Sci-fi and politics

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Well, what is darkness in fiction? It certainly isn’t life affirming or good for the mind or soul. None of the names you’ve mentioned mean anything to me in this context.

I watched SF dissolve into the same muck and mire that other media did. That’s why I don’t care to read any contemporary SF.

I believe in strictly good and strictly bad characters, though not 100% perfect characters. They can make mistakes but their mistakes will usually be small.

Take the SF series the X-Files. The last season was so, so bad. In a review of the box office for the top 50 films when the last X-Files movie came out, it ranked 49th, right above Space Monkeys.

And Falling Skies. What a joke. It lacks logic, coherence and innovation. I suspect the series will end in the same muddled way as the X-Files or Lost. There are two or three movies right now that have halted production because the writers just don’t know what they’re doing.

Otherwise, for those who know what they’re doing, the political agendas are very obvious.

Peace,
Ed
But that’s both boring and unrealistic.
I don’t want to read about (or watch) puritanical supermen who never fail or make serious mistakes.
Where’s the drama or tension in that?

It sounds unimaginative and uninspiring frankly.

Using that standard, Sci-Fi classics like Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Planet of the Apes would have never been made.
 
I find that when the world seems dark, the good and noble shines through. Star Wars had very clearly “Good” and “Evil” charters, but was unaffraid of showing how hard and dark the world became when evil was in power. With the addition of films I-III, we can see how the light gives in to the darkness and the chrome fades to cold iron.
 
I find that when the world seems dark, the good and noble shines through. Star Wars had very clearly “Good” and “Evil” charters, but was unaffraid of showing how hard and dark the world became when evil was in power. With the addition of films I-III, we can see how the light gives in to the darkness and the chrome fades to cold iron.
George Lucas should really be chastised for Jar-Jar Binks and his stupid remaking of The Force to some substance in your body called Midi-Chlorians. Yeah, the first thing I’d do is get bottles of them and sell them to others, “Psst! Hey buddy. You wanna buy some Midi-Chlorians? You can get Jedi powers with 'em.” And I’d rake in the dough.

Peace,
Ed
 
But that’s both boring and unrealistic.
I don’t want to read about (or watch) puritanical supermen who never fail or make serious mistakes.
Where’s the drama or tension in that?

It sounds unimaginative and uninspiring frankly.

Using that standard, Sci-Fi classics like Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Planet of the Apes would have never been made.
Instead of claiming to know what I mean, why not ask me to clarify? Your list of classics is not my list of classics.

Blade Runner - a visually stunning imagining of the future, but gouging out the eyes of your maker?

Star Wars - the original 3 - not so much the later ones, is a classic but the level of evil and violence fell below a certain threshold for me.

The original Planet of the Apes was grim but intelligent. Classic? It’s on the edge for me.

Peace,
Ed
 
Instead of claiming to know what I mean, why not ask me to clarify? Your list of classics is not my list of classics.

Blade Runner - a visually stunning imagining of the future, but gouging out the eyes of your maker?

Star Wars - the original 3 - not so much the later ones, is a classic but the level of evil and violence fell below a certain threshold for me.

The original Planet of the Apes was grim but intelligent. Classic? It’s on the edge for me.

Peace,
Ed
Do you actually like anything Ed?
I mean this as a serious question.
Because it seems like a running theme in all your posts is how awful everything is and how every change is for the worse.
 
Do you actually like anything Ed?
I mean this as a serious question.
Because it seems like a running theme in all your posts is how awful everything is and how every change is for the worse.
Some people just like to point out all the changes for the worse as they watch the bad changes,some times they enjoy some of the bad stuff so they can point it out to other people. :D:shrug:
 
One of the biggest plot points in the whole episode was the wanton cruelty and injustice that existed because her parents “owned” the girl, and could thus limit her liberty at their whim. The fact that she escaped to a place where she was free to have an abortion was shown as a very clear victory.
Overall, I am a HUGE BSG fan, mainly because I was impressed by the ethical issues, philosophical issues, character development, and presentation of the society as a whole. However, I do remember this episode (and the subsequent onces where Roslin bans abortion and ultimately reverses her decision) because the entire sublot left a very bad taste in my mouth. As passionately pro-life as I am, I could not stomach the fact that the fact of what happens to the baby in an abortion is completely ignored.

