Love to Hate?

Fandom is interesting, isn't it?  Fans turn on each other, hurl abuse, and even actively work to prevent others from enjoying something.

I've seen it in several forms of fandom. I recently left one of my favourite FaceBook groups, a football group, because of the negativity, the namecalling and general abuse. Ironically, it was a group set up with the intended aim of being a pleasant and safe place, different to the others.  The guidelines, paraphrased, were to not be too negative, criticise players, and to have a good time.  That was great for a number of years, and then it grew too large.  And when people pointed out the guidelines, they were attacked for their rose-tinted glasses, and reminded of the abuser's right to "free speech."

I'm only in one Science Fiction group, run by a friend, which is still small and where people are nice to each other. (I've only had to block one person who insisted I was wrong, and actually commented on my post "What he actually means is....", which is not what I meant.  But apart from him, it is a fun place to visit.  I stopped going to others when it was insinuated that we weren't allowed to enjoy certain films, or books, because they were rubbish. Like many of the Star Wars films, or series, or books.

I left a music one because people would go out of their way to declare their hatred of all things U2, a band I quite like. it was bizarre how these people were on a mission to let you know they didn't like them.

At the moment, there are a number of Beatles fans already declaring they don't like the new Beatles song, even though none of them have heard it. It's not the Beatles, it's not this, it's not that.

Negativity. I'm cutting it out of my life where I can. And my Facebook feed is a much happier place for it.

My Kind Of SF Movies.

It's been a while since I've seen so many SF films that I've enjoyed. For a few years now I've been disappointed with the long breaks between quality SF film.  Sure, there's been a ton of superhero movies, and while many love them they are not my cup of tea.

In fact I was recently speaking to someone in the film industry, and they were lamenting the current domination of these films - Marvel in particular. So much Marvel product is being made that it's affecting investment and production in other, non superhero movies.

But I digress.

Don't get me wrong. There have been SF movies that I enjoyed, or even loved. Ender's Game, The Force Awakens, The Lobster and Ex Machina are films I adored. I might even be one of the few who will openly admit to quite liking Jupiter Ascending as well. But for every one of these there is a Prometheus.

Bleah!  (And please, remember this is only my opinion on these films. Like most art, taste plays a large part of what is considered quality.)

Interstellar needed work. It dragged on and then turned metaphysical with a 'happy ever after' ending. From all accounts Christopher Nolan ignored the original, darker ending and rewrote it. I think Nolan is over-rated as a writer and director. Most of his work needs clarity and focus, and a much gentler touch. Inception, for example, could have been so much better. I've also yet to love a movie by Neill Blomkamp. I've previously written of my disdain for District 9, a movie which most people seemed to rate highly. Elysium was even worse. It made little sense at all, and was full of plot holes Nolan could drive a starship through. Latest word is he may not be attached to the Alien sequel after all, which I consider good news. In addition to these, there were a lot of other so-so SF films during these years.

But in the past 15 months or so I've enjoyed the two Star Wars films, The Martian, and Arrival. Guardians of the Galaxy was a lot of fun, and even Passengers, which seemed to upset a lot of people, was nothing more than it pretended to be. And I quite enjoyed it. And there was a lot more. Ghost in the Shell, while not the deepest of films, was visually beautiful and better than I expected it to be. I must point out the setting reminded me of a cleaner, more prosperous Blade Runner world.

Speaking of which we have the new Blade Runner movie to look forward to - and if it's anywhere near the quality of director Denis Villeneuve's previous work, (Incendies, Sicaro, The Arrival) we should be in for a real treat.

Plus the new Star Wars movie in December.

Life is good.

Continuum XII.

Continuum XII is fast approaching, and I'm really looking forward to it. Last year, due to circumstances, I was only able to spend one day there. This year I'll be present for the whole thing. As this will be my last Australian convention for some time, it'll be great to catch up with a whole bunch of people just before I go,

For those who don't know, Continuum is an annual fan run speculative fiction and pop culture convention. From science-fiction to epic fantasy and everything in between, Continuum 12 will celebrate the theme “Stranger Than Fiction”. Continuum runs every year on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. In 2016 the convention will be held between June 10-13 at the Hotel Jasper in Melbourne’s CBD.

I've been selected for five panels. Mostly writing themed, but with one on Star Wars. I know some of the panellists already, and they're a great bunch. I look forward to meeting those I don't yet know.

In addition George Ivanoff has asked me to be involved in one of his notorious activities. And although I immediately said yes, I'm now starting to wonder if it was a good idea to take part. I guess time will tell.

For those attending, come up and say 'Hi'. Offer me a drink. Tell me things I don't know. Oh, and don't forget that drink!

Hope to see you there!

My panels:

Worldbuilding  (Saturday  10-11am) 

• How to create an immersive world, how much detail is too much, how much should you tell the audience or keep in the background, how does trade fit in and how do you draw the damned map?

Writers and Doubt (Saturday 4-5pm)

• Dealing with Imposter Syndrome. A very real and quite sobering issue, join us for a discussion on how to deal with Imposter syndrome and what we can do to alleviate it.

Plotspirations (Sunday 4-5pm)

• From mashups to bets to eureka moments to messages in the sky, how do you get your ideas? Where do your plot ideas come from?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Monday 10-11am)

• Revolutionary film or redone cliche cashing in on nostalgia? Badass female heroine or boring Mary Sue? Potential interracial gay couple or just a big tease? We analyse the new movie for any trace of Midichlorians.

