The Unincorporated War

Unincorporated War by Dani Kollin

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Avatars, personal incorporation, battle fatigue, mind control, a controversial view on the return of religion: this book had so many interesting ideas, which is probably why I was extra disappointed by the storytelling. I did not enjoy the storytelling because I could not engage with the characters.

Characters in the book felt like engineered aspects of the author's premise. Never for one moment did I feel as though the characters had any life of their own. In most cases characters were completely black and white- the bad guys acted like total jerks, the good guys were total goody two shoes. And it was not unusual for a character to suddenly pop up (even 3/4 of the way through the narrative) just long enough to give a long info dump on their whole life's history, be used to forward the plot, and then get conveniently killed off or simply forgotten about, and never enter into the story again. I felt like the characters were narrative tools, not people, and I could not and did not care about them at all.

Toward the climax of the book, the action did get quite exciting and engage my attention. It was almost like a tragic opera, announcing in advance what was going to happen, then letting the reader bite nails as the foreshadowed dramatic events unfolded. Unfortunately the denouement took the edge off the exciting conclusion by backpedaling and calling into question the finality of the climax. And to add insult to injury, it ended with a big old "to be continued."



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Dollhouse- The Mythical Episode 13

Over the weekend I heard that Fox was going to cancel Joss Whedon's sci-fi drama series, Dollhouse. Reports of Dollhouse's demise were apparently exaggerated. The fate of the series for next year is still unknown. The only thing fans know for sure is that Fox has decided not to air what Producer, Tim Minear, termed the "mythical" 13th, and final episode of the season (You can read his explanation here).

As a huge Joss Whedon fan, I'd normally be up in arms about this sort of thing. But I don't know if I want Dollhouse to air next year, or not- because I haven't been watching it.

In Angel goes out with the old, which I posted in January of this year, I talked about how much I love Whedon's work, and how sitting down to watch episodes of BTvS as they aired was a special event in my life, a fun and rewarding treat that I looked forward to all week long. In Dollhouse: Thoughts after the First Three Episodes posted in early March, I came to terms with the fact that, although I didn't feel the same way about Dollhouse that I do about BTvS, the series still had potential.

Then, somewhere in the middle of March, episodes of Dollhouse began to pile up, unwatched, on my DVR. Two Fridays ago I forgot to record an episode.

I'll say that again, just to let it sink in: I am so little attached to the series, that I forgot to record the show.

I have a lot of respect for Joss Whedon, and I sincerely hope that there is something in one of the episodes waiting on the hard drive of my DVR that not just grabs me, but holds me so tight that I become addicted to the characters and the world. In the first month or so of airing, Dollhouse did plenty of grabbing, but very little holding. I was usually more excited by the preview for the next episode, than I was about the show that had just aired. Perhaps Dollhouse just didn't get going fast enough. Maybe it dithered with introductions too long, and didn't get right to the heart of making friends.

But my fear is that Dollhouse lacks a fully developed speculative fiction world with consistent rules where it's fun to play, fun to create and imagine. I also worry that without the smart sense of humor that has always been a Whedon hallmark, Dollhouse is simply a well-crafted drama, lacking that special Whedonesque sparkle.

Vampires for Change (Monsters with Human Faces)

Most spec fiction writers I know have posed this question, in one way or another:

Vampires: Why are they so popular? Didn't we, quite recently, already do vampires? So why is everybody into vampires *again*? And when will it stop?

One version of this authorial vampire angst was left as a comment right here on my blog.

The answer I usually give to this question is: sexuality. The vampire myth, with its exchange of bodily fluids, is a great metaphor for sex. As each new generation goes through its sexual awakening, vampires stories are a great way to explore sexuality. But this answer rings a little hollow. After all- adults hop happily onto the undead band wagon when vampire stories surge in popular culture.

A better answer to "why vampires, *again*!?" came to me yesterday, when my husband sent me a link to the plot synopsis of True Blood (True Blood is a vampire series currently on HBO- my husband wants to talk me into subscribing to HBO so he can watch Flight of the Concords).

Vampires are super popular now, and were super popular several years ago, not because of the sexual connotations of their mythos, but because vampires are monsters with the faces of men.

Probably one of the best books I've ever read by Stephen King wasn't a work of fiction, but his Danse Macabre, in which he explains the psychology that makes his craft work. He talks about the sci fi and horror movies of the 1940's-1960's, and explains that fears of the American mainstream were expressed and digested in the form of genre fiction films.

King says there is a reason that aliens in sci fi flicks of that era have Asian features- because aliens from outer space were standing in for American fears about aliens from across the sea. He talks about fear the adult middle class felt toward the rising independence of the teenager in the 50's (read teenage werewolf film), about fear of air raids and bombs dropping (meteors and alien space craft crashing down from the sky). King posits that successful horror and sci fi film makers took fears of the American middle class, and turned those fears into monsters- into tangible bogeymen who could spook us, attack us, horrify us, but eventually be overcome.

So if vampires are the bogeymen of modern-day, mainstream American fears...what are those fears? I'd like to posit that vampires are the bogeymen of changing cultural mores.

