My new favorite TV program is a thing on Discovery Channel called “Prophets of Science Fiction.” I have no idea if this is a new program or not. Discovery Channel recycles the shit out of their programming. This morning I was watching a thing about a new Metro Station being built in Singapore and they said “But, it won’t be open until 2012,” and the tone of voice implied that that was still a couple of years in the future.
Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008
It doesn’t matter. It’s a new show to me.
Tonight they are doing Arthur C. Clarke, one of my favorites. The thing about Arthur C. Clarke is he was not just a great science fiction writer, he was also a brilliant scientist, and an all around cool guy. He invented the radio satellite so, when you use a mobile phone, you very much have him to thank. He predicted the space elevator, which we haven’t got yet but when we do, space is going to open up for us big time, like the way railroads opened up the west, but even more extreme. And, of course, he wrote 2001, A Space Odyssey. One thing that I really like about Clarke, though, was a lifestyle choice. After he was rich and famous, and everybody expected him to just stay focused on space and write more books, he moved to Sri Lanka, because he was as interested in the world under the sea as he was in outer space.
Just an all around cool guy with a wide range of interests.
A couple nights ago, they focused on Philip K. Dick. Of course I’m a fan but I must admit, I think both Blade Runner and Total Recall were improved by being turned into movies. Like Asimov and Heinlein, you can read Clarke’s books without being a genius yourself. Dick is a bit harder. He’s like the William Faulkner of science fiction. It was a really interesting program. I hadn’t realized just how insane he was, for one thing.
The show raised an interesting question in ethics. When Ridley Scott was making Blade Runner, the studio approached Dick and said “It’s going great but we want to change the name.” Dick said no way. It’s my book (“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”) and I want you to keep the title. They said “We’ll pay you an extra $400,000.” He still said no.
Then he up and died before the film was completed, and they went ahead and changed the name.
On the one hand, I think Blade Runner is a much better name for the movie, so, if it were just an argument over the name, I’d agree with them.
But ignoring the author’s last wish was pretty tacky.
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