Scifi Squad’s Top Scifi Rapist
Last month, Scifi Squad posted a top ten list of scifi couples. The usual suspects show up there (Han and Leia from Star Wars), with a few modern additions (Zoe and Wash from Firefly and WALL-E and Eve from WALL-E). But then there’s #3: Rick and Rachael from Blade Runner. I wasn’t aware that being a rapist made you one half of an awesome scifi couple. But maybe the Scifi Squad folks don’t remember the scene where Rick Deckard throws Rachael against the wall after she tries to leave, and then forces himself upon her (she cries in that scene, by the way) while terrifying her into telling him “she wants it.” It wasn’t hidden. The scene is pretty damned clear: at best, Deckard is an abusive son of a bitch; at worst, he’s the worst kind of rapist you’d expect to see in a Lifetime movie. They’re reasoning? Between filming two parts of his memorable Star Wars romance, Harrison Ford fell in love with a replicant. That’s the last thing you’d expect from the world-weary Rick Deckard, who specializes in terminating “skin jobs,” but the heart wants what the heart wants, and the cool, classic beauty of Rachael (Sean Young) sneaks through his defenses, until he’s doing everything within his power to keep her alive. Did they see the same movie I did? He hardly does anything for Rachael. Yes, at the end of the movie he takes her away, but that’s the only moment where Deckard really does anything for her (rather than for himself). Throughout most of the movie he is either screwing with her mind (i.e. telling her she’s a replicant and that all her memories, which she thinks, at that point, are hers, are in fact fabrications), killing her kind, or forcing himself upon her. One shouldn’t forget that the world Deckard has come to know pretty much allows him to get away with doing whatever he wants to the so called “skin jobs.” I wonder if a little of that has rubbed off into the real world… Two thumbs up for rapists, I suppose.
Cover Sins: Young Flandry and the Thoughts Inspired
Aidan Moher over at A Dribble of Ink recently posted the cover art for Young Flandry by Poul Anderson; it is by far one of the worst covers I have ever seen (just look below). Now, to be fair to Baen, they haven’t exactly been at the forefront of excellent cover art (in fact, they’re fairly well known for regularly producing questionable covers), but this one really takes the cake:I left the following comment at A Dribble of Ink: Well, Mr. Anderson just rolled over in his grave and vomited a fine mixture of dirt and liquid flesh…this is why I’ve never purchased as Baen book. There might be a good story under the cover, but I refuse to cover my bookshelf with stuff that looks like that. I have a reputation to uphold… I mean that too. The only Baen books I own were given to me as used copies; I keep their covers hidden from anyone who might actually come to my apartment and look at my collection. As a result, I have yet to buy a Baen book because when it comes to really bad cover art, I do judge a book by its cover. There’s bad cover art, and then there’s atrocious cover art (the kind of stuff that other people see on your shelf and judge you by); Baen frequently produces the latter. I fail to see any reason for Baen to have such crappy covers. Do they not have $20 to pay some DeviantArt kid to produce something of at least reasonable quality? It’s not that hard to find these people (I recently did just that and ended up with ten fairly good pieces of art for a very reasonable price). There are thousands of decent starting artists on DeviantArt, and I know Baen sells books (they’re in most bookstores, after all) and, thus, has a moderate enough cash flow to commission good-enough-art (which would be acceptable). So, what’s the hold up? The only thing I can assume about Baen is that they do this on purpose either to create the effect of the pulps or to be distinct. The problem is that a lot of their novels aren’t actually pulp novels (David Weber, for example), so poor cover quality seems more detrimental to the value of the work than anything else. And if they are trying to be distinct, they’ve succeeded, but only in making their books look like garbage. I feel sorry for the authors. I know Baen has done a lot of wonderful stuff for the SF/F community, but they could put the same amount of effort into the books they produce for consumers (and their authors) as they do into making the SF/F world better for all of us. Get with the program, Baen. Your crummy CG renders, your pulpy porno nonsense, and your other cover problems are not helping you sell books to this reader. Not at all.