Wednesday, May 6, 2020

A Subgenre of Science Fiction Nobody Asked For

From We Hunted the Mammoth, we have an example of a science fiction subgenre that nobody needs: INCELPUNK. Proprietor David Futrelle introduces readers to a lurid futuristic fantasy in which an incel muses about a world in which married men are subject to forced cuckoldry, and a underground industry serves the needs of 'low value' men risking execution to get it on with sexy robots. Like most incel fantasies, it involves a high body count.

I was going to make a joke about the opening sentence of William Gibson's debut novel and 'roasties' (don't google that if you value your sanity), but I didn't want to commit such an atrocity. At any rate, the title of an upcoming incelpunk novel has got to be (what else?) Noromancer.

4 comments:

Anathema Device said...

Do. Not. Want.

Although if they stick to writing porn to jerk off to, and stop shooting everyone they think has it easier, then allowing its existence is a small sacrifice to make. It's no worse than any other subgenre of porn (not science fiction please. Unless you think Gor is scifi and not spankbank material!)

Li'l Innocent said...

I plan to pass over this phenom in nun-like silence.

Just one observation: changing norms of sex-related references in popular fiction including SF can result in some interesting, even unsettling effects with the passage of time. The "Sector General" series of stories by James White published in the zines and then as paperbacks in the 50s and 60s were genuine SF all right, with all sorts of interesting ideas being developed, and a clear, straightforward style used. The basic premise is so unusual and so inventively

But on rereading them a few years back after a looong time away, I was dismayed to realize that White (true to his times!) had a major, irrepressible breast fixation . You'd be reading along and suddenly stumble across an obnoxious block of boob-drooling prose that obliterated the owner of said boobs as a sentient being for several sentences, and by today's standards presented the hero as a sexist mutt. The fact that I did not notice this in the mid 60s as a late-teen girl shows how standard that kind of writing was at the time.

The identical criticism can be leveled at the Inspector Gideon stories, a well-reviewed British series of police procedurals from the same era. And again, I never noticed it when reading them back in the day, but now it sticks out, you should excuse the expression, like a blister-ridden sore thumb.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Although if they stick to writing porn to jerk off to, and stop shooting everyone they think has it easier, then allowing its existence is a small sacrifice to make.

They could always engage in self-reflection and self-improvement, thereby becoming individuals who are worthy of love. Yeah, right! Speaking of 'Gor' books, this is a funny, in-depth review of one.

But on rereading them a few years back after a looong time away, I was dismayed to realize that White (true to his times!) had a major, irrepressible breast fixation.

This seems to be a common genre problem. Guys, boobs don't look like globes... well, not real ones. One would think that most of the authors were prematurely weaned.

Anathema Device said...

"Speaking of 'Gor' books, this is a funny, in-depth review of one."

It is. And never have I been gladder not to have read the source novel ;)