Real Nurbs ? - 5th Element; critics-schmitics 2004-02-13 - By barry
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People like me who don't have to pretend to be snobs realize that the reason
the pretenders to snobbery say such things is because they're watching that
99.999% of science fiction that is designed for 10 year olds.
We real snobs read Assimov and Bester and Clark and only rarely dabble in
Heinlein or any SF created after about 1975 when popularity turned SF into
Saturday morning cartoons.
Barry
-- -- Original Message -- --
From: "Kris Krieger" <pterochromics@(protected)>
To: <truespace@(protected)>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [TSML] Real Nurbs ? - 5th Element; critics-schmitics
> People of pretense who act like intellectual snobs always say that Science
> Fiction and Speculative Fiction (see: Harlan Ellison's thoughts re: SF)
"is
> for 10-yr-olds". That's ebcause many of them haven't the intellectual
> capability to recognize that the best S.F. and also the best Fantasy is
> Mythic - see Campbell for elaboration, eh explains it so well, plus the
> details are prob. not appropos to this venue. In fact, the best art
itself
> is also Mythic in this sense, in that there is the element of a Journey
> (caps intentional) within it, a Journey not of body, but of Consciousness,
> Intellect, and Spirit.
>
> And then again, wasn't it Carl Jung who said that "The greater the mind,
> the greater the need for play"...? IOW, sometimes, SF is just supposed to
> be fun. IMO it is the people whose minds are stuck in the mud who either
> are not capable of having fun, or are not capable os saying, well, I don't
> like it but it is fun for other folks.
>
> IMO, 5th Element was a total hoot - I think it was well-done visually,
> well-paced, and didn't take itself overly-seriously - things I cannot say
> about a great many so-called "serious" films. It wasn't a "big message"
> film, but OTOH, it did poke fun at many aspects of current society. The
> Farce as a dramatic form goes back at least a few hundred years, and I
> think (pls. correct me if I am wrong) that it actually goes back at least
> to ancient Greek theater.
>
> And that's another point. It is "permissible", according to 'critics", to
> watch Greek or Roman theater, or Shakespeare, performed in period
costume -
> but in a way, isn't that very similar to SF or Fantasy, in that it deals
> with a world that is not currently our own? We cannot be certain that
our
> interpretations of dress and mannerisms is historically accurate, so in
the
> end, ancient or old theater is also Mythic. The main difference between
> such forms, and SF, is that the science fiction category of Speculative
> Fiction adds in technologies that don't currently exist, and
> non-terrestrial life forms - but OTOH, one can't say that Zeus et al, or
> Oberon et al, are what one could *technically* call "terrestrial life
> forms", since they also do not exist - and "aliens" spring from the human
> mind just as did/do gods and spirits and so on.
>
> Then again, even if a critic says a work "is for 10-yr-olds", we have to
> remember that most children are born clever and imaginative, and basically
> become stupid with age, "maturity", and a lot of training. Then too,
> critics don't get paid to be art professors - they get paid to pander to
> the 60% min. majority of people - who, like thmselves, have all the
> imagination, aesthetic sense, and intellectual capacity of a
> turnip. Critics can typically predict what wilol be "popular", but most
> are not to be trusted to have any idea to know what is art, or even, what
> is good.
>
> - Kris
>
>
>
>
>
> At 04:05 PM 12-02-2004, Roman Ormandy wrote:
> >Fifth Element is my favorite too. NYT critic Janet Maslin trashed it
> >saying it is all just design and the story is for 10 year olds but
mistook
> >"trashcan guys" at the begining for bad guys:)
> >
> >Roman
> >
> >
> >-- ---- --
> >From: RorrKonn [mailto:rorrkonn@(protected)]
> >Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 3:58 PM
> >To: truespace@(protected)
> >Subject: Re: [TSML] Real Nurbs ?
> >
> >Police hovercraft works for me.Fifth Element is a Killer Video.Right up
> >there with Blade Runner.
> >
> >I well defiantly Check the books out,Thanks
> >
> >RorrKonn
> ><http://www.Atomic-3 (See http://mic-3.ora-code.com)D.com>http://www.Atomic-3 (See http://mic-3.ora-code.com)D.com
> >-- -- Original Message -- --
> >From: <mailto:frootee@(protected)>Jason Lechak
> >To: <mailto:truespace@(protected)>truespace@(protected)
> >Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 6:18 PM
> >Subject: Re: [TSML] Real Nurbs ?
> >
> >Hi RorrKonn. There are a couple books, if you are interested, that are
> >graphics dictionaries. One, called "CG101: A Computer Graphics Industry
> >Reference", is pretty good. There is another, I think it's called,
> >"Graphics in a Digital World", or something of the sort. On the cover, is
> >a scene from The Fifth Element, where there are a lot of police
> >hovercraft, for lack of a better term.
> >
> >HTH,
> >
> >jason
>
>
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