The last vampire craze which many thought was "over" had a purpose. The purpose was to find the humanity in people who are "not like us-" in other words, finding the human face of the monster.

As the scope of mainstream American vision expanded, it feared the bogeymen of foreigners, people of different religions, homosexuals. The challenge for mainstream America at that moment was to look at the face of the other- the "monster"- and see not foreigners, heretics, or degenerates- but to see people.

During this first wave of modern vampire popularity, all we were asked to do was to look, to see, to generate compassion and appreciate that the "monster" could have human feelings. Reading Interview with a Vampire (a 1976 book that was still popular and churning out sequels in the 90's and beyond) we came to feel for Louis's suffering. Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer we were captivated by the idea of Angel, a vampire with a soul, a conscience, and we felt compassion for him. This theme repeated with Spike's character- as he, too, became someone the audience could feel for, care about, even love. The theme of the humanized vampire was so strong it supported a successful spin-off series, Angel.

In this first wave of the modern-day, warm-fuzzy vamp, all the audience was asked to do was generate compassion, to find the human face of the monster, and recognize that it existed. Mainstream America had only been asked to admit that homosexuality existed, to admit that there were people from other lands, with other traditions and spiritual beliefs. They had not yet been asked how they were going to integrate these "monsters"- these agents of change- into their everyday lives.

But of course recognizing the humanity of the "other" is only one step in the process. Next we learn to live together.

Nowadays when Joe Middle America needs technical support, he's likely to talk to someone with a strong accent from overseas- and that person may have recently immigrated to the U.S.- or may actually be overseas at the time of the call. Joe Middle America's kids may play games or hang out at social network sites in which they chat with people from the Ukraine, or Argentina- or practically anywhere in the world. It is not so unusual for folks to have a Hindu or Muslim colleague. Gay marriage is slowly legalizing from state to state.

Mainstream America has recently had to make a big jump- from recognizing that the "other" is a person, too- to living elbow to elbow with the "other," to integrating his presence into our sense of community. As with any change, there are feelings of uneasiness, and repressed fear. So fiction lends its helping hand, brings the vampire puppets out of the toy chest, and puts on some more shadow plays to help people cope, adjust, digest the new.

The amazingly popular Twilight series, from what I have read so far, asks the question: if a human girl and a vampire boy are going to have a relationship- how will it work? How will they be together? How can they be a couple? Now as I read more books in this series, I'll be looking to see how Meyer answers this question. BtVS asked this question too, but the answer was a resounding- they can have feelings for each other, but a life together is impractical. As the realities of what folks need to cope with changes, so does fiction's take on the vampire.

The real clincher for me, as I think through the relationship between mainstream America and vampire fiction, is the plot of True Blood. In the True Blood universe some scientist has eliminated the needs of the predator, so that vampires and humans can live and work together. Vampires are being integrated into regular society. I'm quoting from the website, here:

"Vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight...[however, many humans] remain apprehensive about these creatures 'coming out of the coffin'."

"Coming out of the coffin" reads "coming out of the closet" to me. But I think the current crop of vampire tales hits a fear spot that is trying to cope with more than just homosexuality, but a whole bunch of changes about who is a friend, who is a neighbor, what is community in a globalizing world?

Change is unavoidable. Change is wonderful. Change is exhilarating...and also a little bit scary. American pop culture has worked through fear of change in some pretty unexpected ways- drowning the fictional world in vampire stories is only one of them. Still, no matter how sick and tired of vampires many spec fiction writers may be, I'm willing to let folks wallow in the vampire mythos as long as they need to work through their fears, digest the change, and come out stronger and more tolerant on the other side.

Flash Gordon SciFi Pilot

Since the SciFi network had a hand in creating Farscape and Battlestar Galactica, I decided to give their remake of Flash Gordon a try (despite the channel's constant and annoying promos for shows about people who see ghosts).

A Flash virgin, I knew nothing about the original series except that it was supposed to be campy sci fi pulp. So I went into the pilot episode of the remake expecting campy served with a big spoon.

The pilot episode ended up being part camp, part cheese. Before I launch into the series' faults, let me say that it was far better than I expected- and I was interested enough to stick with it until the end of the show.

The world of Flash Gordon has two components: the real-world, modern-day America, and the fantasy world to which Flash travels. The fantasy world was rendered in a TV equivalent of pulp comics. Unfortunately the real world was made of the same flimsy cardboard cutouts as the fantasy world- making the stakes of Flash's success or failure lackluster.

I wasn't looking for remarkable depth from the characters in the series, but it would have been nice if casting had chosen three leading ladies I could tell apart. Brave heroine or evil minx, all Flash's potential love interests looked exactly the same.

Pacing was also an issue. I'm willing to cut some slack in a pilot episode, since it's not easy to create an entire series set up in one hour. However, far too often plot was advanced through dialog. The old writer's adage "show, don't tell" seems especially important in visual media like television and film.

Flash Gordon came close to being the tasty junk food of sci fi TV veg-out, but lacked the hooks needed to keep me coming back for more.