- The kids of Jesus Camp 10 years later – “The controversial 2006 documentary about an evangelical church camp outraged secular audiences, but its subjects have mixed memories.” From Alex.
- “Star Trek Beyond” reveals Mr. Sulu as first gay character in franchise – “Cho said the decision by writer Simon Pegg and Lin to make Sulu gay was a nod to George Takei, who played the character in the original 1960s series.” From Will.
- Does female privilege exist? – “The second point is chivalry can die. Really, men, if you’re going to resent women because you pay for our dinner or open our doors, then just stop doing it. We’re not forcing you to buy us drinks.”
- If we wrote men like we write women – Ugh, the first example is exactly why I can’t stand Heinlein.
- Cute Animal Friday! Tiny, fluffy, squeaky mountain lion kittens.
Mr. Takei apparently thinks its good to be inclusive of people like himself, but shallow and unthinking to flip the gender preference of a character who was formerly married in previous continuities, and would essentially create a “coming out of the closet” moment for a future he’d hope wouldn’t have closets anymore.
That’s not a sharp criticism, but I will say it’s a bit of a shallow process to say “this actor was homosexual so his character must be too”. There’s something ever-so-slightly tokenistic about it. A good move, but maybe there could be better ones, for a franchise with a long history of modern bigotry into the future’s history books.
I understand why he said what he did – it does strike me as a touch on the pandering side.
Taking that aside, I do like that it’s subtle and emphasizes the point of a future where that Doesn’t Remotely Matter.
The second example of the science fiction writing, from Foundation, made me absolutely furious.
I want to love classic sci-fi, but I can’t. Its Woman Problem is just too fucking huge.