To the Hugo Defenders: Check Your Financial Privilege at the Door

If you have been following the Hugo Awards discussion, then you'll be familiar with the various forms of this argument:  if you don't show up and do the work, then you should stop complaining.  In the Hugo discussion, it translates to the following:  you don't like how the awards work, but you don't bother to show up to the meetings, so your opinion is really irrelevant; if you don't like it, show up and change it...or STFU.

To illustrate, I present you some actual examples:

Book Suggestions for "American" Lit Syllabus (a terrible title...)

If you don't follow me on Twitter, then you are unaware that I am attempting to teach a somewhat unusual American Lit survey in the fall.  Basically, I am not teaching the traditional American canon (i.e., the greats of U.S. literature).  Instead, my course will offer a broader interpretation of "American" to include works from U.S. writers and writers from the Americas at large -- North, Central, South, and the Caribbean.  Essentially, this course will be designed to challenge the traditional canon in almost every way; even the U.S. texts I select will offer a challenge.  While I am familiar with a great deal of work from these regions/areas, there is always the possibility that I've missed something I should seriously consider for inclusion -- hence, this post.

If you have a suggestion for a short story, play, or novel that is from one of these regions, please leave a comment.  I am also open to suggestions for U.S. works written by traditionally marginalized groups (Native Americans, people of color, etc.).

So suggest away!

P.S.:  Translations are more than welcome (and expected, considering the range I've selected).  As long as I can get it in English, it's open game.

Link of the Week: "Hugo Thoughts and Friendly Fan Space" by Renay

The Hugo Awards discussion continued quiet eloquently with this post by Renay at LadyBusiness.  She does a fine job adding depth to thoughts I have had since Justin's harsh criticism for the awards and its process (thoughts I also shared in the latest episode of The Skiffy and Fanty Show).  Hopefully Renay's thoughts will bring us all down to Earth, even if only for a little while.

Go read!

Retro Nostalgia: Metropolis (1927) and the Torment of Humanity's Dreams

I've often wondered if there is something unique about the "serious" science fiction of the first 30 years on the 20th century (i.e., non-pulp work).  Surely critics more familiar with the era can attest to this with some degree of authority, but since I do not have that experience, I must speak from what little authority I have as a reader and a relatively new teacher of SF/F literature.

From this limited perspective, Fritz Lang's remarkable 1927 film, Metropolis, resembles visionary works such as E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" (1908) and Karel Capuk's R.U.R. (1920), each drawing in no small part from earlier SF writings, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) or the lesser known Copellia by Arthur Saint-Leon (among others).  The machinic imagination of mankind, in a sense, has always been a part of SF's consciousness, right from the earliest "true" SF novel, Frankenstein, to the most important (stylistically and philosophically) productions of the era traditionally know as the "Pulp Era" -- a more accurate label would be "The Formative Era."*

Poll: The Retro Nostalgia Film #8 (Mass Selection Time!)

I've made the following poll open to multiple answers.  If you could, select the three that you'd like to see me cover over for what remains of April.  Only three.  Period.  I've come to the conclusion that this will make things easier on me and you (you won't have to vote every single week to see your film get covered, and I won't have this constant rush to get to the film in the few days remaining after the poll).

So you know the drill -- vote!

Dear Media: Please Stop Reporting Things That Ruin the Ending...

I'm talking about this.  Do not click or scroll over the link if you don't want a beloved science fiction series ruined for you.  There will be no specifics below, so don't worry.

Whether you've read the link or not, the basic gist is this:  a certain someone has confirmed that they will or will not return to a TV show, and the media has reported this fact with glee.

Why is this a problem?  Because the moment I know an actor or actress is or is not returning to a TV show, I know howhow the show ends.  In this particular case, that is bad news indeed because it means the emotion I would normally feel at the end of a show like this will never come.  I have

Top 10 Blog Posts for March (Or, Weirdness You People Like in a 30 Day Span)

And they are:

10.  The SF/F and Related Blogs You Read
9.  Adventures in...Cancer?:  If Only You'd Been Bad Asthma (Or, Leading Up to Diagnosis -- Part Two)
8.  Hugo Award:  What I Nominated
7.  Literary Explorations:  What the hell is a "strong female character"?
6.  Poll:  The Retro Nostalgia Film (#7)
5.  Death Star Economics and Ethics? (Or, What Would You DO With a Death Star?)
4.  Link of the Day:  Liz Bourke on (Male) Rape in Epic Fantasy
3.  Hugo Awards Finalists (Plus Preliminary Thoughts)
2.  Top 10 Overused Fantasy Cliches
1.  Top 10 Cats in Science Fiction and Fantasy

I'm not sure what to make of this mishmash of old and new.  Either certain posts of mind continue to have some kind of lasting impact or aliens have set up some kind of auto-refresher that changes IPs so I can feel special about a blog.  The latter makes no sense...

April should be equally interesting, methinks.