So while I enjoy and appreciate the series as a whole, I just kinda set this part aside mentally.
I won’t deny that BSG is basically “pro-choice” in its assumptions, but as with other moral issues it presents a pretty complex picture.
Which is why overall I remain a huge fan of the series.
You should stick with the original BSG from the 70s. Less immorality and better writing/acting.👍
I nearly choked on my water when I read this. However, in all fairness, I didn’t get very far into the original series.
 
Do you actually like anything Ed?
I mean this as a serious question.
Because it seems like a running theme in all your posts is how awful everything is and how every change is for the worse.
Why such a broad brush question? Instead of: What do you like? You’re assuming, which is not necessary.

Yes, there are things I like, but most contemporary SF falls outside that category. But I do like other, off topic things.

I’m here in my capacity as the guy who sees how things are going, can offer documented references to other Catholics and show them a way out of 40 years of gradual poisoning. I mean, somebody’s gotta do it. We didn’t just stumble into our current media, sex-crazed culture. Drop by drop, the poison entered our veins to the point where some Catholics are living like pagans (as said by a priest on Catholic Radio).

Peace,
Ed
 
Some people just like to point out all the changes for the worse as they watch the bad changes,some times they enjoy some of the bad stuff so they can point it out to other people. :D:shrug:
The bad stuff turns my stomach. Dexter. That lovable police crime lab tech whose hobby is kidnapping people and cutting them to pieces. I’m waiting for the series about the wonderful family of cannibals next door.

Peace,
Ed
 
The fact that getting an abortion anyway was presented as a victory and the death of the child ignored, reinforces the fact that science fiction is being used to further the pro-Death and even anti-Parent agenda.
Not everything has to do with an agenda. In the mentioned case, it’s basically preaching to the choir. People who are already pro-choice are going to cheer for this plot twist; people who can engage in sensible ethical reasoning are going to hate it.

In painting with such a broad brush, you completely miss everything good about such a series.
As an aside, I’m tired of seeing TV shows where at least one parent is a moron or the teenage daughter is smarter than her mom. By that I mean, not in a helpful way, but in a “Mom? Are you stupid or what!?” kind of way.
Why? For many people that is the reality. I grew up in a conservative Catholic nuclear family home where literally every time I took my mom’s advice it ended badly. If someone made a movie of my life during my teenage years, your quote would have been a central theme.
I can’t stand Battlestar because (a) they have found an alternative to the word F*** and make it sound normal, (b) alcoholism as, you know, just something people do/have, and (c) for a lack of logic in some cases.
You entirely mischaracterize this. (a) That’s a personal taste and preference thing. I happen to like it because it gives it an authentic feel without assaulting the ears with the actual word f****. (b) Not at all. Alchoholism is a character flaw. Now, most of the other characters don’t do / say anything because the character in question is their senior officer. This is typical and realistic in a military environment. But there are several points throughout the series where certain characters are called out on their character flaws (including alchoholism). This is usually done by a wise male role model (are you listening, ed?). (c) I am not sure what you refer to here.
We strive to be pro-family and our heroes are heroes in every sense of the word, not guys who beat up people or the only way you can tell they’re heroes is because they’re just a little less brutal and racked up a lower body count than the “bad” guy in the story.
Well then you must never have any heroes who are soldiers / other military / law enforcement, because a body count is inevitable in the nature of the job. My young daughters can watch sunshine and rainbows all day, but as an adult I want entertainment that makes me think about hypothetical ethical issues.
Take the original Star Trek. True friendship, willing to lay down your life for your friends, intelligence, analysis, deduction, wit and the willingness to take on threats with well thought out plans, and a touch of humor. That is the kind of science-fiction I want.
I don’t know why you would be a fan of Star Trek, given that Gene Roddenberry dreamed of a world where humanity had outgrown religion, which is very clear at various points even in the original series. Surely you see Star Trek as beholden to the atheist, anti-religion agenda; it would only be consistent with the way you see literally everything else in your world that you have chosen to comment on.

Now, I know why I am a fan of Star Trek, and it is because of the reasons you mentioned, as well as the extremely progressive values for the 1960’s. (A black WOMAN, a Japanese man, and a Russian man (in the middle of the Cold War!) and an alien - ON THE BRIDGE!!! And TV’s first interracial kiss!!!)
The Next Generation was sloppily done, and just not as memorable.

Peace,
Ed
The first couple seasons, yes. The actors were all getting their sea legs. Try 4th season on. Particularly 6th and 7th season. Although some of those involve ethical and philosophical complexity, so on second thought you may not like it.
Well, what is darkness in fiction? It certainly isn’t life affirming or good for the mind or soul.

