From: Danny Sichel Newsgroups: alt.humor.best-of-usenet Subject: [rec.arts.sf.written] Re: Military Cliches in SF (was: Re: A white universe in science Date: 14 Sep 1999 15:05:17 +0200 Subject: Re: Military Cliches in SF (was: Re: A white universe in science From: jsbassior@aol.com (Jordan S. Bassior) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written C. Scott said: >An unfortunate trend started by "Aliens" (I think) which has proved very >popular ever since. The advantages of equipping futuristic soldiers with >coalpan helmets, flak jackets and M-16 style automatic rifles is that is >very cheap and it allows the audience to see the pretty faces of the lead >actors. I also think that this is one of the examples of the trend I've noticed in which, as we actuallly approach a technological development, there is a failure of nerve on the part of science fiction to anticipate it, while earlier science fiction had no such problem. In this case, the technological development is energy weapons. From H. G. Wells' "heat rays" to the "blasters" common in sf from the 1930's through 1970's, it was generally accepted for a long time that energy projecting weapons would replace matter projecting weapons in the long run. During the first few decades of this period, no actual means of projecting destructive energy existed. With the invention of the laser, it is interesting to note that sf, especially visual SF, tended to employ laser weapons. As we actually get closer to the deployment of military lasers (blinding lasers have already been used in skirmishes, laser target designation has been used since the Vietnam War, and ABM lasers first shot down test missiles in the 1980's), we are more aware of the problems with laser weapons (atmospheric distortion, energy demand, recycle time). As with other technologies, this has created a failure of nerve on the part of sf authors, who (wrongly in my opinion) assume that the engineering obstacles which loom large at present will remain eternal barriers to the use of the technology. (I think this started with the RPG _Traveller_, in the 1970's. The first edition of _Traveller_ assumed that energy weapons were basically way too expensive and impractical for most purposes). >The disadvantage is that it is now a big cliche and is very unoriginal. And it looks pretty stupid, when you are talking about a star-travelling society centuries in the future, to be using weapons whose design seems to have frozen sometime between 1950 and 2000. === Rommel peered through his field glasses. The British had deployed on the rise, he saw. It would be a rough battle, but there was no way to go round. "Attack!" he ordered. Panzer III tanks rumbled forward. The metal monsters were equipped with really big lances, and even the plate armor of British knights could not stand before them. Their armor, in turn, was proof even against longbows. Such AFV's had broken the French phalanxes on the Meuse, and bid fair to win for the Reich at El Alamein now. Suddenly the lead tank slewed out of formation, treads unravelling. The cry went up, the one every tanker dreaded ... "Caltrops!" The tanks were helpless, wallowing. And at that point the British reserves charged. "For St. George and England!" cried Montgomery, standing atop the lead Sherman, whirling his mighty claymore ... === Silly, eh? No sillier than M-16's in the 25th century. >And of course more than enough has been said about that deplorable version of >Starship Troopers which equipped the Mobile Infantry in this fashion.... Yep.