The Neo-Nazis Are in Town, and They’re Playing Us
As I write this, Richard Spencer and his cronies have arrived in Gainesville, FL for an event at the University of Florida. He was not invited by anyone but himself. The student body overwhelmingly doesn’t want him here. The city overwhelmingly doesn’t want him here. But he’s here nonetheless to share his message of hate, to manipulate young people to serve his needs, and to play all of us like a fiddle. This event isn’t just about presenting his ideas. He’ll use this as an opportunity to stage altercations, lie, and manipulate in order to legitimate his movement. This new breed of neo-Nazi/white nationalist has a wide range of technological tools at their disposal that make disseminating lies and hatred easier than ever. Every reaction we give them is more fuel for his fire. They don’t need us to discriminate against Spencer or his kind; they’ll make it up if they have to. None of this means we shouldn’t respond. What it means is we’re sort of trapped between a rock and a hard place in all of this. If we react, it will be used against us. If we don’t, it’ll seem like silent consent. Either way, it seems like we are powerless against this stuff. The problem, however, isn’t us.
Five Faves: 80s Science Fiction Movies
The 80s were great. Great music. Great movies. Great books. Great fashion. Yeah, I said it. Fashion. I love 80s fashion, and I don’t care what you think about that! Anywho. For today’s Five Faves post, I thought I’d take a stab at listing 80s science fiction movies. I know that the second I click the publish button on this post, I’m going to change my mind about the movies selected below. Oh well… Here goes:
Thoughts on Years of Reading (Mostly) Women
Back in 2015, roughly 92% of the works I read were by women. This was mostly intentional, as The Skiffy and Fanty Show hosted a women-centric (and non-binary friendly) theme throughout 2015. In 2016, the numbers were less skewed, with 61% of works by women. Including my teaching numbers into this list is a bit too complicated, so I won’t bother including it here. Obviously, having a more “open” year for reading meant my numbers were more fluid. But even with that fluidity in place, there’s a clear indication that my reading habits have changed. So, here’s what I’ve learned from the past few years:
Why I Will Never Give Up My Terrible Movies
Bad movies. Some of us love to hate them. Some of us just hate them. And then there are people like me. I have a fondness for a few films that practically everyone would agree are terrible. My seemingly illogical love of 1988’s absurd McDonald’s-funded E.T. rip-off, Mac & Me, has earned me a rotating sequence of callbacks on my podcast, The Skiffy and Fanty Show. It’s a sickness to some, but for me, it’s a product of experience. To be fair, I almost deserve it. I will jump at the flip of a hat to defend that movie against almost any criticism, not because I believe it’s high quality cinema but because there is a deeper connection to that movie for me, as there is for so many of the trashfire films that occupy my DVD rack.
On Generation Ships and Pandorum (2009)
One thing that has always struck me about generation ships is the way in which they are usually treated as microcosms for the Earth (as it was, is, or might be). Like the wagon train to the west, the generation ship can help us move the social and political problems of our world into an isolated space for interrogation. That detachment, I would argue, is a part of what makes so much of science fiction so influential, and why generation ships are somewhat easy mechanisms for staging the kinds of socio-political criticism so much of science fiction is known for (in theory).
On Space Opera and Domesticity
Domesticity and space opera? Do they go together? Obviously, yes. But what happens when they do? Earlier this year, Tor.com hosted a massive space opera extravaganza. Liz Bourke contributed a post on the politics of domesticity in space opera, with particular attention on what she somewhat half-heartedly called “domestic space opera.” One of the important points Bourke makes is that the personal and the political are not necessarily separate entities. Bourke defends this claim by looking at several examples of space operas which place heavy focus on domestic spaces and by suggesting that perhaps it is the emotional dynamics of those spaces that make up the bulk of the operatic (or melodramatic) focus present in so much of space opera. It’s an interesting post, and I suggest you read it.