tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post5860901887705643173..comments2024-03-22T17:14:36.551-04:00Comments on Wasteland And Sky: Fandom: An Illustrative History (Part I: Origins and Tales From the Crypt)JD Cowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03548340507655076198noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-92008503855534933942021-10-18T15:13:37.900-04:002021-10-18T15:13:37.900-04:00Allow me a droll comment. Note the phrase ".....Allow me a droll comment. Note the phrase "...our complicated age when nothing is purely black or white any longer" and note that is appears in the middle of a paragraph denouncing, that is, blackening, the concept that stories should take place against the backdrop of a purely black and white morality. <br /><br />So we are left with two options:<br />1. White: "Stories that are not black and white."<br />2. Black: "Stories that are."<br /><br />In a similar vein, I was recently upbraided for being binary in my thinking, on the grounds that binary thinking was bad, and nonbinary thinking was good. <br /><br />If an idea is one that even those who denounce it use while in the act of denouncing it, it is likely to be a sound idea. <br /><br />John Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15492341011399861469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-51752107884190246692019-03-29T22:43:32.356-04:002019-03-29T22:43:32.356-04:00Thanks for the rec! I'm always adding stuff to...Thanks for the rec! I'm always adding stuff to the list. There's just so much I missed out on.JD Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548340507655076198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-71778677067838101622019-03-29T20:52:51.691-04:002019-03-29T20:52:51.691-04:00Linked to this from Brian Neiemeierere's blog....Linked to this from Brian Neiemeierere's blog.... fantastic. Thought I was the only one headed for cheap pulp paperbacks! I recommend Harold Lamb if you don't know him, major influence on REH, nice republished volumes put out in past decade.Dunstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08234169004961702332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-18156897758148165222019-02-14T08:55:28.538-05:002019-02-14T08:55:28.538-05:00And that true demonic evil, was genuinely demonic ...And that true demonic evil, was genuinely demonic evil. It wasn't some Byronic thing with the aspiration of an adolescent fighting 'the man,' No, it was genuine monstrous /pettiness./ <br /><br />I really wish we had more examples of evil creatures in the vein of Lewis' Un-Man. Ridiculously brilliant and intelligent, but the Byronic veneer is just a mask slapped over a miserable, evil and MEAN little cuss of a being. Spookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08964225365016966994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-53129115001857329652019-02-14T08:46:48.479-05:002019-02-14T08:46:48.479-05:00Or the Fraser version of the Mummy. Apparently the...Or the Fraser version of the Mummy. Apparently the Directorial vision was "We joke about everything, but never the Mummy. Imhotep's always supposed to be scary." meaning that it comes across as a great Supernatural Adventure story because we subconsciously feel we can laugh and joke around with our hero, but the villain is an otherwordly threat. Spookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08964225365016966994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-25718137973321905442019-02-14T07:56:28.095-05:002019-02-14T07:56:28.095-05:00>replacement of religion with pop culture
A Uk...>replacement of religion with pop culture<br /><br />A Ukranian Catholic man recently complained to me about the growing ubiquity of the word "iconic" as a synonym for "cool." He found it offensive, since icons are meant for worship, and calling things like Led Zeppelin and Star Wars iconic blasphemously puts them tantamount to God. <br />Unironically I think this is the point.Careless Whisperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16408092111134074807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-79192639129888704902019-02-08T14:26:35.507-05:002019-02-08T14:26:35.507-05:00The whole fandom phenomenon is definitely one requ...The whole fandom phenomenon is definitely one requiring research. The replacement of religion with pop culture started out slow but ramped up hard over the decades to where we have NEETs and hikikomori crawling all over, and SJWs who are committed to weaponizing nostalgia and storytelling to their brainwashing needs.<br /><br />It's hard to imagine it getting worse than this but I don't doubt it will.JD Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548340507655076198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-28261411118073346962019-02-08T13:18:44.445-05:002019-02-08T13:18:44.445-05:00Shirley Jackson always came off like a low-energy ...Shirley Jackson always came off like a low-energy Harlan Ellison. I will live to see her forgotton.<br /><br />And if we're diverting to pile on The Haunting of Hill House, let it be said that it can't hold a candle to Richard Matheson's Hell House (which I always confuse with the former and wind up disappointed when it's not the one getting adapted.) It refutes everything the former stands for. You get a worldly, condescending scientist, a fruity spiritualist girl who thinks sex, love, and niceness can save the world, and a frightened guy who knows better but is far too wishy-washy to make a stand. They all crumble when confronted with true demonic evil, which who knew? is real after all. <br /><br />Horror fiction was the last redoubt of morality in the 20th century fiction market.<br />Careless Whisperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16408092111134074807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-49188083925462542422019-02-08T13:04:09.323-05:002019-02-08T13:04:09.323-05:00Returning to general audiences is what clearly nee...Returning to general audiences is what clearly needs to be done! <br /><br />I'm haunted by this quote about a modern anime, Yo-Kai Watch, re: its popularity:<br /><br /><i>Even the president of Level-5, Akihiro Hino, was surprised by Yo-kai Watch's popularity. ...Explanations for its popularity ranged from catchy songs and dances,[76] to being something parents and kids could enjoy together,[70] to <b>"weird adults" </b></i>(emphasis mine) <i>not being interested in it.[77]</i><br /><br />Fandom puts people OFF properties. The only way forward is to ignore it and appeal to the sensibilities of the masses. Boy am I pumped for the second part of this essay.<br /><br />You ever think about publishing a book of essays on this topic? It deserves a book, I think, and you seem up to it. And I'd love to be able to read this while holding something non-electronic in my hands!Careless Whisperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16408092111134074807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-3569668498363160282019-02-08T12:23:35.014-05:002019-02-08T12:23:35.014-05:00Thank you!
