Steven Barnes's Blog, page 25

Escaping the “Friend Zone”

Let me tell you about the worst insult I ever got.

##

When I first attended Pepperdine University, I was still something of a geek.  Well, some would say I still am, and I probably couldn’t argue convincingly.   At any rate, there were a number of women there I was very attracted to, but from whom I couldn’t get the time of day.

 

One was a gorgeous Jamaican girl who worked as a secretary in the business center.  I found reasons to show up there frequently, flirting with her, and over the mon...

“Cobra Kai” and cultural appropriation

Some time back, I watched a documentary about  master Fumio Demura, one of the first to bring authentic Japanese karate (Shito-ryu) to the United States.   I thought of him because he was Pat Morita’s stunt double for the Karate Kid movies.

 

One of the things that struck me about the documentary was his struggles to integrate into our culture, his uncertainty about sharing his cultural treasure with us, the degree to which his masters in Japan didn’t really want him sharing (“cultural approp...

Yet More “Infinity War” stuff

SPOILERS (ya think???)

 

Tim Barham said:

“So I have a question, Steven… you noticed, as I did, the only surviving major characters were the (indeed all white) heroes from the first Avengers movie. So the old guard – characters we *know* are on the way out of the franchise – survive, while the new guard – characters we know have future films planned (Black Panther, Spider-man, Doctor Strange) die. Why do you think that is?

 

It seemed so obviously contrived to me that all the original Avenger...

Why Jason didn’t want to see INFINITY WAR again

(Warning: Sambo Alert and SPOILERS)

Saw “Infinity War” again yesterday with Larry Niven, Nicki, and Michelle Pinkus. I had a ticket for Jason…but he didn’t want to go.  We dropped him off at the trampoline park with a friend while we watched it.

He didn’t want to see it again. And I understand why.  Many of you will not. I’ll try to explain, one last time.

##

Watching it again, I understood what had irritated me so much the first time: Black Panther is what Tananarive and I refer to as “a mov...

Little Masters

I knew no writers when I was a kid, and because my father failed in the arts (he had been a back-up singer for Nat King Cole.  I was actually in the recording booth when he recorded back-up for “Ramblin’ Rose”), my mother discouraged me from trying to be a writer.

 

As a result, my early efforts were filled with doubt and fear: if there was no way to reach my goals, why bother?  But by struggling and modeling, I managed to scratch a career together, and while there have OF COURSE been pains,...

Confronting Death can save your life

I saw someone complaining that he hasn’t been able to finish any of his writing projects.  “If I’m bored with it, why should an audience be interested?”   Later, he admitted to being exhausted all the time.

 

Well…some thoughts on energy and art

Fatigue makes cowards of us all.  When you lack energy, you fall back on tired, familiar tropes and notions.  You don’t reveal your personal emotional vulnerabilities. Not tapping into your PERSONAL feelings, hopes, dreams, needs, fears, and enthusia...

Fear is your friend

I’ve often said that “anger is a mask over fear.”    And to a predictable degree, the people who disagree with this are almost always male.  Usually angry males.  They really, really don’t like the implications.  Sometimes they get angry with me for saying it.   You can imagine my amused reaction: they are afraid of the implications.

 

To go into this, let’s define terms.  Fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a th...

The Battle of Wakanda (SPOILERS)

An INFINITY WAR critique, with SPOILERS

 

AGAIN: SPOILERS.  NO KIDDING.

 

##

 

##

 

##

 

Still here?  Then I continue.

 

The last sequence of the new Avengers movie takes place in Wakanda, where Steve Rogers asks T’Challa to help them remove an Infinity Stone from Vision’s forehead.

 

This leads to a tense scene with super-genius Shuri trying to get that stone free, and the Wakandan army, side-by-side with most of the Avengers,  standing against Thanos’ legions.  I saw that coming in the trai...

Separated from our own being

As a futurist, I think of both the positive and negative aspects of the technological culture we’re creating. And I see something that might relate to certain discussions of late.

##

Fandom has a disproportionate number  of people who came from abusive backgrounds, are brilliant, but stunted emotionally.  Does it take much to suspect they simply “clumped” all their mentation into one category, where they could get approval without being emotionally vulnerable?

 

Interesting that there are peo...

Some thoughts on Cosby

A few years back, T and I had the chance to work with one of my childhood heroes, Bill Cosby.   We spoke with him on the phone, and he was brilliant and funny, with a crystal-clear memory and just as charming as he could be, filled with enthusiasm for a new NBC project he wanted us to work on.  After I got off the phone, I remembered rumors I’d heard, and asked myself if I’d want T going to a meeting with him alone.    Or Nicki.  And felt the reaction in my heart.

The answer was hell no.  I k...