SSteinberg.SoftArts@MIT-MULTICS (12/29/82)
I have my own theories about who likes what KIND of SF flavored
literature and why but I should point out that Harper's is into
presenting this kind of article. A two part cover story titled
"Panic Among the Philistines" points out the general bankruptcy
and alienation of modern authors of MAINSTREAM fiction. A lot
of John Updike fans were really upset but I couldn't help
agreeing.
Another article expounded the view that environmentalists are
all spoiled upper middle class brats who are trying to keep the
working class in line by limiting the exploitation of natural
resources. Since I fit right in this pocket I was rather
offended.
This iconoclastic approach has been rather prominent ever since
Harper's managed to squeak past its last cash crunch and
apparently has kept the magazine solvent.
One approach might be to treat Harper's as a magazine of
Speculative Fiction (or just plain speculation) in which
authors try changing or extrapolating accepted wisdom. Modern
literature is not particularly good, rather it is awful. The
environmental movement is a neo-feudalistic force. If you toss
in a grain of salt the slander is often a lot easier to take.
sasdm@BBN-VAX.ARPA (10/08/85)
From: dm@BBN-VAX.ARPA >>"Meanwhile, in the outside world, science fiction finds work as a >>commercial fetish, substituting for religion. Consumers are shown >>a field of stars blazoned with the device "Beyond!" When >>associated with breakfast cereal or pickup trucks, the image of the >>cosmos suggests masculine adventure while promising oblivion. >>Anything can and does get sold this way. [Harper's] > >When's the last time you saw an ad of this nature? I have a sneaking >suspicion this yoyo (1) doesn't own a television set and (2) never >reads "popular" magazines. The commercial approach he's talking >about went out around 1958 (which is probably the last time he sat >down in front of a TV to see what the 'masses' are into). > [Bill Ingogly] How about the American Food-in-cans Institute ad on the Superbowl (the one with robots ``still eating food from cans''? How about all those swooshing metallic letters zipping over electronic grids in every other computer-graphic generated commercial? Most automobile ads these days seem to fit his description (there was one a year or so ago that had a spaceship coming in for a landing next to whatever car it was they were advertising). SF seems to me to be a pretty prevalent theme in advertising today.
wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (10/10/85)
In article <3956@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> dm@BBN-VAX.ARPA writes: >...SF seems to me to be a pretty >prevalent theme in advertising today. Several people have pointed out examples of SF themes in TV advertising. I guess I don't pay much attention to TV ads and tend to make a trip to the kitchen or the loo when one comes on, so I was wrong in claiming SF is used infrequently in advertising. May I be condemned to an eternity of ring around the collar and never being totally sure that my toothpaste and deodorant are doing their jobs. :-) -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly