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clobbering the alien
Saturday, 14 October 2006 12:29 pmSo, Starship Troopers. Don't ask me why I acquired and re-read this: I'm inclining to put it down to basic subliminal masochism, I have been Bad and need to be Punished. Robert Heinlein is one of the Great Old Men of Golden Age sf, and every time I read one of his novels, I am at a loss to account for why. I cannot read him without the phrase "jingoistic scumwad" popping up to float around my brain for days. His depiction of women makes me want to throw up with careful, pinpoint accuracy all over his shiny, militaristic jackboots.
I suppose Heinlein's reputation rests on ground-breaking works such as Stranger in a Strange Land, but even there, he retains this infuriating air of twinkly-eyed, patronising, know-it-all superiority. Starship Troopers is the one with the political system which only permits military veterans to vote – because, presumably, their ability to sling their muscled, male, meathead bodies in the way of harm for Country and Mom's Apple Pie makes them morally and ethically superior to anyone else. It's absolutely in the finest Heinlein tradition of paternalistic fascism, propagated at length through interminable discussions by characters. War apparently doesn't just make a man of boys, it's a desirable and inevitable activity for any civilisation. Particularly since all those nasty, bug-like Others, legitimate targets with absolutely no subjectivity, need to be destroyed to Keep Terra Safe For The Little Women.
Women are bizarrely placed in Heinlein, they have this glossy veneer of Empowerment, but they are still firmly in the Victorian mould of Shining Inspirations to all these thundering males. In Starship Troopers women are pilots because they have faster reflexes than men, but really they're there to provide the necessary Sweetness and Light in the mess room, and to make sure that each trooper drops into combat with mommy's approbation ringing in his ears.
Aaargh! Now I have a headache from all this ranting.
But there's good news! The Evil Landlord (a) has a job (he's currently lounging around the house reading C# programming manuals as the new place doesn't use Delphi), and (b) he went forth, after lo these many years of me hinting, suggesting, brightly listing the advantages and occasionally nagging, and acquired I-Burst. Once we can track down I-Burst drivers for Win98, I shall have broadband. Oh, yeah. And watch my already marginal productivity slide inexorably down the drain…
I suppose Heinlein's reputation rests on ground-breaking works such as Stranger in a Strange Land, but even there, he retains this infuriating air of twinkly-eyed, patronising, know-it-all superiority. Starship Troopers is the one with the political system which only permits military veterans to vote – because, presumably, their ability to sling their muscled, male, meathead bodies in the way of harm for Country and Mom's Apple Pie makes them morally and ethically superior to anyone else. It's absolutely in the finest Heinlein tradition of paternalistic fascism, propagated at length through interminable discussions by characters. War apparently doesn't just make a man of boys, it's a desirable and inevitable activity for any civilisation. Particularly since all those nasty, bug-like Others, legitimate targets with absolutely no subjectivity, need to be destroyed to Keep Terra Safe For The Little Women.
Women are bizarrely placed in Heinlein, they have this glossy veneer of Empowerment, but they are still firmly in the Victorian mould of Shining Inspirations to all these thundering males. In Starship Troopers women are pilots because they have faster reflexes than men, but really they're there to provide the necessary Sweetness and Light in the mess room, and to make sure that each trooper drops into combat with mommy's approbation ringing in his ears.
Aaargh! Now I have a headache from all this ranting.
But there's good news! The Evil Landlord (a) has a job (he's currently lounging around the house reading C# programming manuals as the new place doesn't use Delphi), and (b) he went forth, after lo these many years of me hinting, suggesting, brightly listing the advantages and occasionally nagging, and acquired I-Burst. Once we can track down I-Burst drivers for Win98, I shall have broadband. Oh, yeah. And watch my already marginal productivity slide inexorably down the drain…
