Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 14:31:38 -0400
From: Ted White <tedwhite at compusnet.com>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Culture hi, culture lo
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

"Strong, Lee" wrote:

>         Well, it was certainly different from _Conquest of Space_ which I
> watched over the weekend.  But are grit and noir good, or symptoms of a
> society in decay?  Is a dark, "edgy", "streetwise" book or film human, or
> merely animalistic?  _Blade Runner_ is certainly widely respected in the
> United States and Japan as a cutting edge movie with a hard hitting view of
> the future, but, as a trained optimist, I prefer brighter fare.  One reason
> why Star Trek and Star Wars are so popular is that they say that we can
> overcome problems, not just endure them.  In any event, I suspect that you
> enjoyed seeing the underside of Corescent in Lucas' latest.
>         Have you ever seen either version of the _Bubblegum Crisis/Bubblegum
> Crash_ series?  It was inspired by _Blade Runner_.

"Symptoms of a society in decay?"   *Sigh*....

Hard to know how STAR WARS says "that we can overcome problems, not just endure
them" inasmuch as all of STAR WARS is supposed to have taken place in a
pre-human past which is hardly relevent to our existence or fate.  Nor is the
society shown in those movies any more attractive to me (to live in) than was
that in BLADERUNNER.

But as "bublegum" escapism, the STAR WARS movies have few peers.  Pure space
opera.

--Ted White