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
Stop Being Star Trek Snobs
hat's all the bellyaching about Star Trek: Voyager having visiting wrestlers? Never have I seen a more
prudish bunch than most of those who wrote in.
Gene Roddenberry's vision was about bringing people together--not about creating some kind of snobbish SF in-group. If having wrestlers on the program can bring in viewers with a different background, that's great! Perhaps they will learn something from the morality plays on Voyager that they would never learn from watching wrestling.
Get off your high horses out there and try to remember what Roddenberry's vision was all about. It's
not exclusionary!
William Webb
ansel_webb@ncsu.edu
Seven Breathes New Life Into Voyager
have to say that I am sick and tired of everyone just blasting Jeri Ryan and her character Seven
of Nine. No one bothers to comment on her acting ability (very talented) or any of the other
projects that she has done, including movies and numerous television appearances. You are all
exhibiting a form of sexism when you label her as nothing more than a sexpot designed to attract
14-year-old males. Personally she is my favorite character and I believe that she has breathed
new life into a series that had gone a little stale. She is dynamic and interesting; she is one of the
most intriguing characters to come along in a long time.
Courtney Roberts
denarapel@hotmail.com
I Wish I Looked Like Seven Of Nine
nough already about the wrestlers on Star Trek: Voyager! Wrestlers are actors, and some can act
their way out of a paper bag! What better way to draw new viewers than to engage current pop
icons in the show (no matter how you slice it, they are a slice of pop Americana). As for
violence, a big assumption is that there will be nothing but wrestling in those episodes, and I
seriously doubt that is true. By using a familiar face, the message can be delivered, eh?
And as to John McCulloch's comment in his Issue No. 127 letter "Straczynski Should Write For Voyager" that decried the cat suit on Jeri Ryan, after reading some interviews with her I
got the impression she didn't do things she objected to. Somehow, I don't think it's an issue
with her; why should it be with anyone else? Frankly, I wish I could look so good in one.
Kathleen Kellar
khrysknife@yahoo.com
There Are Good Dunes And Bad Dunes
must agree with Jay Phillipi's comments in his Issue No. 127 letter "The Dune Film Was Hardly 'Good'" that Dune is quite possibly the worst large budget science fiction
movie I have ever seen. Between the clownish Baron Harkonnen and Sting, they were about as
menacing as a pair of Pokémon. Paul Atreides should have taken them both out with a couple of
good slaps. It would have been more entertaining.
Marc Edwards ("Dune Needs All Six Hours," Issue No. 126) is also right. I agree with him for all the reasons she listed that Dune is quite
possibly the best science fiction book ever written, and I am comparing it to the best of
Silverberg, Ellison, Asimov, Clarke, Le Guin, Bradley, Card, Bear, Benford, etc. It truly boggles
the mind that such a great book could produce such an inane movie.
T. Hannibal Gay
Hannibal@Hotmail.com
Some Of Your SF Isn't SF At All
here is something that's been bothering me for a long time, and now I've finally decided to make a
statement and maybe change the situation, with the support of other readers.
What bothers me is Science Fiction Weekly's editor's misconception of what SF is. They (you) publish articles about
things that can be called SF only if Teletubbies can be called adult entertainment.
What I mean is, for example, your information bits about 3rd Rock from the Sun and Austin Powers.
The only link between the show, the movie and SF is a little gimmick they both use. Austin Powers isn't
SF! At best it is comedy (and not comedy like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is SF).
Please, before you publish something, think if this is SF at all.
Another thing that I'd like to comment on: you pay much attention to stuff like movies, anime,
and games, which aren't the main formats of SF, and in my opinion not enough attention to books.
You have only two sections dedicated to books, while books are the main SF format, and the most
important one. More articles about books and authors will only add interest to the publication.
Michael Polischuk
jg8831@junior10.technion.ac.il
Editor's Note: I don't think all of our readers will ever agree on what is and isn't SF. To some 3rd Rock is just a sitcom, and to others it's definitely a science fiction comedy series. When in doubt we usually rely on the majority opinion of our readers to guide us. In the case of Austin Powers, even though most would agree it's only marginally science fictional, we received hundreds of requests to review the film, so we felt we had to cover it.
In terms of the main format of science fiction, we try to cover all media as fairly as we can. This is another case where opinions vary widely. One reader might feel we don't pay enough attention to one format, such as books, while another might think we run too many book reviews. In the case of books, we usually run 10-12 reviews a month in a variety of sections (books are reviewed in Classics and Cool Stuff as well as the dedicated sections Off the Shelf and Excessive Candour). The only other formats that receive so much attention are TV and film. On the other hand, in a given month we usually only run two game reviews and two anime reviews.
Diversity Is One Of SF's Strengths
was reading the
letters and noticed a recurring theme: the death of some show, novel, short story, or even genre of science fiction. And then it struck
me. Some people wanted Lost in Space to stay dead. Some people think that Star Trek: Voyager should roll
over and meet its maker. Others say this and that are not science fiction. What is wrong with this
picture?
