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Western Star, whole no. 3, August 26, 1950
Page 4
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However, the second showing was rather disapointing, and tended to bear out our previous impression that the film dragged. As before, we were provoked by the tedious paeons of praise for so-called free enterprise (of course, we would feel that way, since we feel its neither good nor free) which took up an unduly long portion of the film length. But the chief weakness, so far as we were concerned was the absence of serious characterization. Of the four men in the rocket ship, only one stood out and he was a stereotype. There was almost no differentiation between the remaining three characters. We think RXM was at least almost as good on this score. The conquest of space and the arrival at the moon, when it comes, will be a great and dramatic event. But the drama was lost here in details, which were good in themselves, but which could not carry the story alone. To be worth its salt, a story needs characterization, and DM didn't have it. The men who went on that trip were hardly human. Heinlein fell down on the very element that is generally his strong point in fiction. There is a wide audience ripe for science fiction now, but they can only break into the field if the field itself raises its standards. Surely we don't want unscientific bastardization like RXM, but on the other hand, it is my opinion that dehumanized products like DM are just about as sterile. In the long run, I think RXM would be more likely to win converts. One last point where I definitely preferred RXM --- that picture did a rather nice job of pointing up the very moral which is the main cause of the sudden popularity of Science Fiction. People have become frightened as the threat of the A-bomb, and are turning to science fiction almost as the ancient Greeks went to the Oracle at Delphi. RXM presented them with a sombre message, a warning that the human race well might destroy itself if this race for bigger and more destructive weapons continued in the hands of unscrupulous politicians. DM however accepted the armaments race, urged it on, and participated in the bellicose panic that may well be driving us to destruction. ***************** Listen to a tale of woe. So we make arrangements to get this issue multilithed, and what happens but the multilith plates are too large for my typewriter carriage, so I have to go up to a friend's apartment and use his machine. Its on top of a hill and I forget my notebook, so I am not only composing directly on the plates, but it s all without benefit of notes. So the following item will inevitably suffer..... Donald Baker Moore on Quality in Science Fiction After the showing of METROPOLIS last night, Donald Baker Moore and I wandered off for a couple drinks and a bit of chatter. The session verged on being an interview, as I wanted to get a bit more specific a statement of a point Don raised at a recent GGFS meeting. (See 2nd paragraph of page 6, WeSTar #1) Don, who spends his eight hours a day as a full blown technician, is editor of the RHODOMAGNETIC DIGEST, and an active member of the Little Men. As a reader, he has a background of mystery reading, and likes a good puzzler, although he seems to be losing interest in that field, as its sterility becomes more evident. As a scientific worker, he is particularly interested in the type of science fiction that is, as a minimum requirement, accurate and responsible. Beyond that, he feels that to be good, a science fiction story needs originality, novelty.... ---4----
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However, the second showing was rather disapointing, and tended to bear out our previous impression that the film dragged. As before, we were provoked by the tedious paeons of praise for so-called free enterprise (of course, we would feel that way, since we feel its neither good nor free) which took up an unduly long portion of the film length. But the chief weakness, so far as we were concerned was the absence of serious characterization. Of the four men in the rocket ship, only one stood out and he was a stereotype. There was almost no differentiation between the remaining three characters. We think RXM was at least almost as good on this score. The conquest of space and the arrival at the moon, when it comes, will be a great and dramatic event. But the drama was lost here in details, which were good in themselves, but which could not carry the story alone. To be worth its salt, a story needs characterization, and DM didn't have it. The men who went on that trip were hardly human. Heinlein fell down on the very element that is generally his strong point in fiction. There is a wide audience ripe for science fiction now, but they can only break into the field if the field itself raises its standards. Surely we don't want unscientific bastardization like RXM, but on the other hand, it is my opinion that dehumanized products like DM are just about as sterile. In the long run, I think RXM would be more likely to win converts. One last point where I definitely preferred RXM --- that picture did a rather nice job of pointing up the very moral which is the main cause of the sudden popularity of Science Fiction. People have become frightened as the threat of the A-bomb, and are turning to science fiction almost as the ancient Greeks went to the Oracle at Delphi. RXM presented them with a sombre message, a warning that the human race well might destroy itself if this race for bigger and more destructive weapons continued in the hands of unscrupulous politicians. DM however accepted the armaments race, urged it on, and participated in the bellicose panic that may well be driving us to destruction. ***************** Listen to a tale of woe. So we make arrangements to get this issue multilithed, and what happens but the multilith plates are too large for my typewriter carriage, so I have to go up to a friend's apartment and use his machine. Its on top of a hill and I forget my notebook, so I am not only composing directly on the plates, but it s all without benefit of notes. So the following item will inevitably suffer..... Donald Baker Moore on Quality in Science Fiction After the showing of METROPOLIS last night, Donald Baker Moore and I wandered off for a couple drinks and a bit of chatter. The session verged on being an interview, as I wanted to get a bit more specific a statement of a point Don raised at a recent GGFS meeting. (See 2nd paragraph of page 6, WeSTar #1) Don, who spends his eight hours a day as a full blown technician, is editor of the RHODOMAGNETIC DIGEST, and an active member of the Little Men. As a reader, he has a background of mystery reading, and likes a good puzzler, although he seems to be losing interest in that field, as its sterility becomes more evident. As a scientific worker, he is particularly interested in the type of science fiction that is, as a minimum requirement, accurate and responsible. Beyond that, he feels that to be good, a science fiction story needs originality, novelty.... ---4----
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