I understand the Vile 666 are pursuing you, their torches alight, because you made the mistake of half-assing this year's Hugo Awards ceremony -- a ceremony some (wrongly) believe is oh-so-important to the science fiction field at large. I also understand that you have been charged, predictably, with istophobia for not giving certain individuals the respect to which they (wrongly) feel entitled for catching the notice of World Con's exceedingly small and rarefied cadre of voters. And I'm writing to welcome you to the club. Many on my side are tempted (due to legitimate resentments) to point and laugh, but instead of taking that particular course, I want to offer you my sincere sympathy -- and a friendly suggestion.
First, my apologia on your behalf: You're not a racist for failing to pronounce people's names correctly. You're a normal human being. I'm white enough to qualify as translucent, yet my last name has been consistently butchered by teachers, school secretaries, doctors, et. al. since I was a wee lass. And I'm sure I can call up numerous folks of Eastern European, Scandinavian, and Celtic extraction who can enter their own sad testimony regarding the same. For example, I'm sure you remember poor Poul Anderson (who, last I checked, was white). Was Isaac Asimov a racist for calling Anderson "Pole" despite Anderson's numerous attempts to correct him?
In reality, if you don't speak a particular language natively, you're going to have trouble reproducing that language's phonemes and accent no matter what guides are given to you and no matter how much you practice -- and that's not your fault. That's an accident of normal human language development -- the same accident that makes it difficult for my East Asian immigrant students to correctly pronounce R and L in English words.
You're also not a racist for respecting John W. Campbell -- even if Campbell himself (born 1910) expressed some notoriously racist ideas in his (deliberately contrarian) nonfiction columns. An endorsement for a particular individual's work in the field is hardly an endorsement of everything that person has ever thought or said. No: as we're seeing right now on social media, that way lies madness -- and senseless purges for increasingly picayune offenses. In my estimation, if we're actually forced to follow the dictates of the cancel culture cult to their logical conclusion, the only people we'll ultimately be allowed to appreciate for anything at all will be people who had no opinions - no lives - before yesterday.
And that's not even getting into the double standards in play, which I have discussed many, many times on this and other platforms. Yeah: we've all noticed that there are certain bigots who get free passes to spew their toxic, hateful bilge with nary a slap on the wrist because "muh oppression" (an absolutely laughable claim from any middle class writer with a college degree who is 1.) universally feted by the shill press and 2.) desperately courted by mainstream publishers wishing to look progressive). Personally, Mr. Martin, I think you should tell your attackers that you'll agree to conclusively declare Campbell persona non grata just as soon as we're allowed to do the same to fandom's open BIPOC supremacists, cisheterophobes, misandrists, and molesters.
And now to my suggestion: I would like to encourage you to abandon the sinking ship that is World Con for more salubrious climes. A bunch of us did that years ago, and we're now all the happier for having made that choice. Trust me: it's so much more fun to focus on producing and discussing good content for the general reading audience without having to look over our shoulders constantly lest our so-called "friends" in the fandom shiv us in the back for inadvertently upsetting their "woke" sensibilities. And it's also much more fun to exist in a broadly free milieu in which people can be honest about what they believe and actually talk to each other without walking on eggshells.
Come to the dark side, Mr. Martin. We have cookies. And we're quite tolerant of center-lefties who still believe in the basic principles that undergird our liberal order.
Sincerely,
The Right Geek
I hope this makes its way to him.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the mispronouncing thing is a nothing burger. Here in the south west (I'm originally from New England) people are always seeing a "z" at the end of my last name instead of an "s". It's understandable when you live in an area with a large Hispanic population, but it's also irritating. And no, I don't think anyone doing it was being racist.
ReplyDeleteActually I think Martin was (in his own way) expressing a certain level of contempt for the awards as the currently exist. That's why he brought up Campbell and Heinlein, and that's why he didn't bother to learn how to pronounce some names. He seemed to be saying "these awards actually meant something once" and that is why he is now among the unclean.
At this point he has enough f.u. money to ignore the howling mobs. I don't think any publisher is crazy enough (though I may be wrong) to cancel him. His fan base (which includes millions of normies) would not tolerate that.
So, the man who paid for the party to give out the wooden assholes gets stabbed in the back by the people who cheered and jeered at that same party, and YOU WANT THAT MAN TO COME SHIT IN YOUR POOL?!?! I don't get it. Character is a thing. He doesn't have any.
ReplyDeleteIf Martin is willing to acknowledge that he's been wrong in the past, sure. I don't hold grudges if people sincerely change their ways. Only social justice bullies refuse to forgive.
DeleteMartin probably isn't going to do that. In the first place, I'm sure he (as a flawed human being, like all of us) could give you a fine list of rationalizations why would he did back then was right and what is being done to him now is wrong. In the second place, he doesn't really need a lifeboat.
DeleteMost of the folks who added HBO to their cable package just to watch GOT do not follow the freak show that has become organized fandom. They couldn't pick John W. Campbell or Robert Heinlein out of a police lineup, and they sure as heck don't go to the vile 666 website. They just enjoy the books and TV show and lead happy healthy lives. Those are the ones who Martin (and his publisher) actually care about, not the 3000 or so anal retentives who still care about the Hugo's.
How do you pronounce Poul? Pool? I alwayes call him "pole" Anderson.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's closer to "Pool," but honestly, I could be wrong. I'm too young to have seen him introduce himself at a con. The only reason I know it's not "Pole" is the story Asimov tells in one of the old Hugo volumes about his struggles to get it right. :)
DeleteI thought it was pronounced ,"Paul" so there ya go.
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