Tuesday, April 22, 2014

SFR News & Links Extra: Star Wars, Gay SFR, Captain Harlock, and KDrama

I found a few gay sci-fi romance titles at a site called World of Diversity Fiction. The links take visitors to reviews. I didn't read them, but I downloaded a sample of Victoria Zagar's WRITTEN IN THE STARS (Culture Wars #1; military space opera). The cover reminded me of the SFR cover discussion at Spacefreighters Lounge since it features characters clothed in (presumably) military uniforms.

Tricia of FANgirl's Blog discusses The Potential Energy of Major Star Wars Events. She reported on the lack of diversity in various panels and conventions organized by a company called ReedPop. Such lack of foresight sends the message that marginalized fans aren't worthy of representation or even a consideration in terms of the franchise's continued financial success.

Regarding ReedPop's lineup of Celebration Anaheim:
While undoubtedly the announced hosts – James Arnold Taylor (Celebration Stage), David Collins (Digital Stage), Jason Swank and Jimmy McInerney (Behind-the-Scenes State), and Gus Lopez (Collecting Track) – create a stellar team, it is an entirely male lineup. Representation across the board on panels at the past two Celebrations were skewed heavily male. The question then becomes: Will ReedPOP, Disney, and Lucasfilm balance out the panels on these stages to be more reflective of their diverse fanbase?
Regrading ReedPop's lineup of Star Wars Reads Day:
Unfortunately, not one woman was included in the original announcement, and it’s mostly white. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be women or people of color added later, but as noted after last year’s Star Wars Reads Day, no female creators made the Star Wars Reads Day video, only one female creator was represented on the San Diego Comic-Con panels, and shirts offered at WeLoveFine in conjunction with the event were only in male sizes. None of those actions send a message of inclusion for women...

...Like the BookCon panel, it isn’t a malicious attempt to alienate a set of fans, but it certainly reflects a failure to challenge the status quo within the publishing arm of Lucas Licensing. Previously, the rollout of the Star Wars Rebels toys resulted in criticism of the way the genders were represented, leading to some scrambling to deflect the public perception that Disney|Lucasfilm is still approaching the franchise as “for the boys.” 
Tricia goes on to make a very salient point: "Episode VII will not win the box office in 2015 without female fans as engaged as their male fans."

This kind of situation reeks of things like taxation without representation. The Star Wars franchise will happily take the money of marginalized fans in one hand while erasing them with the other. Science fiction romance is one casualty of this situation.

If you'd like to help, retweet the link to her post.

Image source: Anime Depot
If you've followed The Galaxy Express for any length of time, you know I'm a hardcore SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO fan. Therefore it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed an article at Black Gate by Elwin Cotman called Leiji Matsumoto, Bushido, Manhood, and Womanhood, Part 4. He features an interesting analysis of Matsumoto's work in the context of shows like SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK:
Leiji Matsumoto does not write war stories. The pain, chaos, senseless destruction, and especially the death are of no interest to him. He has stated that he is interested in life. As such, his characters live… In the Leijiverse, bushido is the answer to the evils of complacency.
Via Entertainment Weekly issue #1306, I learned about a Korean sci-fi romance drama called MY LOVE FROM ANOTHER STAR:

 
Do Min Joon (Kim Soo Hyun) is an otherworldly beauty, literally. After crash landing on Earth 400 years ago, Min Joon has diligently observed humans for centuries, ultimately coming to cynical conclusions. On top of being a super babe, Min Joon's got enhanced vision, hearing and agility — all the more reason to believe he's superior to everyone on Earth. That is, until he pursues the beautiful actress Cheon Song Yi (Gianna Jun) for a romance out of this world.
How can anyone resist a "super babe" hero?! I started watching it on DramaFever where it's available for free. The quality wasn't perfect though, so I may order it up on Roku instead. Once I finish, I'll be back with a full report.


There's a trailer at DramaFever and/or you can watch this subtitled one:

Joyfully yours,
Heather