#extra sci fi

[extracreditsblog]

Harlan Ellison was a little dismissive of this short story that you've might only heard of because you saw it on a Steam summer sale, but at the time of its publication (1967) its ideas about the possibility of "evil AI," as well as the possible degeneracy of humanity, were shocking and unexpected, and it set the stage for the wave of sci-fi we'll talk about next season: New Wave!

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

Relevant part starting at 6:00 

In their new Extra Sci-Fi episode devoted to H. P. Lovecraft’s and Robert E. Howard’s impact on sci-fi and fantasy, Extra Credits crew devoted a segment to signifying also how those authors’ personal biases and the pulp publishing industry’s standards at the time led to the normalization of problematic tropes still haunting modern fiction, including pretty sexist depictions of women that this blog is devoted to. 

We talked before on this blog that “historical accuracy” of scantily glad warrior women doesn’t reach further than to the times of 20th century pulp magazine stories, their covers and subsequent comics that followed the covers’ convention. The fact is, armor/fur bikinis were invented essentially just because not every publication could afford being as “progressive” as Weird Tales, so characters like Dejah Thorris wouldn’t be allowed to be illustrated as nude, no matter the story’s original text.  Also, keep in mind how the myth of sexing up the covers to increase sales doesn’t hold up under scrutiny at least since the 70s era Conan comics. 

~Ozzie 

h/t: @filipfatalattractionrblog

PS: Despite what illustrations in the video imply, Red Sonja in Howard’s writing actually looked closer to that than the usual scalemail bikini depiction: 

[extracreditsblog]

How do we cope with a crowded world we as humans were never evolutionarily designed for? Stand on Zanzibar was written in 1968 but it uncannily, accurately predicts many of our present day's social tensions and stressors. However, it also has a certain optimism that makes it stand out among other dystopic fiction we've discussed.

[extracreditsblog]

Where the dystopias of Brave New World and 1984 warned against the easy slide into totalitarianism, and painted for us worlds in which freedom is nearly a forgotten thing… A Clockwork Orange presents us with a protagonist who has almost an excess of freedom, and in doing so it shows us the shift in societal fears.

[extracreditsblog]

Fahrenheit 451 is about many things. In Bradbury's younger days, just coming out of the McCarthy era, he said the book was about censorship and book burning. Later in life, he said it was about the dangers of easy entertainment. Let's analyze these viewpoints a little further.

[extracreditsblog]

Frank Herbert's epic novel Dune began as a photograph of the Oregon coastline--literally, the dunes themselves. From there it grew into a poem, then three books, then a serial in John W. Campbell's Analog magazines, and then at last... a car repair manual publisher?

[extracreditsblog]

Kurt Vonnegut's first novel "Player Piano" explores the long-term consequences of mandatory mechanization and automation, without necessarily arguing against them entirely. Rather, the novel raises important questions about increased classism and job instability for displaced workers.

[extracreditsblog]

The idea that Orwell presents us in 1984 is that people subtle enough and brutal enough can take the undirected dissatisfaction and anger of a society and point it at whatever they will, using us to damn ourselves.