The Author is a Jerk! (Monday 1-2pm)

• How do the personal opinions and actions of an author affect the reception of their work and do we really care? Should an author’s personal and professional lives remain separate or should we boycott problematic authors?

I Come From A Land Down Under.

I had a bit of free time with one of my boys' classes this week and so I showed them a little bit of Star Wars Downunder.

Not only is it superbly done with high production values, but it's funny and catches the ocker stereotype brilliantly. I loved it, my students really liked it, but as we watched I became aware they didn't 'get' it all.

Very few Australians really speak like that all the time, and even fewer do so now than they did 4o years ago. Watch a bit of Smiley, or Paul Hogan Show, or even Kingswood Country, and you'll see characters, albeit exaggerated to the nth degree, speaking and behaving that way.

But with globalisation, the invasion of U.S. media and TV, and our own knee-jerk reaction to the 80s cultural cringe, our kids no longer even recognise half these expressions or idioms.

Nor did they 'get' all the Aussie jokes and references.

Which is sad. It's part of our history, part of our culture, and although I never spoke like that (despite last Sunday's post) I used some of those terms and could recognise the historical references.

We're homogenising. And I think that's fair dinkum sad.

What's happened to SF Films?

I'm trying to think back to the last great SF film I saw.

It certainly wasn't Prometheus or Elysium. Both looked shiny and pretty, but both were completely ridiculous and, basically, a mess. Looper was just plain stupid.

I saw Oblivion this week, which was OK. It wasn't great, but for a Tom Cruise SF vehicle, it was a typical Tom Cruise SF film.

Last night I watched Upside Down, which made the mistake of trying to pretend it was an SF film by having SF rules, when really it should have declared itself a fantasy film and be done with it. Oh, and if you make rules in your worldbuilding, you can't break them.

I also saw Gravity, which I will include here even though it's not an SF film. There's nothing in that films that couldn't currently happen (apart from the film-maker's usual exaggerations to create a story) and nothing that suggests it being set in the future, apart from a high mission number. It was good, but wasn't great. OK, some of the science was a bit dodgy, but the second half lost the tension and became silly at points, and Sandra Bullock was Sandra Bullock. Now with more botox, it would seem. Those eyebrows just didn't move.

Any others recently?

I enjoyed Star Trek: Into Darkness, but it was no Star Trek movie. There was no 'boldly going', and no 'exploring strange worlds' and 'meeting alien races.' I also didn't like J.J. Abrams throwing in all the 'sparkly' stuff in the first two films. Time travel, end of Romulan world, and transportation from FTL ships. It leaves me more than a little concerned about the future Star Wars movies being in his hands. At least it wasn't After Earth.

Why can't they get it right? Why can't they make a Silent Running or The Day The Earth Stood Still? (Mention Keanu's version and you're no friend of mine!)

At the moment I have high hopes for Enders Game. Please let it be good.

Nine Thousand Divided By Four?

I never did get that story started on the weekend.

My computer decided it was time to crash, and so I spent much of the day saving files from the C drive (they were all backed up, but it was good to make sure I kept everything in its very latest form) then rebuilding the machine.

I'm one of those unfortunate enough to have had the issues with Windows 7 on their system. Whenever it's loaded, the machine locks on a black screen. About a year ago, I worked out how to fix it. Unfortunately I didn't take notes and this time it wouldn't work for me. Eventually I gave up and installed an older Windows.

Then I started installing all the software I need. Of course that didn't run smoothly either. I found the Office installation disc, and that was fine, but for the life of me I couldn't find the pocket it came in. And that's where the product key is printed. (Yes, legitimate software here.)

I did eventually find it, on Monday night, but by then I was tied up with work stuff. I made sure I found the time to tweak the story I'd written for the Jack Dann workshop, but beyond that I still hadn't written my words.

Of course Saturday is the 30th, and the end of the month is the natural time to close subbing periods. I had a brainwave for one antho on the weekend, which you may have noticed my peers decided to discuss in the comments section of my last post, but no ideas for the other.

And now it's happened. I've had an idea. Which means I should write two fresh stories and rewrite another by Friday night - all ready for subbing on Saturday. I completed the first draft of one last night, and I'm pretty happy with that, but it still needs a lot of work.

I can do it. I know I can. If Sean Williams can write 784 Star Wars novels in 18 months, I can manage 9,000 words in a few days.

Can't I?

Fangs A Lot...

Yesterday I spent the day at Vampirefest 2010, the mini-convention run by the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. There were lots of friends and acquaintances, and plenty of vendors too (and yes, I bought a few bits and pieces). I also chatted with a few people I've seen at different conventions but never actually been introduced to before, and was fortunate enough to meet some new people as well.

I saw Trudi Canavan and Lucy Sussex, and met Edwina Harvey, Jason Nahrung and Kirstyn McDermott for the first time. All of them delightful, of course.  I'm sure they do exist, but I've yet to meet a writer in the speculative fiction genre that isn't friendly, encouraging, and happy to chat.

Jason and Kirstyn both made presentations, Star Wars and Star Trek clubs had to be kept apart by the Dr. Who fan club armed only with a blow-up Dalek.  The Browncoats set up at the back of the room, and a stormtrooper arrived and kept everyone in check. And we got to talk about Vampires!

A splendid time was held by all.  And I can't wait for Aussiecon in September.