Good vs. Evil and the Simple World That Never Was

(Or the Problem of Absolutes in Fantasy Literature)

Good vs. evil.  It forms the basis of our religions and fills the narratives of our stories, myths, legends, and day-to-day conversations.  But the more I look at the world, the more I get the sense that such a simple dichotomy never existed.  Nothing is ever so simple as "good vs. evil."  There are always tugs and pulls from other parties, some of which are so torn between the good and evil spectrums that they seem to reflect a strange and un-containable neutralism.

Some people, however, aren't interested in those tugs and pulls.  They want to see the world in

The Reviewer Matters: On the NYT Review of "A Game of Thrones"

If you haven't seen the blogosphere throwing a fit yet about this New York Times review of the TV adaptation of "A Game of Thrones," then prepare yourself.  It was bound to happen that some hack of that lovely "literary" culture would come along to talk about something they barely understand:  this time A Game of Thrones and fantasy in general.  Some choice quotes, though, are:

The bigger question, though, is: What is “Game of Thrones” doing on HBO? The series claims as one of its executive producers the screenwriter and best-selling author David Benioff, whose excellent script for Spike Lee’s post-9/11 meditation, “25th Hour,” did not suggest a writer with Middle Earth proclivities. Five years ago, however, Mr. Benioff began reading George R. R. Martin’s series of books, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” fell in love and sought to adapt “Game of Thrones,” one of the installments.

(Because we all know that no non-genre writer could possibly fall in love with a genre property and suddenly want to be involved in genre things, right?)

And:

A Disturbing Vision of Womanhood

Teaching is a strange thing.  

Last semester, I taught a small unit on the women's rights movement, during the course of which I discovered some rather strange and/or disturbing things about how young people (in Florida, I should add) view women's rights and women in general.  Most views are understandable:  they don't quite understand what the feminist writers I present them with are complaining about; after all, they live in a world that doesn't feel like the places Dale Spender and others were talking about, even though, as I try to point out to them, things aren't as good as they want to think they are (women still get paid less than men and high-power positions are still dominated by men even though it appears that more women are attending college).  But it's crucial to explain to these students that things are not as they should be -- that equality does not yet exist.  Most of them are simply ignorant, as we all are at 17 or 18 years old.  They just don't know what the real world is like in the United States, and you can't blame them for not understanding Dale Spender's irritation or why feminists (those evil, dirty feminists) are still fighting for things like pay, rights, and so on.

But then there are those with views that make me wonder about the world in which we are raising

An Amazing(ly Poignant) Gift

One of my friends from England recently tried to send me a present thinking it was my birthday (this was a month or so back).  It obviously hasn't been my birthday since October, but I'll never say no to presents.  There were some concerns over the chocolate in the package, as they are banned by some arcane U.S. law because the little toys inside cause babies to choke when their lazy ass parents don't monitor what their kids are munching on....

Anyway.  We had about given up on the gift ever arriving, but then I checked my mail today and discovered this (after the fold):

Dark Jenny Giveaway Winner

The winner is...drum roll please!

Carraka

Congrats, Carr!  You'll receive a PM from me shortly!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do this thing they call "homework."

Video Found: Little Girl Joins the Dark Side

I don't have kids, but I can tell you this:  if the child in the below video were mine, I would be so proud of her!



Absolutely adorable, don't you think?

The Skiffy and Fanty Show #3.2 is Live! (The Newsies, Atlantis, and Gender Problems)

It's out and it's semi-intense.  This week we talk about upcoming movies, some stupid things being done to libraries, stupid male gamers, and some gender issues in the SF/F reviewing community.

Feel free to check out the episode and let us know what you think.  The question of the week will be up on Friday!