I’ve never really been picked on for reading science fiction, but I’ve definitely gotten some weird looks. Fortunately, people don’t find it too weird, because at least it’s consistent with all the other freaky loser things I do, like listen to metal and run Linux. I live SF, man.
But today I found another person, Shelley the Republican, who finally understands what SF is about.
If you are not familiar with the genre, do not worry: Very little has changed since it was invented 50 years ago by Isaac Asimov and L. Ron Hubbard. These two men created the first “Scifi” (pronounced see-fee) books as a crazy of bet: They dared each other to concoct the most preposterous nonsense in order to see if American kids would buy it
[...]
These outlandish tales are often full of vivid, perverse sexual imagery, violence or excessive cussing. The stories are frequently amoral, with protagonists rewarded for their sinful behavior. Furthermore when God is mentioned, it is usually to take his Holy name in vain. The end-result is a shameful and grotesque fantasy nightmare. It’s more horrific than anything that could come form Hollywood’s sick imagination.
If only this were the full extent of the sci-fi problem: There are now hundreds of web-sites offering readers a quick fix of fantasy. As with drug pushers the first hit is always free, which is why you can find authors offering hundreds of short-stories and even entire novels available as a free download. This is clearly an incentive to coerce your kids into buying-into their degrading fantasies.
Man, talk about hitting the nail on the head. And I love the burn about how SF authors can never get published, so they just Creative Commons their work. Ouch.
Picture from the article. I don’t know whether it’s fair to label this dude an SF fan, given that he’s dressed as a videogame character, but I suppose some leniency should be allowed, since the author is a self-professed Republican. They aren’t exactly champions of cultural know-how.
Typical Republican to focus on “perverse sexual imagery” as the primary attraction of SciFi.
Nothing about the exploration of scientific alternate possibilities and the consequences of same? Oh, yeah, “thinking” – the Republicans bete noire.
My favorite quote from the link:
“If your kid likes to read, make sure their shelves are stocked with books that are steeped in the Blood of Christ.”
So books steeped in blood are ok, as long as it’s Jewish blood?
All righty, then.
Well said! If you haven’t been to that site before, I highly recommend checking it out. Its satire isn’t on par with The Onion or my personal favorite (though painfully outdated) Whitehouse.org, but it can be a fun read sometimes.
Especially when they post pictures of n00bz in megaman costume.
And “see-fee”? Really?
Actually, it’s pronounced sat-ahyuh
r.
ok, ok. I’m just feeling EXTRA curmudgeonly today.
Sandworms are so perverse.
Boy, that comment is WIN, man. Cheers. And DEATH IN FIRE! <3
I don’t understand why the STR idiots are picking on a few Science-Fiction authors out of the hundreds who are trying to make an honest buck by keeping us entertained. Apart from the obvious BS about L. Ron Hubbard and Isaac Asimov, what on earth do they have against the other guys?
Escape Pod is pretty good by the way, I listen to it all the time.
To be fair the power rangers did destroy my faith in God with their fantastical ninja-like ways. (Not to mention the sexual imagery.)
The power rangers actually restored my faith, but that’s only because I worship sexy space ninjas, which I think was the quoted author’s initial gripe.
Oh God, Mega Man.
Mega Man gets babes I guess. Rethinking life, brb.