoever ends up being
president.
Scott Edelman started his trek to the editor-in-chief position at Science
Fiction Weekly back in 1974, when he began working as an assistant editor at
Marvel Comics. Between these two positions, this four-time Hugo Award nominee in
the category of Best Editor was the founding editor of the
award-winning magazine Science Fiction Age, and also edited SCI
FI, the official magazine of the SCI FI Channel, in addition to
Sci-Fi Universe, Sci-Fi Flix and Satellite Orbit.