I believe in strictly good and strictly bad characters, though not 100% perfect characters. They can make mistakes but their mistakes will usually be small.
On the contrary, darkness can be very educational. You can watch your heroes wrestle with ethical issues and suffer the consequences of bad choices. A good hero isn’t just one who is mostly perfect; a good hero is also one who has the right underlying principle but sometimes struggles with the application. In watching our hero struggle, it reminds us of our struggles when we mess up. And in watching our heroes suffer the consequences and learn their lessons, we are encouraged to make good choices, even if it seems late in the game for us in our lives.
George Lucas should really be chastised for Jar-Jar Binks and his stupid remaking of The Force to some substance in your body called Midi-Chlorians. Yeah, the first thing I’d do is get bottles of them and sell them to others, “Psst! Hey buddy. You wanna buy some Midi-Chlorians? You can get Jedi powers with 'em.” And I’d rake in the dough.
:eek: We actually agree on something! Run for your lives!
 
I’m here in my capacity as the guy who sees how things are going, can offer documented references to other Catholics and show them a way out of 40 years of gradual poisoning. I mean, somebody’s gotta do it. We didn’t just stumble into our current media, sex-crazed culture. Drop by drop, the poison entered our veins to the point where some Catholics are living like pagans (as said by a priest on Catholic Radio).
You say this, yet I have never seen you do this. All I see from you is subjective statements and vague references to trends you claim to see.
 
Not everything has to do with an agenda. In the mentioned case, it’s basically preaching to the choir. People who are already pro-choice are going to cheer for this plot twist; people who can engage in sensible ethical reasoning are going to hate it.

In painting with such a broad brush, you completely miss everything good about such a series.

Why? For many people that is the reality. I grew up in a conservative Catholic nuclear family home where literally every time I took my mom’s advice it ended badly. If someone made a movie of my life during my teenage years, your quote would have been a central theme.

You entirely mischaracterize this. (a) That’s a personal taste and preference thing. I happen to like it because it gives it an authentic feel without assaulting the ears with the actual word f****. (b) Not at all. Alchoholism is a character flaw. Now, most of the other characters don’t do / say anything because the character in question is their senior officer. This is typical and realistic in a military environment. But there are several points throughout the series where certain characters are called out on their character flaws (including alchoholism). This is usually done by a wise male role model (are you listening, ed?). (c) I am not sure what you refer to here.

Well then you must never have any heroes who are soldiers / other military / law enforcement, because a body count is inevitable in the nature of the job. My young daughters can watch sunshine and rainbows all day, but as an adult I want entertainment that makes me think about hypothetical ethical issues.

I don’t know why you would be a fan of Star Trek, given that Gene Roddenberry dreamed of a world where humanity had outgrown religion, which is very clear at various points even in the original series. Surely you see Star Trek as beholden to the atheist, anti-religion agenda; it would only be consistent with the way you see literally everything else in your world that you have chosen to comment on.

Now, I know why I am a fan of Star Trek, and it is because of the reasons you mentioned, as well as the extremely progressive values for the 1960’s. (A black WOMAN, a Japanese man, and a Russian man (in the middle of the Cold War!) and an alien - ON THE BRIDGE!!! And TV’s first interracial kiss!!!)

The first couple seasons, yes. The actors were all getting their sea legs. Try 4th season on. Particularly 6th and 7th season. Although some of those involve ethical and philosophical complexity, so on second thought you may not like it.

On the contrary, darkness can be very educational. You can watch your heroes wrestle with ethical issues and suffer the consequences of bad choices. A good hero isn’t just one who is mostly perfect; a good hero is also one who has the right underlying principle but sometimes struggles with the application. In watching our hero struggle, it reminds us of our struggles when we mess up. And in watching our heroes suffer the consequences and learn their lessons, we are encouraged to make good choices, even if it seems late in the game for us in our lives.

