Link of the Week: Amal El-Mohtar Calls for the Expulsion of Theodore Beale from SFWA

You've probably already seen it, but if you haven't, here you go.  If you scroll down to the comments section, you can see a lot of other responses to the situation.

In short, Theodore Beale (a.k.a. Vox Day) is our resident loud-mouthed racist and misogynist.  This is not a bit of name calling.  This is just established fact.  The things he's written about women and people of color so clearly define him as among the most vile minds among us that I'm surprised it took until Amal's post to spark serious discussion about expelling him from the SFWA.  Then again, I suppose this is the first time he's explicitly broken "the rules."  And that's the crux of the matter:  Beale/Day used an official SFWA space to increase his readership (as opposed to N.K. Jemisin who gave a speech at a non-SFWA function), and in doing so, he turned SFWA's voice into a loudspeaker for racism.  It's like the guy comes straight out of a D.W. Griffith film...

I may have more to say about this whole thing later, but if not, there's plenty of interesting stuff to read in Amal's post alone.  The links at the bottom of that post add a whole lot more.

Anywhoodles.

Why I Hated Superman Returns

Honestly, I hated Superman Returns because it established Superman as virtually (though not actually) limitless, at which point he becomes uninteresting to me as a hero. Clearly Kryptonite doesn't really matter. He can lift entire islands of the stuff into the sky, so all this talk about it being his bad news bears is really just nonsense. At best, it's a nuisance.  And since he can basically do anything, there's no reason to ever worry that he will fail. That's what makes a good hero for me. We know, deep down, he won't fail, but on the outside, we see his weaknesses and know that it's always possible that he will (or she, for that matter).

What also makes Superman a fantastic hero isn't his strength and other abilities; it's his constant need to do the right thing, even in the face of terrible adversity. This is why I think the trailer for the new film is so effective (even if the film falls short -- haven't seen it, so I can't say). The idea that Superman is someone we're supposed to look up to and an image to strive towards makes him such

Retro Nostalgia: Contact (1997) and Conflating Faith and Science and Its Hopeful Ethos

Anyone with a passing familiarity with Carl Sagan's popularization of science will recall his profound optimism, both with humanity's scientific endeavors and its almost desperate need to strive for "more."  I think it's fair to say that he imagined science as humanity's great thrust to greatness -- to controlling itself and its environment.  After all, he famously said that "[imagination] will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."  And while he was not a religious man, he didn't fear suggesting that science could provide a spiritual vision of the world:

A Comic Journey: New Comics, New Reading, and the Happy Shaun

Nothing I'm about to say here will seem cohesive.  I've become obsessed with comics, if you didn't already know.  Gloriously and deliciously obsessed.  You all probably saw it coming, though, particularly after I wrote this post about my first trip to a comic shop in years (and this review I wrote some time back).  What follows will be a rough outline of my journey into this new obsession...thus far -- by way of what I've read.

Since my first trip to the comic store, I have read the following comics or hardcover/softcover collections (in print or digital form)(I've included quick thoughts under each item):

SFWA, Sexism, and Progress (A Response to Jason Sanford)

(Note:  I originally intended this as a short comment on this recent post by Jason Sanford.  In his post, he basically suggests that the men in our field need to stand up and say "no" to sexism; his post is, I think quite obviously, a response to the SFWA Bulletin kerfluffle from this weekend, which he also wrote about here.  Both of his posts are worth reading.  In any case, my response will maintain its original format, so assume the "you" refers to Sanford.)

I've found it rather frustrating to hear people defend some of these sexists (or people engaging in sexist activity) against attack (I'm not using any particular individual in this comment, even though I think it's obvious that your post is in response to the SFWA Bulletin thing).  They often say things like "attacking the person is wrong" or "they are really nice people" and so on and so forth.  I don't doubt that a lot of people who say or do sexist things don't realize that what they're

Top 10 Blog Posts for May 2013

And once again, some oldies sprung up out of nowhere and took some spots from the new boys.  I don't know why these posts remain so popular, but so be it.

Here's the list:

10.  Shocking Revelations:  Pointing Out Racism Doesn't Mean You Hate White People
9.  Link of the Week:  Judith Butler Explained with Cats!
8.  The Black Guy is Ruining the Fantastic Four Reboot!
7.  Movie Review:  Star Trek (Why It Sucks and Why Abrams Needs to Stop)
6.  Top 10 Cats in Science Fiction and Fantasy
5.  The End of Good Writing:  The Damage of Twilight, Harry Potter, and Their Friends
4.  Shoot the WISB #02:  Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Reviewed w/ Paul Weimer and Jay Garmon
3.  Silly Reader Questions:  Super Powers, Magic, Bathrooms, and Poetry
2.  Top 10 Most Ridiculous Moments in Science Fiction and Fantasy Film in the 90s
1.  Top 10 Overused Fantasy Cliches

I wonder which posts people actually enjoyed reading in May...

Video of the Week: Damsel in Distress 2 -- Tropes vs. Women in Video Games (Feminists Rule!)

If you haven't seen part one, go here.  Otherwise, enjoy the continuation of Anita Sarkeesian's brilliant series on women in video games.