• (ReacTor) Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Wed Mar 12 10:09:43 2025
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended...

    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
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    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Don@21:1/5 to Lynn McGuire on Sat Mar 15 14:52:15 2025
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended...

    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/

    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically
    attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas
    settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE
    PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its
    shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half
    Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a
    rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): <https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
    The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a
    space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the
    story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day
    Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he
    focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a
    satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and
    distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where
    movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.)

    Danke,

    --
    Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
    tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.

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  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Mar 15 16:07:37 2025
    In article <[email protected]>, Don <[email protected]> wrote:
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended...

    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/

    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome
    "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original
    Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically
    attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas
    settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE
    PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its
    shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half
    Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a
    rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): ><https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
    The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a
    space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the >story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day
    Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he
    focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a
    satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and
    distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where
    movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.)


    I actually liked the shower scene. Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
    it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to tednolan on Sun Mar 16 08:13:34 2025
    On 15 Mar 2025 16:07:37 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>, Don <[email protected]> wrote:
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended... >>>>
    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/ >>>
    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome
    "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original
    Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically
    attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas
    settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE
    PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its >>shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half
    Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a >>rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): >><https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/> >> The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a
    space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the >>story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day
    Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he >>focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a >>satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and
    distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where
    movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.)


    I actually liked the shower scene. Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
    it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.

    I don't recall if that's in /Starship Troopers/, but it (and more) is
    in /The Forever War/.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Mar 16 17:42:03 2025
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul S Person <[email protected]d> wrote:
    On 15 Mar 2025 16:07:37 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>, Don <[email protected]> wrote:
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended... >>>>>
    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/ >>>>
    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome
    "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original >>>> Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically
    attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas >>>settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE >>>PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its >>>shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half >>>Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a >>>rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): >>><https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
    The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a >>>space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the >>>story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day >>>Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he >>>focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a >>>satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and >>>distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where >>>movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.)


    I actually liked the shower scene. Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
    it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.

    I don't recall if that's in /Starship Troopers/, but it (and more) is
    in /The Forever War/.

    There is no sex or casual nudity in the book. As I recall the military
    does include women in combat roles, usually as spaceship pilots, but not
    in MI. Rico admits to liking girls, but nothing any further than that develops.
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to tednolan on Mon Mar 17 08:19:48 2025
    On 16 Mar 2025 17:42:03 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul S Person <[email protected]d> wrote:
    On 15 Mar 2025 16:07:37 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>, Don <[email protected]> wrote:
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended... >>>>>>
    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/ >>>>>
    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome >>>>> "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original >>>>> Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically >>>>attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas >>>>settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE >>>>PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its >>>>shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half >>>>Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a >>>>rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): >>>><https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
    The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a >>>>space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the >>>>story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day >>>>Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he >>>>focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a >>>>satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and >>>>distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where >>>>movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.)


    I actually liked the shower scene. Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
    it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.

    I don't recall if that's in /Starship Troopers/, but it (and more) is
    in /The Forever War/.

    There is no sex or casual nudity in the book. As I recall the military
    does include women in combat roles, usually as spaceship pilots, but not
    in MI. Rico admits to liking girls, but nothing any further than that >develops.

    Thinking about it overnight ... I concur.

    So, someone making the movie (and able to influence the script) may
    have read Haldeman.

    The spaceship pilots (and other crew) would have been Navy, not
    Marines.

    Indeed, military spaceships in SF are often modeled on naval vessels
    and their terminology and their traditions.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dimensional Traveler@21:1/5 to Paul S Person on Mon Mar 17 08:34:02 2025
    On 3/17/2025 8:19 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
    On 16 Mar 2025 17:42:03 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul S Person <[email protected]d> wrote:
    On 15 Mar 2025 16:07:37 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>, Don <[email protected]> wrote:
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended... >>>>>>>
    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/

    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome >>>>>> "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original >>>>>> Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically
    attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas
    settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE
    PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its
    shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half >>>>> Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a >>>>> rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): >>>>> <https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
    The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a >>>>> space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the >>>>> story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day
    Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he >>>>> focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a >>>>> satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and
    distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where >>>>> movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.) >>>>>

    I actually liked the shower scene. Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
    it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.

    I don't recall if that's in /Starship Troopers/, but it (and more) is
    in /The Forever War/.

    There is no sex or casual nudity in the book. As I recall the military
    does include women in combat roles, usually as spaceship pilots, but not
    in MI. Rico admits to liking girls, but nothing any further than that
    develops.

    Thinking about it overnight ... I concur.

    So, someone making the movie (and able to influence the script) may
    have read Haldeman.

    The spaceship pilots (and other crew) would have been Navy, not
    Marines.

    Indeed, military spaceships in SF are often modeled on naval vessels
    and their terminology and their traditions.

    Something to remember about the SST movie is that it didn't start out as
    an adaptation of the book. The producers were already well into
    pre-production for a low-budget SF movie when they found out that the
    movie rights to the book were available. So they bought them for the
    name recognition and did some last minute changes before filming to
    kinda-sorta make the movie fit the title.

