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
Relax And Enjoy SF
t is with great sadness that I read several lengthy reviews of the quality of current science fiction. I was saddened because I saw an entertainment genre reduced to a male versus female issue. I suggest that the problem with the genre is not that there is a difference in what appeals to males or females but the perception of those doing the reading or viewing. I think that the genre should not be taken so seriously, it should be enjoyed for enjoyment's sake. I you do not enjoy it then move on to something else. Things can be over analyzed. So relax and enjoy science fiction for the pure fun of it.
D.G. Dowdy
Durl@aol.com
You Can't Ignore Half Of Humanity
have to agree with Ms. Kwandrans, SF isn't just for the boys. When science fiction is at its best is when there are real, human issues being discussed and humanity cannot be discussed when half of it is ignored. There have been phenomenal female SF authors around since its conception as a form of literature, just take Mary Shelley as an example. The true problems begin when the pulp SF that lines our shelves is seen as the real stuff. There is more bad stuff out there than I would even like to think about, but that isn't the subject of this letter.
I've been reading science fiction since before I knew what it was. The ideas about humanity and the future are universal. All good literature has one thing in common, it deals with human existence. There are, unfortunately, numerous stereotypes surrounding science fiction. Because science is inherent in the category it is assumed that no woman could possibly want to read it, or could possibly understand it. I worked at a bookstore for a while and there we were asked to choose favorites to put up on a specific wall. I was asked by a male customer if mine was a romance when in fact it was actually SF. Women do not just want to read drek with a lot of sex in it, they want to read real, thoughtful, stimulating literature.
I find it abhorrent to think of science fiction as a macho, male-only club. If you want real, scientific proof of the continuing female domination of SF, just look at the Nielsen results for the Sci-Fi Channel. Just as many women who watch Lifetime (what is called television for women) watch the Sci-Fi Channel (and I'm willing to bet many who watch SF don't watch Lifetime, but that's just a personal observation). So if you must, go back to your hard tech, hard action SF with simple plots and shallow characters, I will continue with my Tepper, Le Guin, Gibson, Brin, Card, Clarke, and Bradbury (just to name a few). Men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus; the sexes are more similar than many would like to believe. Science fiction can become a way to overcome the differences men and women encounter because of the universality of its ideas and messages.
Elenna Conner
ElenaCon@aol.com
Forget Labels, Look For Good Writing
have to join the debate on fantasy versus science fiction because I read
both and feel there is very little difference between the really good
writing in either genre. Good writing examines the effect that certain
elements (such as scientific advancements, telepathic dragons, or
magic) have on the society around them or certain individuals within
that society.
Because different authors choose to examine different aspects affecting
their fictional societies, we have many different subgenres. But all the
best work in either SF or fantasy challenges the reader to view things
differently and see what would happen if the nature of our current
reality was different. And when this element is missing, we are left
with the mediocre and bad stuff. It is because some people think that
the drek is all there is to SF and fantasy that they do not consider it
literature.
But the examination of ideas from a different perspective is what makes
the genres so interesting to read. When you pick up an SF or fantasy
novel, you never know what new ideas you might be exposed to. In the
best works, the world is so believable, the reader is almost convinced
it must exist somewhere. (I personally would pay any amount of money to
be on the first spaceflight to Pern and I suspect I'm not alone in that
desire.)
The point I'm trying to make is that we should be less concerned with
the vitriolically attacking the differences between the genres and sexes
and more concerned with identifying the good stuff, no matter what SF or
fantasy niche it is in or what the gender of the author was.
Judy Moffitt
jmoffitt@hotmail.com
SF Encourages Imagination
've just been reading this week's letters to the editor about whether science fiction is a man's genre. I am a woman in my 50s. I can't recall when I started to read it, but I am sure it had to do with a love of the short story form and Isaac Asimov's works. Recently I bought a book of "hard science" short stories and realized that I enjoyed them. I had been unsure of what "hard science" actually was.
The point of reading science fiction is that it is enjoyable. It helps one keep an open mind and helps one understand the future. It is a field where imagination is encouraged, and that is where I want to spend my time.
Barbara Uhrig
bluhrig@inct.net
Lots Of Women Like SF
'm just responding to the letter that says that SF isn't just for men. I couldn't agree more. I am in high school now, and my dad introduced me to Isaac Asimov when I was in about 4th grade. None of the other girls in my class would even touch my books. They said those were the kinds of books their brothers read. As I continued through grade and middle school, I was given a lot of grief because of my taste in reading material. More than once, my teachers told me I should be reading something more appropriate, like Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Not that there's anything wrong with those kinds of books. Science isn't just for men anymore either. The common opinion from what I can tell is that women aren't supposed to like science, science fiction, or anything relating to it, like the Internet. There are a lot of us women, I think, who are greatly interested in this. I just wanted to share my opinion in this issue.
