I think she's right when she suggests that pro fiction writers need to write the scenes they usually skip and fade to black. In those scenes lie the truth.
But she's incorrect when she posits that shame no longer will inform the writing process, unless it's shame for bad grammar. I think the struggle through the shame helps. In her exemplar, I was struck that the mirror Hawkeye was shamed. He never did consummate the relationship with the slave Mulcahy. So even in the context of the slash story, she never did get down to business (so to speak).
I've struggled over sex scenes that were integral to my plots. And because my characters are, hopefully, recognizable human beings, they feel the emotional and physical consequences after the scenes. I'm not trying to write porno, and at least in my plots so far, sex happens; it is a part of my characters' world. Indeed, some of the scenes I've written, and still have planned, are quite brutal. These scenes are not the point of the stories, however.
The slash fiction writers may turn to other genres, and they may carry a sort of dispassion in their toolbox, but if this is all they write, they will discover the necessity for more tools to write coherent, three dimensional and interesting stories.
From Salon.com War Room today: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room//index.html
"George W. Bush: Our Leader."
That message, stamped in looming letters alongside the president's smiling mug, currently graces several billboards in Orlando, Florida, along Interstate 4. . . . The billboards in question are controlled by media juggernaut Clear Channel Communications, and also carry a tag saying that the contents are a "political public service message brought to you by Clear Channel Outdoor."
At the same time, the networks decline advertisements from the United Church of Christ which indicate that any and all are able to attend their denomination without fear of censure -- the ad is too political.
I don't think corporate America is even trying to hide what it is doing. The laws passed in the early 70's after the scandals of CREEP and Watergate are, like the Geneva Convention and in the words of our new Attorney General nominee, quaint. By any other name, they are propoganda, and they are working. Our last election shows that you can fool most of the people for the time necessary to win.
Winning is everything baby . . .
Our Governator out here in Caleefornia said he wanted to make Caleefornia a mecca for business again. In fact, as a stunt, he has driven his Hummer to Nevada to help pack up and load the property onto trailer trucks of businesses relocating to the state. So for him, lowering the dollar amout of care patients in the workers compensation plan obtain for rehabilitation is making Caleefornia a business friendly state.
Hmm. Maybe it's just as well the social conservatives don't like him because of his libertine past? Otherwise they'd be clamoring for a President Schwarzenegger after a "quick" mutilation of the Constitution.
I practice criminal defense law exclusively, but my clients, indigents all, often have no recourse for civil redress of their claims. Loss of contingency fees would mean they would never be able to hire a lawyer to present their claims. Their poverty does not equate with dishonest intentions. Poor people can and often are grieviously injured due to negligence (sometimes gross) of companies and government institutions. The law teaches that we try to make them whole. Punitive damages are for punishment and serve as object lessons.
Thinking about punitive damages in that light, you might consider the justifications proffered for the three-strikes and death penalty laws in many jurisdictions. My personal favorite is deterrence. Well a rationale for punitive damages is deterring bad behavior by businesses.
I've been lurking long enough, so I'm joining in the post-mortem.
Ok, our man lost, and that jerk was re-elected. Fait acompli. Do we take our balls and go home?
No, a thousand times no. I'm too young to give up and can't speak French.
What can we do?
We can hold the democrat senators and congressmen and women's feet to the fire.
We can demand that they not cave in to the wish lists of the fundamentalists and faith based politicians. We can make our realities the agenda, by being oppositional. We are the baby boomers--masters at opposition. Lets use those skills and be the loyal opposition, the great naysayers.
We can assert our demand that they actually advise and consent, and when they don't consent, vote against the wishes of the Bushies.
We can expect that they use every parliamentarian weapon at their disposal to gum up their nefarious works and create gridlock until 2006, 2008.
We can work on our state legislatures. This president believes in federalism so much. Ok, your state and local governments can be claimed for progressive ideals. Don't rely completely on the federal government. And certainly don't rely on the courts to vindicate your rights.
We can stop allowing ourselves to be sucked into emotionalism, and become passionate about our issues.
Being passionate, we can work tirelessly toward winning minds and influencing people to our sides.
We can stop bowing to the arrogance of power whether in media, academia, religious institutions, governmental. "We are not afraid, today. Deep in my heart, we shall overcome."
Passion is not equal with shopping lists of ills. Anyone can make a shopping list.
Kerry lost b/c of a lack of passion, too much intellectualism, and a lack of vision.
Our vision must be at least as clear as the Bushies. For where there is no vision (insight), the people perish.
We can demand respect for our opinions. Voice them often, and be willing to engage our opposite numbers. This is a battle of minds, of will, not necessarily of might. The Sixties counter-cultural movement cannot be transplanted to 2000. We must create new strategies. We must be creative, and willing to run risks. Kerry lost because he was unwilling to be true to himself, unwilling to run the risks he ran as a twenty-five year old man.
The stakes are too high to be so craven. You can only lose. They can't kill us for our views -- yet.
We are not a vision-less people.
In the land of the blind, the sighted man is king.
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