    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue Mar 18 08:46:00 2025
    On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 08:34:02 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 3/17/2025 8:19 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
    On 16 Mar 2025 17:42:03 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul S Person <[email protected]d> wrote:
    On 15 Mar 2025 16:07:37 GMT, [email protected] (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    In article <[email protected]>, Don <[email protected]> wrote:
    Lynn McGuire wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

    Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended... >>>>>>>>
    https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/

    Wow, three for five today ! "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome >>>>>>> "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original >>>>>>> Series".

    Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically >>>>>> attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas
    settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE
    PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its
    shortcomings.
    They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half >>>>>> Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a >>>>>> rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia): >>>>>> <https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
    The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a >>>>>> space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the >>>>>> story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day
    Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he >>>>>> focused on bugs instead.
    Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a >>>>>> satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and
    distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where >>>>>> movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.) >>>>>>

    I actually liked the shower scene. Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
    it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.

    I don't recall if that's in /Starship Troopers/, but it (and more) is
    in /The Forever War/.

    There is no sex or casual nudity in the book. As I recall the military
    does include women in combat roles, usually as spaceship pilots, but not >>> in MI. Rico admits to liking girls, but nothing any further than that
    develops.

    Thinking about it overnight ... I concur.

    So, someone making the movie (and able to influence the script) may
    have read Haldeman.

    The spaceship pilots (and other crew) would have been Navy, not
    Marines.

    Indeed, military spaceships in SF are often modeled on naval vessels
    and their terminology and their traditions.

    Something to remember about the SST movie is that it didn't start out as
    an adaptation of the book. The producers were already well into >pre-production for a low-budget SF movie when they found out that the
    movie rights to the book were available. So they bought them for the
    name recognition and did some last minute changes before filming to >kinda-sorta make the movie fit the title.

    I would say that that is something to pay no attention to whatsoever.

    The original /The Little Shop of Horrors/ was as low-budget as could
    be imagined, but it became a major hit because /it is a good movie/.

    And how many well-funded, well-planned, well-produced, well-directed "blockbusters" have ... fizzled out because /they were not good
    movies/. Sometimes taking a studio or a career or two with them.

    Anyway, that's the "excuse" for /I, Robot/. And /Blade Runner/ --
    neither of which needs to be excused.

    Verhoeven's /SST/, OTOH, cannot be excused. Bad is bad, it's that
    simple. It would have been a stinker no matter what it was called.

    Interestingly, one of the documetaries on the DVD of his next film,
    /Hollow Man/, says that the name was decided by a vote of the cast.
    Perhaps he was wishing something similar had been done with /SST/,
    thus allowing the film to stand on its own two feet instead of trying
    to fill the shoes of a giant.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun May 18 21:28:04 2025
    On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 08:19:48 -0700, Paul S Person
    <[email protected]d> wrote:

    Indeed, military spaceships in SF are often modeled on naval vessels
    and their terminology and their traditions.

    Star Trek makes that point explicitly in one of the series where they
    show in the opening credits several of the ships called "Enterprise"
    with the first being HMS Enterprise from the beginning of the 18th
    century.

    Obviously it was powered by sails not dilithium.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon May 19 12:31:48 2025
    In article <[email protected]>,
    The Horny Goat <[email protected]> wrote:
    On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 08:19:48 -0700, Paul S Person ><[email protected]d> wrote:

    Indeed, military spaceships in SF are often modeled on naval vessels
    and their terminology and their traditions.

    Star Trek makes that point explicitly in one of the series where they
    show in the opening credits several of the ships called "Enterprise"
    with the first being HMS Enterprise from the beginning of the 18th
    century.

    Obviously it was powered by sails not dilithium.

    As I recall the first season of TOS was more nautical than later became
    the norm.
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul S Person@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 19 09:33:26 2025
    On Sun, 18 May 2025 21:28:04 -0700, The Horny Goat <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    On Mon, 17 Mar 2025 08:19:48 -0700, Paul S Person ><[email protected]d> wrote:

    Indeed, military spaceships in SF are often modeled on naval vessels
    and their terminology and their traditions.

    Star Trek makes that point explicitly in one of the series where they
    show in the opening credits several of the ships called "Enterprise"
    with the first being HMS Enterprise from the beginning of the 18th
    century.

    /Star Trek: First Contact/ shows a display case with models of the
    various ships called "Enterprise". This is perhaps 2/3 of the way
    through the film.

    Obviously it was powered by sails not dilithium.

    A lot of the models were of ships not powered by dilithium. One, the
    space shuttle, IIRC, never actually flew but popular demand was such
    that the prototype got the name.

    Never underestimate the power of Trekkies.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Christian Weisgerber@21:1/5 to The Horny Goat on Mon May 19 18:06:56 2025
    On 2025-05-19, The Horny Goat <[email protected]> wrote:

    Star Trek makes that point explicitly in one of the series where they
    show in the opening credits several of the ships called "Enterprise"
    with the first being HMS Enterprise from the beginning of the 18th
    century.

    That would be the credit sequence of, well, _Star Trek: Enterprise_,
    which shows an H.M.S. Enterprize (sic!) and the space shuttle
    Enterprise among images of other pioneering sea/air/space farers.

    This one:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbnTZREMEJI

    --
    Christian "naddy" Weisgerber [email protected]

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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