Jennifer Pawley
ZZ_Three@hotmail.com
In Dreams Was Crap
et me commend you on your review of In Dreams. That movie was nothing but crap. Ambitious crap, to be sure, but crap nonetheless. All the other reviews I've seen seem to be concentrating on the "ambitious" aspect, and downplaying the fact that it utterly fails at what it's trying to be, some kind of bastard child of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Psycho, and Silence of the Lambs. Your review is the only one I've read that has the guts to tell it like it is. Bravo!
Dave Litchman
davel@discovernet.net
A Clockwork Orange Is The Best
eff Berkwits' review of A Clockwork Orange is perfect. This film, even though 28 years old, still works in today's world as a vision of what may be. I don't believe this film will ever "grow old" as future generations will have to face the same issues presented by Anthony Burgess/Stanley Kubrick.
What a vision Kubrick brought to us. He is one of only a few directors who can show graphic violence in his films that is absolutely necessary to the story. The musical choices were brilliant. A common, but brilliant thug, using Beethoven to solidify his horrible thoughts. We now know that classical music increases brain activity, but in 1971, this was not the case. But Kubrick knew.
I have DSS, cable TV, and accounts at 11 video stores. A Clockwork Orange is still my favorite film of all time (followed by Citizen Kane).
Least we forget, Kubrick also directed Dr. Strangelove (still stands well in 1999), and the original Lolita, a very, very controversial film in 1957 and also 1999. I can't wait for Eyes Wide Shut, even though it's rumored that this film, with Tom Cruise, may never be released.
Len Baas
lenbaas@webtv.net
Clockwork Can't Be Seen In The U.K.
enjoyed Jeff Berkwits' review of A Clockwork Orange--sadly
it's not possible to see it here in the United Kingdom as Stanley Kubrick
himself pulled it from circulation. I have heard it said that
he did this because he was unhappy with the lack of understanding
displayed by most of the film's critics; I've also heard that
he pulled it because he feared it would instigate "copycat" violence.
I don't know which, if either, of these explanations is true,
but looking at the reception that Crash got last year I think
that anyone looking to make an intelligent SF film in this country
has got their work cut out for them.
Jeff Berkwits may be interested to know that the dialogue of
A Clockwork Orange does not in fact feature imaginary words--rather they're Russian! "Droog" is Russian for "friend", "moloko" means milk, and so on. Of course for most of the film's viewers Russian is as good as
an imaginary language, so Jeff's comment was still justified.
Mark Bassett
markb@iisc.co.uk
Editor's Note: Here is Jeff's response to your letter.
hank you for your kind words regarding my review of A Clockwork Orange! I am glad that you enjoyed it. I too have heard differing stories as to why the
film has been banned in the U.K., and it is a shame that an important and
significant potential audience therefore has not had a chance to see it and
make their own decisions about the film's message.
As for the words, you're right--Nadsat is primarily Russian, although parts
of it are somewhat bastardized. But there are a number of words that have
Gypsy origins and some, such as appy-polly-logy and cancer (cigarette), that
are clearly referential to other well-known English words. If you're
interested, there is a Web page that discusses this in reasonable
detail (some of the information is lifted from the book's glossary).
Also, having grown up with grandparents who often argued whether the origin
of a specific word was Russian, Polish or sometimes even German, I opted to
go with the "imaginary" description rather than open up a full can of worms
re: specific origins. And your final point is quite right--for most folks,
Russian might as well be an imaginary language!
Jeff Berkwits
asterismsf@aol.com
Capable Women Aren't Unrealistic
haven't read Anne McCaffrey's Nimisha's Ship yet, although the previews sound good and I'm looking forward to a great read. Regarding the "unrealistic" portrayal of an attractive, intelligent, capable woman, it sounds like a great many women I know who are attractive, intelligent, and successful. Granted they don't fly into deep space, but they are CEO's, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and mothers. Except for the space ship, sounds like an otherwise everyday occurrence.
Glenda Lee
DaUthas@aol.com
Pokemon Will Be Part Of Anime History
know this debate is probably getting old, but I'd like to add my own
two cents to this whole Pokemon debate. I think it's pretty unfair to write it off as an "insult to anime"; just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's junk. One reader wrote how great Voltron was when he watched it as a child. However, one could argue that Voltron is even more simplistic than Pokemon. While I did like it as a child, popping a tape into the VCR today I now realize how repetitive and lightweight it really was. Footage was recycled in every episode and drama was kept to an absolute minimum--no characters were ever seriously changed or traumatized. I feel that even Sailor Moon has more character development than Voltron did. But that's just my opinion, and I would never write the show off as an "insult to anime." Like it or not, it's a part of anime history, just as Pokemon will be.
David Wong
macross3@excite.com
