Re: (ReacTor) Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis

On 15 Mar 2025 16:07:37 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
<tednolan>) wrote:

In article <20250315a@crcomp.net>, Don  <g@crcomp.net> wrote:

Lynn McGuire wrote:

James Nicoll wrote:

Five Works of SF That Undermine Their Own Thesis
>
Stories that lead to different conclusions than the author intended...
>
https://reactormag.com/five-works-of-sf-that-undermine-their-own-thesis/

>
Wow, three for five today !  "Starship Troopers", the totally awesome
"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", and "Star Trek: The Original
Series".

>
Lynn, stories set in Wyoming (in one way or another) automatically
attain a more favorable review by me in a manner similar to Texas
settings for you. Colorado also works for me in a pinch. So THE
PROBABILITY BROACH (set in Denver) is worthy regardless of its
shortcomings.
   They shot spidery STARSHIP scenes at a location called Hell's Half
Acre - about fifty miles down the highway from my hometown. Here's a
rundown fit for Ted's blog (if only Hell's Half Acre was in Columbia):
<https://county10.com/jeep-rides-starships-and-coffee-hells-half-acre-store/>
   The notion of an infantry soldier in a Powered Suit, shot from a
space vehicle, down to a battlefield, is the most essential part of the
story, in my opinion. But in a fan magazine from back in the day
Verhoeven admits his shoestring budget prohibited Power Suits, so he
focused on bugs instead.
   Afterward the cheap production values were hand-waved away with a
satire cover story. And a touch of T&A thrown in to titillate and
distract from STARSHIP's silver screen scat show. (Another case where
movie porn trumps a woman's right not be seen soley as a sex object.)
>

>
I actually liked the shower scene.  Yes, it was good eye-candy, but
it also made the point these weren't contemporary Americans.

I don't recall if that's in /Starship Troopers/, but it (and more) is
in /The Forever War/.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"