Bill Roper's Journal

Bill, you know I love you like a brother. Actually, rather more than my brother.

You don't get it.

You don't get any of it.

First: As scs_11 pointed out in the previous thread, the non-US dealers get kinda screwed by US worldcons. More to the point, I can't think of anyone who votes for dealer convenience... except some of the dealers.

Second: You say it yourself, when you say "SF's never been stronger in the mass media than it is now." You try to justify the Old Guard by following that with, "But to a lot of fans, media's a dirty word. Written SF's the thing that counts."

No, Bill. No, it's not. Not anymore.

There are lots and lots and lots of people who do get into the written SF by way of stuff they see on TV or in the movies or in comics. But the point is, the written word not only is not the only outlet anymore, it's nowhere near the biggest. I'm at Dragon*Con this weekend, and I've seen costumes of every type and stripe (including a Spaceman Spiff with a toy tiger on his shoulder). One of my very favorite? A normally-dressed young woman with a green diamond above her head: an active Sim.

The young people are following the media they're used to, just as you did. Thing is, you are invoking the media as it was fifty years ago. Julie Schwarz!? I could bring Cap'n Billy's Whiz Bang into it if you like, but I think you get it, you just don't get it. There are many, many ways for people to get into fandom these days.

And, Bill...? As they always do, the young look at those who cling to what they know... and they see the old. As huskiebear says, there isn't much call for blacksmiths these days, either. Times change. Technology changes.

SF is the literature of imagination, of dynamism, of youth. Of being young at heart and having dreams. Don't lose that just because the WorldCon isn't what you wish it was anymore.