Yes, I had much the same reaction read...Thank you!<br /><br />Yes, I had much the same reaction reading that book. It was clever, but there isn't much underneath the service aside from selfish people looking out for themselves. The horror is pretty shallow.JD Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548340507655076198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-49175790278776823842019-02-08T08:49:29.527-05:002019-02-08T08:49:29.527-05:00Same goes with Ghostbusters. It's a comedy, bu...Same goes with Ghostbusters. It's a comedy, but takes it's own story seriously. There are even some genuinely scary moments which is pretty unique for a genre flick of that sorts. But then, I don't think they were focused on making a good genre piece rather than a good movie.Lauri Starkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02748366350796622609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-65042499720506664272019-02-08T08:45:57.617-05:002019-02-08T08:45:57.617-05:00Garrett, lives you still?
Anyway, since you menti...Garrett, lives you still?<br /><br />Anyway, since you mentioned The Haunting of Hill House, I think the recent Netflix-miniseries was pretty good. I haven't read the book so I have no opinion on that. But the miniseries, while heavy at the psychological front, did well with the gothic atmosphere.Lauri Starkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02748366350796622609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-47536533800790849242019-02-08T06:59:21.332-05:002019-02-08T06:59:21.332-05:00Wow, this was such a great post. Gave me so much t...Wow, this was such a great post. Gave me so much to think of, cleared away some confusions I had with the Gothic genre, and articulated some thoughts I had about the pulps and the themes of good and evil that constantly get bashed by modern "intellectuals". Now I am very interested in classic gothic works.<br /><br />"The Gothic tale and Marchen romance eventually collided again as writers tried to strip the supernatural from the stories to replace with sexual content, as is man's first thought when it comes to anything creative outside of heroism or God. What was once a genre about good men against bad men in a world haunted by sin and death was slowly becoming a genre of broken men in a broken world haunted by their own broken reflection. It was becoming more insular and self-obsessed."<br /><br />This articulates well why I did not like The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The entire story is about the sexual repression of one woman disguised as gothic horror, and it was mind-numbingly boring and unimaginative.<br /><br />Great job! Looking forward to part two.Constantinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004527641791623130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-88151968155790673982019-02-07T20:51:27.134-05:002019-02-07T20:51:27.134-05:00It's a genuine sort of fun that has been lost....It's a genuine sort of fun that has been lost. It's all post-modern ironic winking hipsterism "fun" which just translates to light junk without any weight. BTTF works because for as fun as it is they believe in what they're doing and go all out with it.JD Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548340507655076198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-42900485184068132222019-02-07T20:49:07.190-05:002019-02-07T20:49:07.190-05:00Thank you!Thank you!JD Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03548340507655076198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-28653268023983900032019-02-07T19:36:37.869-05:002019-02-07T19:36:37.869-05:00One aspect of pulp worth mentioning that those pos...One aspect of pulp worth mentioning that those poser-hipster-autumn people never do or get: <i>fun</i>.<br /><br />Just recently I revisited <i>Back to the Future</i> -trilogy which I hadn't seen since junior high, that is in over ten years. Man, movies used to be <i>fun</i>. Those are as good lighthearted adventure films as you can get.Lauri Starkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02748366350796622609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520528486728008071.post-52848562133024434052019-02-07T19:27:09.411-05:002019-02-07T19:27:09.411-05:00This has been one of your best writings so far. I ...This has been one of your best writings so far. I don't know if I can really add anything but to quote this part:<br /><br /><i>The Gothic is the beating bloody heart in any good traditional romance story and is what gives it the universal core so needed in fiction. White against black. Dark against Light. Hero against Villain. Eternal Life against Endless Death. Temptation against Virtue. It goes beyond the surface into weighty themes of the Ultimate, God, and True Justice. The knowledge of a battle between forces beyond both parties at play that haunt the scenery and the overall world behind the story. It underpins every action and decision, and the thought that salvation or damnation is a stone throw away is the most nail-biting experience of them all.</i> <br /><br />Splendid!Lauri Starkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02748366350796622609noreply@blogger.com