From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Culture hi, culture lo
Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 14:54:07 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

	Ted, I'm asking the question to spark a discussion.  Is
grit/noir/punk good?  And, if so, why?  Some say that noir is realistic.  Is
it really, or does it merely appeal to a selfish desire to see others who
are worse off than we are?
	I say that Star Wars shows that we can overcome problems because
Episode IV standing alone, or Episodes I-II and IV-VI taken as a whole show
the Rebels overcoming at least some of the problems posed by a tyrannical
government.  (Altho see the weeklystandard.com site posted by Cathy Green
for an amusing nonstandard but well reasoned interpretation.)  I don't place
a lot of emphasis on the setting since it is, as you say, escapism.
	Your comment about not wanting to live in the Star Wars society is
interesting, altho I do note that Lucas has not really presented the
ordinary citizen's life very well.  So far, the chronologically first
triology is darker and more "cyberpunkish" than the first.
	_Bubblegum Crisis_ is the name of the Japanese anime inspired by
_Blade Runner_ and, curiously enough, there is no special reference to
bubblegum anywhere in it.  Good stories IMHO.

Your friend, Lee

-----Original Message-----
From: Ted White [mailto:tedwhite at compusnet.com]
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 2:32 PM
To: WSFA members
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Culture hi, culture lo

"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