tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post16290415385587943..comments2023-11-03T12:44:19.948+01:00Comments on Orwell's Picnic ~: The case for dystopiaHilary Jane Margaret Whitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03771332473693479830noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-73418604522104172272012-04-27T18:03:10.909+02:002012-04-27T18:03:10.909+02:00Hi, Bridget!
I disagree, what you mentioned as ...Hi, Bridget! <br /><br /> I disagree, what you mentioned as regards the South or Northeast are only variations on what used to be a general, nation wide culture based on Anglo American culture, Christianity, Anglo American common law, the US Constitution, the English language, etc. To have opposing or contradictory cultures in the US is all too likely to LESSEN national unity.<br /><br /> Sean M. BrooksSean M. Brooksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-16119191282771314302012-04-27T15:40:28.996+02:002012-04-27T15:40:28.996+02:00That's quite a leap, Sean. It's an especia...That's quite a leap, Sean. It's an especially large leap for an American like myself, since we have many different cultures in this one country. Those who live in the Northeast sneer at the backwardness of the culture of those religious, chivalrous Southerners, as but one example. <br /><br />I'm sorry, but I am getting the feeling that you are picking at me because you <i>can</i>, rather than because anything I've said merits such picking at.bridgetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-66638122880406932462012-04-26T14:00:10.807+02:002012-04-26T14:00:10.807+02:00Bridget:
Last paragraph of your first comment wa...Bridget:<br /><br /> Last paragraph of your first comment was how I came to think you had "other," non Western culures in mind.<br /><br /> Sean M. BrooksterSean M. Brooksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-54643276956722812192012-04-25T00:46:40.860+02:002012-04-25T00:46:40.860+02:00Mr. Brooks: I never said that dystopian fiction is...Mr. Brooks: I never said that dystopian fiction is set in non-Western cultures, so please explain how you arrived at the idea to put those particular words in my mouth.bridgetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-86229016527985140072012-04-21T18:41:24.734+02:002012-04-21T18:41:24.734+02:00Hi, Bridget:
I disagreed with what you said abou...Hi, Bridget:<br /><br /> I disagreed with what you said about dystopian fictions are set in other "cultures" or because other people are "misguided and unenlightened." Practically all the dystopian fictions I've read are set in scenarios where the culture is Western or at least Western derived. And that is true not only of the examples I cited above by Poul Anderson but also of other writers, such as the Draka stories of S.M. Stirling. I hardly need to point out how Orwell's 1984and Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD are also placed in Western or Western derived cultures.<br /><br /> Sincerely, Sean M. BrooksSean M. Brooksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-15713741044659520682012-04-20T20:57:24.553+02:002012-04-20T20:57:24.553+02:00Personally, I wish that educators would explain ho...Personally, I wish that educators would explain how things here on earth can be so bad. Slavery in America was justified as a way to avoid starvation and grueling poverty, for master and slave alike. Communism and the desire for our own sense of "fairness" in this world lead to the gulags in Russia. This stuff did not appear out of nowhere, nor was it done just to be mean: there were often very gripping, persuasive reasons why people engaged in such brutality. A modern, enlightened culture is not free of those temptations (see "choice" being a rationalisation for child-murder).<br /><br />Dystopian fiction just continues the trend of pretending that these sorts of things only happen in <i>other</i> cultures, or because <i>other</i> people are misguided or unenlightened.bridgetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-46426892538611482702012-04-17T05:24:54.615+02:002012-04-17T05:24:54.615+02:00Hi,Hilary Jane!
Hmmmm,dystopian movies or fictio...Hi,Hilary Jane!<br /><br /> Hmmmm,dystopian movies or fiction? I can think of two very grim short stories by Poul Anderson treating this idea in somewhat different ways. They are: "Welcome," and "Murphy's Hall." The ending of "Welcome" gave me a real shock which I will not mention because it would be a spoiler. And "Murphy's Hall" is a grim, sophisticated parable of what the author thinks will happen if we keep on making the same old left wing socialist mistakes we all know too well.<br /><br /> Sincerely, Sean M. BrooksSean M. Brooksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-51508110253201708682012-04-12T19:58:08.262+02:002012-04-12T19:58:08.262+02:00Did I ever watch Serenity?!!
You're trying to...Did I ever watch Serenity?!!<br /><br />You're trying to recommend science fiction to me?<br /><br />You must be new here, huh...Hilary Jane Margaret Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03771332473693479830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-41918935969990390852012-04-11T06:03:38.172+02:002012-04-11T06:03:38.172+02:00Did you ever watch Serenity? Or the Firefly TV ser...Did you ever watch Serenity? Or the Firefly TV series? Good stuff!<br /><br />They tried the "happiness pill" (a rose by any other name - and I'm trying not to give too much away) in Serenity. It backfired horribly. Which, given what you said about the attraction of dystopian movies, might be just what we as viewers hope would happen.<br /><br />I'd also have to recommend the movie version of Fahrenheit 451 from 1966. They do a disturbingly good job of making the case against books in that movie. Books just stir up trouble and make people feel superior to one another. Don't read - watch your floor to ceiling TV instead. So, not a happiness pill per se, but rewriting of our mental software the old fashioned way, via argument.<br /><br />The drama in Fahrenheit of course comes from those who resist, even if reluctantly. I'm not sure how to make the seductions of dystopia have the necessary conflicts to render them dramatic. We'd have to convince our protagonist - and probably the viewer - that dystopia was good. Wouldn't that make it utopia instead?Billy Bishophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08666586044363116283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-90868622918831228452012-04-11T05:36:09.394+02:002012-04-11T05:36:09.394+02:00Come to Australia if you want to see a dystopic pa...Come to Australia if you want to see a dystopic paradise.<br /><br />A land of "sun-drenched, steak-fed vacuity" (my apologies to the source of this quote, I don't know the origins). No wonder the youth suicide rate is one of the highest in the world.<br /><br />Anyway, this topic is one my husband and I often speak about. Just this morning on the way to work I wondered what would happen if this nation's citizens had the pacifiers of the welfare state, shopping, and sport suddenly taken from them. It would be ugly. But perhaps necessary to make people wake up to the hideous reality of a life lived without a spiritual compass.<br /><br />LydiaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15895111.post-76272944459602968492012-04-11T02:46:52.378+02:002012-04-11T02:46:52.378+02:00Soma?
Even though I am not a long time reader - I...Soma?<br /><br />Even though I am not a long time reader - I do enjoy your posts and am glad to read of your return. Looking forward to viewing some of your artwork as well!<br /><br />Pax Christi,Teresa B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15076392000073341695noreply@blogger.com