:eek: We actually agree on something! Run for your lives!
Point One: And since when did the choir, as you call it, become the majority? Any TV show that promotes abortion as a good is automatically crossed off my list. I used to watch TV for entertainment, not preaching. There are religious channels for that. The show is lame and I’ve seen some stupid stuff on it. Example: Two fighter pilots coming back from a mission and one wants to “clear my guns.” Bullets on a space fighter? Seriously? And if a weapon jams, you can’t clear it by forcing another bullet through. The totally ridiculous insertion of a few wires into a female Cylon to alter the navigation capabilities of a number of spacecraft? She’s missing and even if presumed dead, you don’t leave your internal security that vulnerable. My missing “the good” goes like this. Dad tells his kids he’s going to make some brownies. The kids are happy, until dad tells them he’ll be adding a very tiny amount of excrement from the family dog. He insists they won’t be able to smell or taste it. The brownies sit on the table and the kids refuse to eat them.

Point Two: Your mom gave you bad advice? More details would be required to give you an answer. I grew up in a highly Conservative, mostly Christian, and devout neighborhood. It was at the very least, 95% fully functional. We didn’t live in family cocoons. We had fathers and grandparents and aunts and uncles and a living neighborhood where people shared advice all the time. I also heard and saw my friends acting on the advice of their parents. And I also heard my peers tell me things at school as well. It’s not my fault that too many people live in cocoon communities today, and even in cocoon households where the kids pay little attention to what mom or dad say. Or that they only have one parent who is too busy working to spend much time with their child/teenager. That’s going to have to change by the way.

Point Three: Showing alcoholism as ‘just one of those things’ is again, a reason to cross the show off my list, even if people get called on it. I know the age demographics of TV shows like this. It’s a bad example to young and old. Authentic feel regarding the f word? That’s just wrong.

Point Four: One of the biggest falsehoods ever perpetrated by Hollywood and the television industry is the idea that ratings mean anything. They don’t. And the Mature label is a complete lie. There is zero difference between the words you were taught were bad as a kid and the same words as a mature adult. If they were wrong when you were a kid, they’re still wrong when you’re an adult. The same with all sins.

When I was growing up, cussing and swearing, especially on TV, was forbidden. The only time I heard it openly, was usually when two hot-headed teenagers were trying to start a fistfight with each other. At home parties, if any of the women heard any bad language from their husbands, someone, like my mom, would walk up to them and say, “Don’t you dare talk like that around the kids.” And the men listened

Point Five: My dad was a World War II vet and he knew a lot of vets and people who lived through the war in our neighborhood. They were just doing their job and defending their country. Even the Catholic Church would agree that war was the only option. I could probably fit on one page all the things my Dad mentioned to me about the war. They wanted to forget what they went through, be happy and raise families, which they did.

The books my company produces are always from the defend your country standpoint. I had the honor and privilege to meet some young men and women who were about to be deployed to Iraq when we were at war and to other locations. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

What I’m talking about is violence for the sake of violence. Where the “hero” is actually a murderous vigilante (Dirty Harry) or Jodie Foster in The Brave One, summarized here:

"Jodie Foster in Yet Another Movie Where She Kills People

“The Brave One premiere. Rose Theater, Time Warner Center, 1325 Sixth Ave., nr. 53rd St., 7 p.m. Stars Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard are expected. The movie involves Foster’s character shooting the hell out of anyone who does her wrong. It’s similar to our life, if you replace the shooting with meekly walking away and thinking of a mildly cutting remark a couple hours later.”

continued…
 
I met Gene Roddenberry and his lovely wife, Majel Barrett. Mr. Roddenberry was kind enough to go into some detail about the next two TV shows he had created. He was officially an agnostic, but did have at least one positive thing to say about a future where people were atheists.

See the original Star Trek episode, Balance of Terror, where Captain Kirk is presiding over a wedding and a cross is visible.

Progressive is number 9 on my words I hate list. Today, it mostly refers to things the Church is against.

I prefer morality plays that include a conflict but the conflict is not this gross, graphic blood and gore, and/or sex filled, grossly dysfunctional, mentally disturbed, and super-violent (not war) acts that are graphically depicted between small groups of modern city or country folk. All those elements combined mean I cross that show off my list.

All of the stories I prefer involve problems, including personal problems, but the issue(s) is resolved without graphically showing guts flying everywhere and similar, and only a minimal amount of violence. As opposed to say Death Race, where the cold and callous disregard for the lives of others is in the forefront and killing other people, with great malice, is second in line.

Peace,
Ed
 
Well, what is darkness in fiction? It certainly isn’t life affirming or good for the mind or soul.]/QUOTE]

Why not? It’s a well-established principle in Christian thought, going back to Irenaeus (and repeated over and over as a cliche in medieval literature), that you know sweetness by tasting bitterness. This is in fact how Irenaeus explains the Fall.
None of the names you’ve mentioned mean anything to me in this context.
 
