A short list of dangerous texts

[altariel]

A while back, communicator posted a link to China Mieville’s list of 50 fantasy and science fiction works that socialists should read. I don’t see why socialists should have all the fun, so I’ve made a short list of some SF and fantasy with political themes that have mattered to me, or that I think matter. This being my list, it will contain bits of telly and bits of fanfic.



Sultana’s Dream by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (published 1905)
Just a very short vision of how things might be. (That first link will take you to the story, and it will take you no time to read.)


The Far Side of Evil by Sylvia Engdahl (published 1971)

Some of the ideas and concepts I acquired from this book as a 10 year old:

• That societies can pass through stages, and not all of them are progressive


• The ‘Prime Directive’ debate: whether it is better to intervene, or better to allow people to find their own way


• That belief in something (in this book, mainly, science) can be as powerful as the actual thing itself
  
• How totalitarianism works, and why it is a bad thing


• That people will hurt other people to find things out, by means of things like drugs and sensory deprivation


• That people will do brave things under desperate circumstances, at the cost of great pain, or their lives, or without the possibility of their actions ever being remembered

Please note that The Far Side of Evil is now widely and cheaply available in paperback, and familiarity with the text is required. There will be a short test.


Power by Ben Steed (transmitted 1981)

Uber-controversial Blake’s 7 story; or, When Cynicism Goes Really Bad. As a thought exercise, I’ve tried to invent arguments supporting the case that ‘Power’ isn’t misogynistic, but after perhaps a little too much contemplation I decided it is misogynistic. So why have I included it. Well, the ‘know your enemy’ thing for one, but also because it’s interesting as a fear response to feminism. Krishan Kumar, in his Bumper Book of Utopias (or, Utopia and Anti-Utopia in Modern Times, 1987), barely mentions feminist utopias. It’s like they don’t exist; in fact, he argues that by the 1970s, the (anti-)utopian genre is dead. Just a casual glance at this site suggests he might be missing something. But ‘Power’ has got the gist of what’s going on: all-female society supported by high-technology (biotech, devices enabling telekinetic powers, etc.). And it stamps down on it all with the proverbial jackboot; or, perhaps, strangles it with a leather-and-studs glove. The revolting images of the captured and hooded Seska were instrumental in triggering a proto-feminist consciousness in my 9-year-old head, so I suppose that’s something to be glad about.


The Happiness Patrol by Graeme Curry (transmitted 1988)

Dr Who story. The one with the giant Bertie Bassett monster, Sheila Hancock in an orange wig doing Mrs Thatcher, the pink TARDIS, and the Seventh Doctor’s line, “I can hear the sound of empires toppling...” What is great about ‘The Happiness Patrol’ is that you can imagine some grey-suited quango-bot passing a memo round the BBC listing ‘All That is Wrong with How We Do Drama’, and the Dr Who production team saying, “Screw you,” doing it anyway, and putting it out at primetime. You would never see anything like this on your tellybox now, and frankly that’s our loss.


Purple Haze by Executrix (published 2002 in ttba)

Blake’s 7 fanfic. When people ask me, “Why aren’t you writing your own stuff?”, and I stop flailing around in an incoherent frenzy, this is the story that I think best explains the point. Of course all fanfic reads better when you know the source, but I think you don’t need to know that much about B7 to get what matters from Purple Haze, beyond: “B7 is about totalitarianism and freedom fighters, in particular a freedom fighter called Blake.”

Comments

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I think what I got out of "Power" was that, in any conflict, both sets of combatants are just as bad as each other. That, and misogynists are fighting paper tigers, not women. (I do think the episode should come with the disclaimer "No feminists were harmed during the filming of this episode," because the Seska don't really qualify.)

I think it is possible to argue that it's not misogynist, but only on a technicality. The authorial intent was almost certainly meant to be - Ben Steed is a man with male dominance issues, all episodes considered - but, whatever the true intent, he poses the scenario so ineptly that, whatever it's meant to be, it's not. It's just a bit of a muddle, really, and the only people who come out of it relatively well, or, you know, alive, are the ones who just don't give a toss about gender, or much of anything. And it's such a muddle that there's one significant line indicating that's the main point, and half an episode asserting male superiority, and half an episode alleging undue female victimization at the hands of the patriarchy, and god knows, really. It definitely reeks of it, though, doesn't it. Sadly, I'm far too fluent in "Power", because I did once write a story - in my defense, for a ficathon assignment - retconning it. But I don't admit to it.

Happiness Patrol is bloody brilliant, and now I want to watch it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I'm far too fluent in "Power", because I did once write a story - in my defense, for a ficathon assignment - retconning it. But I don't admit to it.

Can I find this online?


Happiness Patrol is bloody brilliant, and now I want to watch it.

Me too, and we stupidly sold our tape.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Can I find this online?

Sadly, yes. Ask astrogirl2 where it is; I don't remember, but she's trying to do something evil with it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Will do, thanks!

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Found it. Hang on...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Love that icon...

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Zen is a fabulous thing indeed. Especially when he's all shiny and loved.

D'you get email notification of replies here?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I do, thank you - I got the email notification with the link (I'm guessing you've now deleted the post itself?).

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Yep. Shame of association with Ben Steed is a powerful thing. :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Good story, well done. Being used in that way would certainly press particular buttons with Avon at that point in his life, post-Rumours.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd go as far as good, but there's only so much you can do with a request for Avon/Pella fic. :)

The bit that sort of works for me in retrospect was the (initially very accidental) redefinition of which sort of power it was that really took the upper hand in that episode. Different forms of brute force really didn't give either side much of an upper hand, either militarily or morally, really.