Worth A Thousand Words

I laughed at this because it's true.

My friend Osie sent me this review that elaborates on the divide between sci-fi as a genre and mainstream fiction. This article isn't saying it, but when I hear 'sci-fi' (or insert genre here) should be more accessible, I hear those guys like Michael Medved who appointed themselves guardians of Middle America, and want Hollywood to make movies everyone wants to see. Not smart, challenging artistic films like the ones nominated for the Oscars this year, but stupider, less diverse films that don't threaten anyone's politics or sexuality. Some sci-fi does read like an instruction manual. It doesn't interest me personally. It never really did. I love spaceships and robots and all of that, but stopping to explain it can be fatal. It doesn't really matter how it works, unless all you care about is how it works, and certainly some people do. You don't stop in the middle of a story to explain how a Toyota works, for instance.

Osie also sent me a preview of his upcoming zine, Murmur, which looks amazing. Hopefully he'll let me show a little of it on here. I love that there is art down here in Waterloo, I love that I'm able to be a part of it. That excites me, and it frustrates me too, because this place has been so dry for so long, some people don't know how to drink. Progress is progress when you move forward. Doesn't matter how slow. Progress isn't saying you're making progress and then saying that over and over again. It's art. Show, don't tell.

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