February 9, 2006: Fantasy Times Commentary
There is an interesting article in Emerald City #125 this month. It’s by Jeff Vandermeer and discusses the “relevance” of fantasy literature and whether it is an important part of genre writing to be relevant in terms of the world or is it simply OK to write an enjoyable story. After a treatise on art and marketing, he seems to decide that it is not important to be relevant, per se, but instead outlines his plan for inserting social commentary into his books that is not obtrusive. He hopes to “change minds one reader at a time.” Mr. Vandermeer at least makes an attempt to be subtle about it, but uses terms like “right wingers” that reveal his ideology and his philosophy. His reasoning is based not on 9-11, but instead on what the government has done since 9-11. Let me say here that Mr. Vandermeer has the right to his opinion and to express them – and – for that matter to write them into his books and stories. This will not be a rant on whether or not his ideas are flawed because that is not my intention nor the purpose of my show. Nor will this be a gloried defense of the actions the government has taken since 9-11 nor a persuasive commentary intended to bring Mr. Vandermeer or you to another way of thinking. What I do hope to discuss, however, is the true lack of understanding the lion’s share of personalities in science fiction/fantasy/horror have in regards to people who hold a different world view than their own. Yes – those right wingers.
I am Ross Janes and I am a conservative.
Surprise! Conservatives do read the genre and there are good reasons why. First and foremost it is enjoyable. We like to read interesting stories about interesting characters in interesting worlds. The stories and novels don’t need to be relevant to today’s world nor do we care if the ideas of the story are considered “liberal” or “conservative”. The first standard we hold an author’s work to is that which is most basic: enjoyment. In fact, the political ideology can be about anything as long as the story is interesting and compelling and those philosophies are intricately woven into the story. This is in contrast to Kage Baker’s, The Anvil of the World, which preaches liberal ideology in an uncompelling story often making page long jumps from the story into social teaching. These forays into ideology didn’t fit within the story and, in fact, were thrown in at odd times causing the book itself to be disjointed. Note I am not complaining about the ideological foundation, but rather the disjointed and unimaginative story.
After entertainment factors, we read science fiction/fantasy/horror because we like new ideas and unique perspective. Yes – contrary to popular belief, we do care about the environment, privacy rights, freedom and the effects of war, but we try to see both sides of these problems. Seeing ALL of the possible outcomes and balancing those against each other is a very important aspect in the formation of our belief whether something is right or wrong. Don’t make an assumption that we haven’t considered opposing sides and have chosen to reject it. Speculative fiction gives us a series of what ifs and a chance to decide whether the outcomes put forth in a story or novel are plausible. This adds to the formation of beliefs in the long term merits of certain programs, actions or laws. For instance, in Gary Wassner’s book The Twins, the underlying story contains what some may consider “liberal” ideology – that trees are very important to the ecosystem and the loss of the old growth trees cause irreparable damage to our environment. However, his story is compelling and interesting and this ideology isn’t beaten over our heads. Instead it is subtle and woven into the fabric of the story and therefore received a review from me that reflected his story telling and the enjoyment I had reading the stories. Kage Baker and Gary Wassner take two similar ideological stances, but advance them in completely different ways. One that is successful and one that is not. Unless of course, your intention was to write only to the liberal reader and not to all readers.
It is hard to be a conservative in this field filled with liberal ideologues, but it is not something I chose to worry about. I only wish authors and genre supporters would take the time to be as eloquent in their arguments as they are in their writing. However, don’t forget that when you call people with opposing viewpoints and belief systems names, you lower yourself below relevance and the likelihood we would consider your outcomes as valid is slim to none. My hats off to Jeff Vandermeer who his one of the few who makes his arguments as eloquently as he writes his stories. I disagree with some of his ideas, but I respect them nonetheless. The moral of this story: Conservatives read the genre and purchase books, magazines and anthologies – just don’t forget us.
Listen to it!
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