So spake Harlan Ellison ...

[fajrdrako]

Star Wars is adolescent nonsense; Close Encounters is obscurantist drivel; Star Trek can turn your brains to puree of bat guano; and the greatest science fiction series of all time is Doctor Who! ...This TV viewing will not harm you ... will, in fact, delight and uplift you, stretch your imagination; tickle your risibilities, cleanse your intellect of all lesser visual SF affections... Doctor Who is the apex, the pinnacle, the Louvre Museum, the top, the Coliseum, and other et cetera. -- Harlan Ellison

Comments

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Unless I'm mistaken, that is from the introduction to every single damned Dr. Who paperback that was published in America in the early to mid-80s, all of them adaptations of the episodes and all Tom Baker, as he was the Doctor at the time. Ellison also calls Han Solo a pantywaist in that essay, which is the bit I most remember. Where did you get the quote from? Was it from one of the paperbacks? Compared to the charming British versions, they were very ugly to look at.

Ellison is weird, but I know his type. He always has to be the good guy, the hero of the story, which means someone else has to be the villain. He tells these stories where he is this vanquishing hero who saved the day or had the right riposte at the right moment. The first time I met him, he decided he hated my guts and was really mean to me -- and I mean, cruelly mean, and for no freakin' reason! The next day I wore contacts and a very different dress, and he didn't know I was that woman he detested and went after. He told me the story of this dreadful woman he'd crossed swords with the day before in an attempt to get my sympathy and awe! Yes, that dreadful woman was *me* and that's not how it happened, Mr. Ellison (not that I told him she was me, that's just what I was thinking as he spoke!) According to a friend who was his minder at that convention, it seems every time he told the story of this mean woman, she got bitchier and Ellison got more and more valiant in the telling of the tale.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Unless I'm mistaken, that is from the introduction to every single damned Dr. Who paperback that was published in America in the early to mid-80s

LOL - really? I am amused.

Ellison also calls Han Solo a pantywaist in that essay

I wonder why. I can think of many words to describe Han Solo, but 'pantywaist' isn't one of them. Perhaps because Princess Leia bullied him? I hated that, but I blamed her, not him. Han Solo was IMHO by far the best thing about Star Wars, until Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor came along.

Where did you get the quote from?

A friend phoned me and dictated it to me over the phone. It was from an encyclopedia or history of Doctor Who - I don't know which one.

He always has to be the good guy, the hero of the story, which means someone else has to be the villain.

Or, worse, he has to be the clever one besides which everyone else's stupidity is measured. I'm no apologist for the man, I assure you! He reminds me of the talk show hosts who love to be offensive in order to rile people up and get calls.

The first time I met him, he decided he hated my guts and was really mean to me -- and I mean, cruelly mean, and for no freakin' reason!

Yes, he did that with me, too - for absolutely no reason, and I felt bad for the mutual friend who was introducing us, obviously expecting we would have a good conversation. I was not exactly devastated by Ellison's rudeness - since I'd been annoyed by his arrogance in the past - and I didn't care what (if anything) he thought of me; but I was somewhat shocked by the rudeness. If you're setting yourself up as a Good Guy in a world of villains, why attack people who've done you no harm?

Ah well, as one Ellison victim to another, I offer you a grin and a hug and a secret handshake. I'm sure we are legion.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Unless I'm mistaken, that is from the introduction to every single damned Dr. Who paperback that was published in America in the early to mid-80s

LOL - really? I am amused.

Yup, I bet that essay was recycled from all those paperbacks for the encyclopedia. I remember being a little pissy that the intro to every adaptation was the same damned essay, so they wouldn't have a problem recycling it some more.

Ellison also calls Han Solo a pantywaist in that essay

I wonder why. I can think of many words to describe Han Solo, but 'pantywaist' isn't one of them.

Yeah, I suspect it's that whole "This one is a hero so that one must be the bad guy or a loser" thing Ellison has going on, isn't it! They can't be awesome together, one of 'em has to play the chump in his eyes. I love Han Solo and would love to see a nice crossover with Dr. Who now!

I was way the hell less devastated by Ellison's rudeness than I was by the fact that not a single one of my friends took Ellison to task for his crazed lunacy and no one stood up for me. They all made believe it wasn't even happening! Worse convention EVAR, at least until I turned it around the next day and made a fool out of Ellison by being another person and getting the story of the evil woman told to me.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love Han Solo and would love to see a nice crossover with Dr. Who now!

That might be fun! I have thought about doing a Captain Jack Harkness/Han Solo crossover, but I don't have a good idea for it - they're too alike in too many ways.

not a single one of my friends took Ellison to task for his crazed lunacy and no one stood up for me.

That's a shame.

What convention was it? Except from that one time in New York (which wasn't a convention), I only ever saw him at San Diego Comic Con.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

I don't see them as alike, really. Harkness is... I dunno, perkier? Prettier? And more intelligent than Solo. Also classier and more mysterious. Solo is a regular guy, though admittedly with an edge; he can *do* classy but you are aware he's putting it on for you. You may not know his background, but he's not mysterious. He's like John Sheppard in that he's a slouchy leaner-on-things. Harkness has a more military bearing.

I cannot believe I just wrote a mini-essay comparing & contrasting Jack Harkness and Han Solo. ;)

It was at a convention in Wisconsin, with Ellison, Neil Gaiman, and Peter David, if I remember it correctly. I've been to a lot of cons over the years and they all start to blend together at some point.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of Han Solo and Captain Jack as being alike in archetype: both guys with a light exterior and a reasonably dark past, on the iffy side of the law, both flying their own alien vehicles when we meet them, both braver than they pretend, both eventually making sacrifices and taking risks for the right cause and/or those they love. Both good with guns and ships.

But you're right, Captain Jack is smarter, more complex, perkier and darker. More... everything. Han Solo arguably has better boots, but Jack has the better coat. Jack has a better coat than anyone.

I cannot believe I just wrote a mini-essay comparing & contrasting Jack Harkness and Han Solo. ;)

And a damn good one, too.

I've been to a lot of cons over the years and they all start to blend together at some point.

Oh my goodness, yes, a hearty 'me too'. The dates and cities all blur. "That time I saw so-and-so, what city was that?" Usually I can remember what country the cons were in - and count myself lucky for that part!