Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
06/18/21 -- Vol. 39, No. 51, Whole Number 2176
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, *mleeper@optonline.net *
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, *eleeper@optonline.net *
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 20 (REBUILDING PARADISE, DADS,
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, THE PROM) (film reviews
by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
Correction on Tom Clancy (comments by Keith F. Lynch)
This Week's Reading (PARABLE OF THE SOWER) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 20 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)
Here is the twentieth--and last!--batch of mini-reviews: a couple
of documentaries, a couple of musicals--basically what is left.
REBUILDING PARADISE: This covers the aftermath of the Camp Fire,
which destroyed the town of Paradise, California (population 26,000
in 2010). The first ten minutes is entirely archival footage of
the fire from cell phones, dash cams, and firefighting coverage.
There is genuine suspense in not knowing if the people speaking
during this will survive, and a real sense of relief when you hear
someone on a dash cam saying, "Clear sky, guys, clear sky. We made
it through," and seeing clear sky ahead of them. (Someone thought
to turn around as they were leaving and take a shot of the "Welcome
to Paradise" sign on fire--a very striking image.) As one
firefighter understated, "We have a little bit of a fire storm
here."
The rest of the film is about the period of dislocation after the
fire, and about the attempts to rebuild Paradise. In addition to
questions of whether one should rebuild a town in a highly
dangerous area, there was also the problem of toxicity (e.g., the
air and water were poisoned with benzene released by the fire). It
is disheartening to see people making the same mistakes again. The
evacuation was successful in the sense that of the 26,000 people,
there were only 86 deaths. But the current population of Paradise
is still only about 4500. Available on Hulu and Amazon Prime and
on DVD. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4)
DADS: A dozen popular comedians and other celebrities give their
thoughts, both comedic and serious, about fatherhood. There is
nothing unexpected here, but there is extensive interview material.
The Director is Ron Howard's daughter, and draws upon her family's
experiences, including interviews from three generations of
fathers. Released 06/19/20; available on Apple TV+. Rating: high
0 (-4 to +4)
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM: Though this would appear at first glance
to be a musical, the offstage discussion is better than the music,
encompassing science topics, band politics, and more. In some
sense, however, this is a feature-film-length blues song. This
film is notable as Chadwick Boseman's final film. Released
11/25/20; available on Netflix.
[-mrl]
And one review by Evelyn:
THE PROM: Based on the true story of a high school senior's fight
to bring her girlfriend to the prom, this is a mix of drama (from
the two girls, other students, and their families) and comedy (from
the Broadway stars who see this as a PR opportunity). At the
beginning, an African-American woman announces there will be no
same-sex couples--but apparently interracial couples are okay--
which I find ironic. There was a reference to Ginger of GILLIGAN'S
ISLAND, which was lucky; if they had picked Mary Ann, they probably
would have to re-dub another name. What I found most annoying was
that the stereotypically gay actor (?) spends a lot of time getting
the lead all dressed up for the prom. But if part of the message
is to be yourself, why try to make someone who's butch into a
femme? All in all, in the subset of "acceptance musicals", it's no
HAIRSPRAY. Released 11/25/20; available on Netflix. Rating: +2
(-4 to +4) [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Correction on Tom Clancy (comments by Keith F. Lynch)
Regarding Scott Dorsey's comments on Tom Clancy in the 06/04/21
issue of the MT VOID, Evelyn labeled them as pertaining to Jack
Ryan:
"[Re Jack Ryan] You can take that up with Clancy. [-sd]"
But Keith F. Lynch writes:
Nobody mentioned Jack Ryan. We were discussing a different Clancy
character, John Kelly a.k.a. John Clark. [-kfl]
Evelyn writes:
Ooops! [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia E. Butler (Warner Aspect, ISBN
0-446-60197-7) was published in 1993 and takes place beginning in
2024. At the time of publication, that was far in the future; now
it's just around the corner. While comparing Butler's future with
our (basically) present is not the point, once cannot help but do
so.
For example, people keep talking about "when the country gets back
on its feet and good times come back." Well, that sentiment keeps
showing up after every downturn, but it seems particularly resonant
now.
When Lauren says, "Most of the dead are the street poor who have
nowhere to go and who don't hear the warnings until it's too late
for their feet to take them to safety," it's hard not to think of
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the poor of New Orleans who were told
to evacuate, but given absolutely no way to do so.
She says, "In New York and New Jersey, a measles epidemic is
killing people. Measles!" as if this is totally unbelievable. But
in our 2019, there *was* a measles epidemic in New York.
Lauren talks of exoplanets; the first one was verified in 1992,
right before the book's publication. We now know of thousands.
Other than all the predictions (failed and not), the book is
basically a post-apocalyptic scenario, though it is more an
apocalypse not with a bang, but with a whimper. There wasn't an
atomic war, or a plague, or a big natural disaster--it's just that
everything has been gradually going downhill. Butler tweaks it a
bit by adding "hyperempathy syndrome"; the main character feels the
pain she sees in other people. So if she shoots someone, even in
self-defense, she feels it as if she had shot herself. It's an
interesting idea (I have seen it done in other stories, possibly
inspired by Butler), but having it just affecting one character
makes it seem a bit of a gimmick. (I suppose one could argue that
most people who would have it would either not survive it or be
driven mad.)
There is a sequel, PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, and there was supposed
to be a third, but Butler never finished it. PARABLE OF THE SOWER
stands reasonably well on its own, though, so you would not be
reading something that left you hanging as much as other trilogies
might.
Oh, and Butler apparently assumed her readers knew what the Parable
of the Sower was and did not explain it or quote the passage from
Matthew 13 until the end of the book [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
*mleeper@optonline.net *
If we would have new knowledge, we must get a
whole world of new questions.
--Susanne K. Langer