The BSG writers are very smart.

They present us with a ‘dirty’ society. By no means perfect. They are lost souls, struggling, each following a different set of rules. That way when an issue comes up such as abortion, the outcome does not matter as far as viewership is concerned. We as viewers see the struggle, see both sides over the scope of a season.

This is how SF has been able to tackle such a wide array of social and moral problems and come out relatively unscathed, especially Star Trek in a lot of cases, which is funny because the Federation tries to cast itself as a very rules-based, rigid society, yet the snippet we see is of the Enterprise in deep space, having to make and change rules as they go, and struggle with the prospect.

Good Sci-Fi in my opinion is any Sci-Fi that makes you wonder, that makes you dream, that makes you discuss. If you discuss abortion after seeing that episode and maybe have a slightly different perspective (perspective, not point of view) now, then that is good SF. Not changing your point of view, but showing you another side. And it isn’t always with a subject that is as polarized as Abortion.

We can’t identify with purity. At least I can’t. I’m not sure anyone can say they have done nothing but the good, right, and honorable thing their entire life and made no mistake. This is why in such a short time that type of storytelling has fallen to the wayside. Why are there no longer two beds for married couples on TV? Because it wasn’t realistic, and if we’re talking about SF it’s not about realism but what’s identifiable.

The Jedi are pure, and would not succumb to anger, but can we not say that if someone hurt our loved one in front of us that we would not lash out in rage or anger? Meeting these faults and eventually overcoming all of them at the end of it speaks a lot more to me as a person than simply the “puritanical” (to steal someone else’s use of the word) who is perfect in every way, only making the “slightest” mistake.
 
The BSG writers are very smart.

They present us with a ‘dirty’ society. By no means perfect. They are lost souls, struggling, each following a different set of rules. That way when an issue comes up such as abortion, the outcome does not matter as far as viewership is concerned. We as viewers see the struggle, see both sides over the scope of a season.

This is how SF has been able to tackle such a wide array of social and moral problems and come out relatively unscathed, especially Star Trek in a lot of cases, which is funny because the Federation tries to cast itself as a very rules-based, rigid society, yet the snippet we see is of the Enterprise in deep space, having to make and change rules as they go, and struggle with the prospect.

Good Sci-Fi in my opinion is any Sci-Fi that makes you wonder, that makes you dream, that makes you discuss. If you discuss abortion after seeing that episode and maybe have a slightly different perspective (perspective, not point of view) now, then that is good SF. Not changing your point of view, but showing you another side. And it isn’t always with a subject that is as polarized as Abortion.

We can’t identify with purity. At least I can’t. I’m not sure anyone can say they have done nothing but the good, right, and honorable thing their entire life and made no mistake. This is why in such a short time that type of storytelling has fallen to the wayside. Why are there no longer two beds for married couples on TV? Because it wasn’t realistic, and if we’re talking about SF it’s not about realism but what’s identifiable.

The Jedi are pure, and would not succumb to anger, but can we not say that if someone hurt our loved one in front of us that we would not lash out in rage or anger? Meeting these faults and eventually overcoming all of them at the end of it speaks a lot more to me as a person than simply the “puritanical” (to steal someone else’s use of the word) who is perfect in every way, only making the “slightest” mistake.
Good post! Just because the actions depicted in a show should not be emulated doesn’t mean all such shows have to be shunned. I called the society of BSG ‘infantile’ you call it ‘dirty’. I think we are both on the same track, but I caution that the viewer needs to be an adult that can be detached and analytical. I can see that on the end of a long day where even a very wise adult would not want to plumb this sorted type of tale possibly because your guard is down and takes an effort to maintain to gain anything good even entertainment from the show.
 
No Star Trek I have seen has had an abortion in, it is like it does not exist
 
See the Adventures of Superman series that ran from 1952 to 1958. That is what I aspire to as a science fiction writer. One of my current main characters in development will be closer to that than what we have on TV now.

Peace,
Ed
 
No Star Trek I have seen has had an abortion in, it is like it does not exist
Right, but Star Trek has frequently presented situations that have a suspicious analogy to a “real world” issue. In Voyager, there was an episode in which two characters (Tuvok and Neelix) were fused into a single person, and the captain had to decide whether or not to separate them back out, which would kill the new person, “Tuvix.” That struck me as most likely an attempt to tackle the abortion issue in a disguised form.

Edwin
 
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