50's Science Fiction

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

WOW I never recall seeing the 1943 Batman movies. I do recall, when I was a kid, seeing a Batman cliffhanger serial on Saturdays when I went to the local theater to see the latest Sci-Fi movies like Destination Moon.

Yup, I was a kid in the 50's.

In fact, in 1953, when I was a mere 7 years old, I recall my folks taking me to a drive-in movie where I was terrified out of my wits as I watched War of the Worlds.

I recently saw the remake of War of the Worlds and it was crappy.

[Riverwind (imported)]

I think I want this, Batman 1940's. it was before my time but I know MacWolf most likely watched it when it came out.

River

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

I think I want this, Batman 1940's. it was before my time but I know MacWolf most likely watched it when it came out.

River

I think River is hinting that I'm older than he is. Now THAT is Science Fiction

According to CountBlah and luvbot1, we're both 63, but I'll never admit it.

[transward (imported)]

I knew two authors as friends, Theodore "Ted" Sturgeon and J. Michael Reeves.

Wow!! Sturgeon was one of the greatest of the great classic sci-fi writers. I'm impressed.

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[MacTheWolf (imported)]

Wow!! Sturgeon was one of the greatest of the great classic sci-fi writers. I'm impressed.

Transward

J. Michael Reeves was a room mate of mine in college. He had just written his first story, Breath of Dragons. When he moved from my town to Los Angeles, I went there to visit him. I ending up seeing him several times there.

Across from his apartment was a small unit with a basement. In the basement Ted Sturgeon worked on his stories. Ted and I talked a lot but, unfortunately for me, I wasn't into reading Science Fiction then

[transward (imported)]

Across from his apartment was a small unit with a basement. In the basement Ted Sturgeon worked on his stories. Ted and I talked a lot but, unfortunately for me, I wasn't into reading Science Fiction then

Interesting. There are a lot of Sturgeon stories around, and they all seem to start with him engaging some total stranger in hours of intense conversation. Must have been an interesting man. One story of the origin of Sturgeon's Law had him drinking and regaling those around with conversation, when a drunk, on hearing that Sturgeon wrote SF, staggered up and said "Ninety percent of science fiction is pure crap, to which Sturgeon replied with the classic formulation of the law.

"In 1951, Sturgeon coined what is now known as Sturgeon's Law: "Ninety percent of SF [science fiction] is crud, but then, ninety percent of everything is crud." This was originally known as Sturgeon's Revelation; Sturgeon has said that "Sturgeon's Law" was originally "Nothing is always absolutely so." However, the former statement is now widely referred to as Sturgeon's Law. He is also known for his dedication to a credo of critical thinking that challenged all normative assumptions: "Ask the next question." He represented this credo by the symbol of a Q with an arrow through it, an example of which he wore around his neck and used as part of his signature in the last 15 years

of his life."

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[MacTheWolf (imported)]

I once met Harlan Ellison at his house. He was to be the guest speaker at the Sci-Fi Con my group was sponsering.

For a little guy, he had a HUGE ego. heh heh

[bobover3 (imported)]

Still thinking about DeaconBlues's question - what did it all mean? What were we afraid of?

My guess is it came from a seemingly enviable historical moment: the majority of the American people were starting to enjoy a measure of prosperity and security, such as they never had before; the US had just become a world power, with political and economic links around the world, such as it had never been before. For the first time, many Americans could look up from the struggle to survive, and contemplate their role as free citizens of a global empire. This new freedom and new contact with far away peoples was unnerving, even as it was exhilarating. A man in a new suit of clothes with a pocket full of cash in the big city could work mischief that the rural toilers of the past couldn't. All those foreigners we'd never had to think about before were also threats.

I think that's the core of 50s anxiety. New prosperity, rising education, relocation to cities, work in offices, etc., severed the ties to the stable secure rural communities of the past. Throw in strange foreigners, and the people who grew up on farms they'd left behind were scared. It's a big world out there. Don't forget the "mad scientists" who spoke to the anxiety caused by the explosion of technology.

[TheOtherSide (imported)]

I once met Harlan Ellison at his house. He was to be the guest speaker at the Sci-Fi Con my group was sponsering.

For a little guy, he had a HUGE ego. heh heh

Seriously, that's what he's known for. (It could also be phrased that he's well-known for standing up for his rights, and as such, for the rights of authors everywhere.)

And just in case he happens to be reading this, I wish to add that it's not entirely undeserved. (Please don't sue me!)

[Riverwind (imported)]

I once met Harlan Ellison at his house. He was to be the guest speaker at the Sci-Fi Con my group was sponsering.

For a little guy, he had a HUGE ego. heh heh

You can say that again, married 5 times writer of short stories, (either a reference to how tall he is or short attention span) who like so many others moved from some place else to clog up California making it a place with to many people.

AND

His stories are OK, good even, even the short ones.

River