Jim

It’s clear that some people do still check back here for updates even though it’s been over a year since the last episode.

If you want a testament to how good this show was – there you have it.

Not dead. Resting?

I’ve been extremely lax in posting Show #48, because the audio for it is really rough, and it’ll take me a long time to fix it. But I’m working on it!

You’re my favorite fiction podcast – please don’t be dead!

…and the contact form’s been fixed!

I know ninjas are supposed to be silent, but this is getting silly.

Rick is attracted to Rachel, but did he rape her?
Rick did throw Rachel against the wall. He commanded her, “Tell me to kiss you”. Does a limited lifespan replicant have the wherewithal to process romantic attraction? Do you or I? We know she wants him to kiss her neck, because she shows she enjoys it. But when he goes in for a kiss on the lips, she pulls away and runs. She’s afraid. What is it she is afraid of? His sexual aggressiveness? No. She begins to tell us when she plays the piano – she didn’t know if she could play. She’s having an identity crisis. Later, she says she can’t trust herself. She’s floundering. Every move she makes, she is over-analyzing. She’s trying to draw a line between who she is as a borrowing from Tyrell’s neice, and who she is separate from her implanted memories. But this is a fool’s errand. These are not hallucinations. The only way out of this hampster’s wheel is to jump the tracks. Rick pushes her to jump the tracks. He wants her to find her voice and act on her emotional impulses to show that they are real. If she feels something, she feels it with her own feelings, and she should trust her feelings as her own, because they are real to her regardless of how she came by them. Look at Elliot – http://www.radiolab.org/2008/nov/17/overcome-by-emotion/
Rick is pushing Rachel away from a robotic existence, because if either of them are going to survive, they both need her to be more than that. He has power of life and death over her. But I would also argue that she has power of life and death over him as well. What is he doing sitting around in his retirement? He’s just drifting along, and we know that this makes him vulnerable to Bryant. His way out of the lethal cesspool is by caring enough about Rachel to break free, but he can’t do that if she’s just a robot. If she gives up on her self, then he gives up on her too, and if he gives up on her, he gives up on himself.

What happens with Taffey while Rick is tracking down Zhora? Rick is able to intimidate Abdul, but not Taffey. Why is that?
How does it play out if Rick puts the squeeze on Taffey? Nothing would come of it. Taffey’s got pull that Abdul doesn’t, and Rick is wise to that. Rick knows he’s getting nowhere the way he is going about it, so he adjusts. He’s got to decide his next move. Is he apathetic? Well he’s certainly not happy to be on the case. Also, Rick’s an alcoholic, and Taffey has started a tap. Rick is in a slump until he once again let’s himself unwind and be guided by his intuition.

Also, you don’t really talk about the rhino as a possible inspiration for the unicorn dream independent of the unicorn origami being used to dismiss Rick as a useless dreamer. Or the theory that Gaff is a replicant, and is jealous of Rick for winning Rachel.

On the idea that it’s not understandable without the narration: I first saw it on the laserdisc and I had not read Electric Sheep though I knew of it. I had no problems and have watched it many times afterward and it stands up well to repeated viewing. For those who think it was “opaque,” without the aid of the voice over, you can feel good in that you are not alone. I remember when 2001: A Space Odyssey came out in the theatre, and very few of the people I knew understood anything at all in it. Ditto The Prisoner. My father was upset that he *never* escaped! Different levels for different folks, I say.

I can understand that you ran long on this one. Some might say it’s two-part material. (hint, hint)

Cheers!
Michael

I read Hyperion and didn’t think that much of it, ok but not a standout. Felt to much like The Canterbury Tales – I was just not appreciative of that style of writing.

Years later (after hearing people raving about it) I read it again, and then read the sequel The Fall of Hyperion straight after. My change of opinion was remarkable! It’s easily in my top 10 these days and would recommend the books to anyone!

I am about to listen to your podcast now, and after listening (so far) to your Ladyhawk, Stainless Steel Rat and Blade Runner podcasts I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Happy to be the first comment in 5 years as well!

Cheers!

You’re not just offering up more “Curse of Poltergeist,” fodder here are you?….Should I hope you are, or hope you’re not?…

I just discovered the podcasts and I’m enjoying the shows.

Thanks,
Chris Jacobs

Perhaps not episode related, but do you think you could put up a new link to the KAMN theme song. The old one is broken.

All the best.
/Satai