Adam-Troy Castro

Writer of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Stories About Yams.

 

Mr. Trump: It is Not the Job of San Juan’s Mayor To Praise You

Posted on September 30th, 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro

Oh,

President Trump,

you raging narcissist,

you clueless child,

you bigoted fool,

It is not the job of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin to offer you political shade.

It is not her job to praise whatever rescue efforts you can be shamed into grudgingly offering, or to give you that one thing you prize above all else, the thing you coo over like Sméagol with his Precious, “Good reviews.”

She is not calling attention to what she sees as your failure at emergency response out of a sheer political grudge.

I know you see the Presidency as a kind of real-world video game where you win by scoring charisma points, a contest you play at the lowest possible setting. But she is not a raging narcissist, a clueless child, or a bigoted fool, and she does not score her job as Mayor the same way you have always scored yours as human being. Whatever else her performance as mayor might have been — I don’t know — she follows a different standard.

She sees people sweltering in the heat.

She sees people clamoring for evacuation.

She sees people drinking contaminated water because they have no other choice.

She sees people dying.

Only an evil piece of crap would think that her top priority should be your poll numbers.

President Trump,

you raging narcissist,

you clueless child,

you bigoted fool,

you have tweeted that the workers of Puerto Rico “want everything done for them when it should be a community job.”

How dare you.

The people in Puerto Rico’s interior who saw their loved ones buried in wreckage did not “want everything done for them.” They began digging, with their bare hands if nothing else was available. The people in Puerto Rico’s interior who saw their ailing and elderly weakening in the aftermath for lack of water and medical care did not “want everything done for them;” they fanned out, searching for help, carrying the vulnerable on their backs if they had to . When the story of how common, everyday people on that poor island rose up and did what they could with their hearts and their voices and the power of their arms is finally told, it will be clear that they always knew it had to be what you accuse them of not contributing to, a “community job.” But the people in Puerto Rico’s interior who had to flee areas endangered by rising waters, and those who were too sick or too old or too injured and too trapped to do so, did not “want everything done for them;” they had to trust in the gap between what they could do and what they could not do being filled by the accords of civilization. That’s what civilization is for, you despicable piece of crap.

People are dying, you tragic, raging buffoon.

They are dying now and even if you exceed any possible expectations for emergency response, they will continue to die for some time to come.

Any even slight deficiency on your part — and your deficiencies are not slight — will have a cost in human capital.

Whatever good the rescue workers are doing in this island you have defaulted before, and I am sure their efforts are heroic, your characterization of the people of Puerto Rico as a monolithic mass who “want everything done for them” is a racist dog whistle, an absolute giveaway that to your mind they are lesser beings who should only be grateful for whatever aid you deign to provide. But then your tweets also confirm something that was evident before but rarely illustrated with such stark gravity: that to your mind the people of Puerto Rico don’t really exist, anyway. Like everything else, like everybody else, like the lives of the people I know and care about, they only amount to the degree to which they burnish or detract from your legend. If they don’t give you “good reviews,” if they don’t rise from their huddled misery and confirm that you’re the “best President ever, trust me,” then they are part of the conspiracy that persists in making up all the “Fake News” that is your only working explanation for any criticism of your performance.

This is megalomania, sir. This is sociopathy.

But since you likely don’t know those words, as they appear in the books you’ve eschewed your entire life,

Here is how you would put it.

Sad!

Either way, it is again not Carmen Yulin’s job to lie to the press and say that you’ve magically fixed everything, already.

She is bigger than that.

She is more human than that.

She is truer than that.

She is your better.

You should stop worrying about you reviews for five minutes and do what you’re told.

FAQ: “Which Method of Buying Your Book Would You Prefer From Me?”

Posted on September 27th, 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro

Like many writers, I feel a special surge of affection for readers who want to get my latest book but query, “What way is best for you? Do you make more money if I get it the e-book, or if I pick it up at the store?”

That is precious. Really. The gesture is appreciated.

It is certainly a million miles ahead of those readers who have come up to me and bragged that they and their local group of friends have formed a cheapskate syndicate and that they’ve all pooled their resources to buy one copy that they pass around until it falls to pieces, a method that allows them to all contribute no more than a quarter; something, I hasten to say, they’re allowed to do, but takes me aback as information that needs to be rushed into the author’s hearing. Similarly, I have no problem with used-book stores, but am puzzled when a new book is out and the reader wants me to know that they’ll get their copy as soon as one winds up there; aren’t you happy to know that, Mr. Writer Man?

By contrast, when a reader asks me what method of obtaining the text puts the most money in my pocket, or which method does the best for my sales figures or makes my publishers happiest with me, I feel a great warmth descend. You get it. You care.

And the answer is this:

The advantage to me varies by a few pennies here and there, but honestly, what’s super is you buying a new copy of the book, via whatever method is personally most convenient to you. A hardcover? Great! A book club edition? Terrific! A paperback? Zowie! Trade paper, regular paper? Fine! One store, over another store? No preference!

That is still a vote of confidence, and I appreciate it in any event, because I honestly don’t believe that whatever entertainment value you derive from reading my books entitles me to demand you consume it in one format, over another.

Suit yourself, is what I am saying.

We Should Not Be So Fixated on Special Effects Being Perfect

Posted on September 25th, 2017 by Adam-Troy Castro

I am not bothered by the inconsistent look of the new Klingons, any more than I was bothered by the inconsistent look of certain models and special effects as the franchise moved from ’60s TV to post STAR-WARS movie screens and back to TV and back to movies again. Any more than I am bothered by the primitive look of the original series, when I go back to it again.

My head-canon for badly aged special effects has always been that we are seeing a representation, anyway. A compromise between what they wanted to show and what could be shown. When the movies introduced the new-look ridgy-forehead Klingons, I had absolutely no difficulty saying to myself, “Okay, they always looked that way; the show just didn’t have the budget to provide it.”

Similarly, I have no problem with saying of the new guys, “This is just another interpretation of the aliens we have seen multiple times before, filtered through different sfx technology.”

I certainly didn’t need a separate storyline “explaining” it, but then, I guess many STAR TREK fans are imagination-deprived. (This is a sad fact. Not worth arguing.)

See, one reason I never had any problem with any of this is that part of my education in watching drama involved stage plays and very old movies. Watching DEATH OF A SALESMAN on the stage, I never had any difficulty buying that the simple outline wood frame dictated by the text was an actual house, any more than I have had any problem buying that two actors sitting side by side on a little bench, one miming manipulation of a steering wheel, were in a car. I like great special effects as much as the next guy, but when stories work, I have never been knocked back to reality by a bad matte line, or an obvious painted backdrop, or a zipper running up a monster’s back, the way that some of today’s viewers rebel at even slightly-less-than-optimum CGI. I never thought the world of STAR TREK looked like the TV representation of STAR TREK, ever. But I could make that leap. Just as I could make the leap that the original, jerky clay beast known as King Kong was a giant gorilla.

I wish more of us weren’t fixated on visual perfection.

 
 
 

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