From: "Erica VD Ginter" <eginter at klgai.com>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Sum of All Cliches
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 10:55:16 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Good point. Bring on the bug-eyed monsters--with a new twist, of course!

Erica

-----Original Message-----
From: Strong, Lee [mailto:StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 10:17 AM
To: 'WSFA members'
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Sum of All Cliches

	Dr. Einstein, Ms. Van Dommelen,... Germany's losses, America's
gains.
	I wasn't objecting to remembering the Nazi horrors.  In fact, I
think that many people could use a refresher course.  So maybe these movie
menaces will serve a useful purpose.  However, as a generalization, I think
that Nazis and neo-Nazis have been overdone as literary villains since World
War II.  I read a fair amount of techno-thrillers and Fourth Reiches are
boringly common.  Unless a writer has an original take on the subject such
as _The Boys From Brazil_, I say it's time to retire the Third Reich.

-----Original Message-----
From: Erica VD Ginter [mailto:eginter at klgai.com]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 9:53 AM
To: 'WSFA members'
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Sum of All Cliches

I'm a German American. Keep those neo-Nazi stereotypes alive, so maybe folks
will remember why my mother and her family had to free the Fatherland.

Erica

-----Original Message-----
From: Strong, Lee [mailto:StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL]
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 7:57 AM
To: 'WSFA members'
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Sum of All Cliches

	The nuclear terrorists were changed from Arabs with some European
mercenaries in the book to European neo-Nazis because of political pressure
from the Arab-American lobby.  Ditto the source of the nuclear materials
changing from Israeli produced to American produced and supplied to the
Israelis by the omnipotent CIA.  The film was in the works long before 9/11
and so was political pressure.  If German-Americans ever organize a
political pressure group, mainstream writers will be rendered helpless by
the lack of politically acceptable villains.  On the other hand, this may
force more writers to write SF because alien vilains are still politically
acceptable.

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith F. Lynch [mailto:kfl at keithlynch.net]
Sent: Saturday, June 01, 2002 12:10 AM
To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Subject: [WSFA] Sum of All Fears

Last weekend I was at a convention in Baltimore.  Today I saw that
city get nuked.  Fortunately, Jack Ryan was on hand to save the rest
of the world.  I strongly recommend The Sum of All Fears if you can
put up with the occasional tired cliche.  (For instance guess what
happens when one of the bad guys tells the others he wants out.)

I don't know why the movie changed Denver (the target in the book) to
Baltimore.  Or why it changed the Islamic terrorists to...  but I'll
let you see it for yourself.
--
Keith F. Lynch - kfl at keithlynch.net - http://keithlynch.net/
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