I cannot say for certain, but it seems that wanting any form or style to die is against science
fiction itself. Examine, perhaps, Star Trek. I know, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but to say it does
not have its place in the genre is unfounded. Science fiction would be a little less diverse and
unfriendly without Star Trek. Examine Harlan Ellison's story "Ecoawareness." Not once is there any
real technobabble or scientific explanation, but it is, to me at the very least, still science fiction
because it offers a new approach, a diverse fiction. There are countless other examples, whether
they be novels, stories, movies or television programs which focus heavily on technology or just
mention it in passing, and you have to assume the science behind it. In the end though, I think all
need to exist. Why? It's simple really, of all the genres, science fiction is the most diverse and
free-styled, and that is its greatest strength. To say a work is not science fiction or to say that
some work of science fiction should die would rob the genre of one of its greatest and most
appealing
strengths. When such an act occurs, that will be the day that science fiction dies, not before, not after,
but when diversity is no longer approved of, science fiction will cease to be.
James W. Thomas
captain_scott@hotmail.com
Soundphile Finds Reassurance
fter reading Jeff Berkwits' review of the King Kong Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, I was amazed to
discover
that someone else in the universe actually hooked up his tape recorder and
taped movies. I thought I was the only one who did that. Before the VCR, I
spent a lot of time listening to Kong, Bride of Frankenstein, The Thing,
etc. Many of my friends thought I was a little odd and my parents
considered committing me. Being an SF fan, of course, I really knew I was
just
ahead of my time and predicting the VCR and DVD. Now that I know someone
else
was doing it, I feel much better.
Mike Thomas
MERLYN319@aol.com
Leave The PC Out Of First Wave
take exception to Mark Kasprovic's comments in his Issue No. 127 letter "First Wave Fuels Intolerance." While I also think
Farscape is a much better show since I can sympathize with the characters far more easily, I don't
believe First Wave is promoting intolerance. Rather, it is a warning to all and everyone to "watch
the skies." While a lot of people would assume most visitors to our planet have only
good intentions, sometimes the storyline is not so, as in First Wave. The aliens have been in a
take-over mentally since the very start, and if the viewer understands that, he is not going to
think it's all right to kill someone just because they are different. The message is that's what the
aliens are doing to us, that they want to take over in any way they can, regardless of our feelings
about it. Granted, it's a depressing story, sort of a cross between The Fugitive and Independence
Day, but still the writing does have its own merits. If Kasprovic doesn't like the show he should just
say so and not confuse human values with those of fictional characters. It's only a story. We
watch stories for amusement.
Let's leave the political correctness out of it. We get enough of that in our everyday lives.
Marianne Roberts
marianne.roberts@lmco.com
First Wave Teaches Us To Stick Together
am writing in response to Mark Kasprovic's Issue No. 127 letter "First Wave Fuels
Intolerance," in issue 127. First I have to say that I happen to disagree with Kasprovic's opinion. As
a matter of fact, First Wave promotes the fact that if the population of Earth were to be
threatened by an outside force, we the inhabitants will need to set aside our petty differences and
fight together. The alien Joshua in the series can be quoted as saying "your petty differences
will destroy you" (or something along those lines). Cade Foster continues to fight for human
survival although most of his fellow humans would rather see him dead. Although the ads on TV
can be a bit harsh, how would you feel if "the powers that be" killed your wife and framed you for
her murder? People need to look farther than the Cade vs. the aliens plot and see the emphasis
on the need for the human race to set aside their differences and see each other for whom they
really are.
Sharon Webb
s_webb893@animalhouse.com
Artemis Doesn't Focus Only On The Moon
read the review of the premiere issue of Artemis magazine with
some interest. I have a short story scheduled for the second issue, and wanted to
point out that while, yes, Artemis' primary focus is based on
mankind's return to the moon, the magazine's guidelines and the fiction
presented in the first issue are somewhat deceptive. My upcoming short
story, "Elixir of Life," has nothing whatsoever to do with the moon.
Based on the quote at the end of the review, "I think that the exclusive
focus on the moon is going to make it harder for Strock to find quality
fiction..." I thought you would appreciate knowing that Ian Strock--regarding my
fiction piece and I suspect there will be others--is perfectly willing to
buy and publish SF that is not centered on the moon or the colonization of
the moon, moon beams, moon love or moon rocks, etc.
B. J. Thrower
barbara-thrower@utulsa.edu
WASPs Overrun SF Television
don't care if many of the actors on Farscape have Australian accents. It
does bother me that the leads of SF TV shows, including Farscape and First
Wave, are always male and WASP. Why couldn't the lead character of an SF TV
show have the last name of Kowolski, Goldberg, or Spinelli?
Susan Stein
Sstein7884@aol.com
Bear Betrays Fans With Darwin's Radio
am a diehard Greg Bear fan and was very disappointed with his Darwin's Radio. The book
started great, the story was gripping, the ending--well, there really wasn't any. It just quit. It
didn't seem to come to any conclusions, but maybe there is a sequel in the works. It was hard to
put the book down, but I felt betrayed when it ended.
Lalah Tillinghast
LalahTT@aol.com
Don't Forget Mother Night
n your Issue No. 127 Classic review of the film Slaughterhouse-Five, it was stated that "Slaughterhouse-Five is the one, perfect filmed
realization of Kurt Vonnegut's work". Perhaps the writer didn't bother to see Mother Night, which
perfectly captured the cruel irony of Vonnegut's book, Mother Night.
Ed Walker
ed_walker@hotmail.com
Editor's Note: Interestingly, during an interview a year or two ago I asked Vonnegut what he thought of Mother Night, and he replied, "I think it's the best acting Nick Nolte ever did." I'm still not sure whether he liked the movie or not.
