Working on new surrealist sci-fi story

I'm currently working on an aleternate history of England, where the Nazis successfully invade England in the 1940's and capture the Inklings writing group. Tolkien and Lewis are executed in the story, but without giving into the ubermensches of the Reich. At the end of the story, the Nazis find a graveyard of centaurs and fauns and can not explain where the skeletons came from. Anyway, that's my idea. Tell me what you think.

Finally ordered Avatar, Modern Political Sci-Fi

Well, I bit the bullet and finally ordered the 3 disc Collector's edition of Avatar (non-blu-ray) in an attempt to find out whether I can truly take this film. I must admit, to me, it sounds like "Last of the Mohicans in Space," with the typical regrettable streotypes of indigenous peoples found in every science fiction novel since Little Fuzzy. Since the film has been "unobtainiumable" for me for a while (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist), I've debated whether my money would be better spent on other sci-fi films. I still have yet to see District 9, which sounds like a more interesting premise, or Moon, which sounds better written. So, of the major (or minor) sci-fi films of the last 3 years, which has been the most politically important.

Picture of Dorian Gray

I just finished the Picture of Dorian Gray, which is a mythic fantasy-like novel by Oscar Wilde. It is a really interesting take on the corruption of the aesthetic ideal. What is so fascinating about the novel is that Wilde satirizes himself, particularly his well known reputation for being a dandy. Reading Dorian Gray is a tremendously sad experience, when knowing the facts of Wilde's life (He was put on trial for being gay, and sent to a jail that physically broke him. He died shortly after his release from prison). Wilde's writing, I think, should be the starting point for gay science fiction aesthetics, as he is a brilliant artistic theorist. His work has spawned more re-interpretations than any gay sci-fi\fantasy artist, with the exception of Samuel Delany. So please, check Dorian Gray out.

Doctor Who's selling really cheaply right now

Don't want to cause a run on them, but the new seasons of Doctor Who are currently selling for as little as $25 bucks a season used, or new and unopened, so you may want to consider getting yourself a couple. I was really tempted myself.

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 and Sucker Punch

I am watching BSG season 4 right now . . . about half way through it. It's o.k., but the story is stretched pretty thin. The lawyer character introduced from season 3 is really the only interesting character left, though Tom Zarek and Rosselin are interesting on occasion. I also hate how Apollo is portrayed as being naive for looking for a democratic solution to problems. Typical Hollywood love of dictatorial regimes, which Rosselin's certainly is.
Sucker Punch looks like an interesting movie, but I heard that the reviews are not good. Still, five cute Elvish-like girls kicking German butt is bound to appeal to the best (and worst) in us. Let me know if you like or hate Snyder's latest contribution to film (or as the snots at my school call it, 'the visual medium').

Working Class Sci-Fi Narratives

I recently finished Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, an above average sci-fi (or at least potentially sci-fi) novel about a Hispanic woman (Connie) who periodically comes into mental contact with a future Utopian society. The novel is compelling because it is one of the few sci-fi novels I've read that reads like the working class narratives of the early 20th century: Martin Eden, Mcteague, Sister Carrie, etc. It still shocks me how few sci-fi novels feature working class protagonists or situations. There's Clockwork Orange, Woman on the Edge of Time, Iron Heel, and one or two novels from Ian Banks and Kim Stanley Robinson. Overall, however, the genre seems devoted to upper class scientists and politicians, or soldiers whose identity is safely nebulous. Some series, like Battletech and Star Trek, are particularly notorious for giving an overall middle class vision of the world, with very little emphasis placed on working class experience. Though I sometimes think Marge Piercy occasionally slips into excesses of politically correct rhetoric, I still admire her faith in her working class character, and her painful attention to making Connie appear as realistic as possible. Woman on the Edge of Time is a feminist novel I can at least relate to, which is more than I can say for Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, or Margaret Atwood. I suggest you check it out.

V for Vendetta and Psychiatry

The class I teach just got done discussing V for Vendetta, Alan Moore's classic graphic novel. One element I found particularly interesting in V is its use of the Milgram experiment as a metaphor for fascism. The psychiatric politics of V for Vendetta are decidedly ambiguous. On one hand, V is labeled a schizophrenic by the state, yet Moore indicates that the diagnosis of V's insanity is solely arbitrary, based on Doctor Dellia Surridge. This seems to indicate an anti-psychiatric critique, much in line with the writing of R.D. Laing. However, Alan Moore has also expressed a great deal of sympathy for anti-Scientologist forces, like Anonymous, that have adopted the V mask as a symbol of their crusade. In any case, I think V's politics, with his emphasis on personal responsibility, fits more into an anti-psychiatric critique of what is wrong with mentally ill people. A fascinating graphic novel nonetheless.