Phillip K. Dick is God

October 11, 2003 4:48 AM

Science fiction writers on Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as California gov. (more inside)
posted by Tlogmer (21 comments total)

Some exerpts:

William Gibson:
"I forget whether, in the Virtual Light books, Arnold is president of the US or merely Governor of SoCal, but, hey, it looks like I've gone and been prescient again. I hate it when that happens."

Cory Doctorow:
"The American future is not only increasingly weird, it's also increasingly parochial. The idea of a non-American tomorrow is growing so inconceivable to the inward-looking country that it is only a matter of time until this country's tomorrow fractures off into its own parallel universe."

John Shirley:
"A spokesman for the administration today announced that while it is true that the government has made an agreement to allow the BRAIN EATERS FROM THE PLANET ANTARES to slowly, slowly, eat the living brains of many residents of the United States, they point out that there is an upside to this too:

1) The brain eaters will only eat the living brains of about forty per cent of the population. At first."

Pat Cadigan:
"I mean, Philip K. Dick knew it all along. I've read just about everything PKD ever wrote and I believe every word of it. So why am I surprised?

It's SFnal, all right, but it's SFnal in a Philip K. Dick kind of SFnal way. And, as you might remember — or totally recall, if you will — Schwarzenegger did star in a movie based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by none other than our Prophet himself."
posted by Tlogmer at 4:49 AM on October 11, 2003

I'd like to see what the writers of romance novels have to say about Arnold's election.
posted by kozad at 4:55 AM on October 11, 2003

I'd like to see what the celebrity chefs on Food Network have to say about Arnold's election.
posted by wendell at 5:20 AM on October 11, 2003

I have to agree with the Jefferson quote Harlan Ellison used: "People get pretty much the kind of government they deserve."

Harsh, but hard to argue with.
posted by Zonker at 5:45 AM on October 11, 2003

Romance writers would have been done with him a long time ago. His type is passe.
posted by Beansidhe at 6:07 AM on October 11, 2003

This is a great link. Many thanks.
posted by busbyism at 6:10 AM on October 11, 2003

I'd like to know what the scriptwriters of 'The Simpsons' have to say about Arnold's election.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:26 AM on October 11, 2003

There has been no greater abomination than having seen the names
Philip K. Dick and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the same sentence
apart from having seen them in the credits of the same movie.
posted by y2karl at 6:59 AM on October 11, 2003

I'd like to see what the members of MetaFilter have to say about Arnold's election.

No, wait. Hold on a sec . . .
posted by mcwetboy at 7:04 AM on October 11, 2003

Have to agree with you there, y2karl. At least Ridley Scott adapted "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" with a modicum while abandoning the storyline.

As always, Harlan Ellison hits the nail squarely on the head for me: Arnie with Gary Coleman mounted on his shoulders. Now that's the sort of guv'ner that Cali deserves!

And speaking of parochial parallel universes, Cory Doctorow ought not to throw stones in that particular glass house. If the current, commentless incarnation of bOING bOING is any indication, he's totally encased himself in a bubble of his own self-congratulatory piffle.
posted by MrBaliHai at 7:19 AM on October 11, 2003

FlameBaitFilter.

Yeah, I certainly could've phrased that better. Mea culpa.

But Cory's comments are in the linked article, so I think that makes them fair game for comment. In my opinion, he made a sweeping generalization that appeared to have little to do with the topic at hand, and exhibited a distinct shade of pot.kettle.blackness that I found rather hypocritical.
posted by MrBaliHai at 9:00 AM on October 11, 2003

MrBaliHai: When you're right, you're right. Needn't justify yrself.
posted by adamgreenfield at 9:52 AM on October 11, 2003

I want to know what the liberal Philadelphia sportswriters think about Ahnolds election
posted by GiantRobot at 10:08 AM on October 11, 2003

Schwarzenegger on cloning: "At the moment, they're dealing with it by putting the religious spin on it. I understand that; there are some people who are religiously fanatic, that feel uncomfortable with it. But I think that's also a mistake."
posted by homunculus at 11:11 AM on October 11, 2003

Well, I can agree with that.
posted by kindall at 1:40 PM on October 11, 2003

I'm going to start calling my boss a mountebank and see if he picks up on it.
posted by patrickje at 4:57 PM on October 11, 2003

Conan the Green
posted by homunculus at 7:33 PM on October 11, 2003

I'd like to know what the scriptwriters of 'The Simpsons' have to say about Arnold's election.

Well, they haven't predicted it yet (unlike the tiger mauling of Roy from Siegried and Roy). Closest they came was with Ranier Wolfcastle and his position on the committee to elect Sideshow Bob as mayor, although Wolfcastle was impressed when he thought the candidate would be a water cooler.
posted by sillygwailo at 11:55 PM on October 11, 2003

I'd like to see what Emeril and Cthulhu have to say about this.
posted by trondant at 7:43 AM on October 12, 2003

Drug law reformers on Schwarzenegger's election.
posted by homunculus at 1:32 PM on October 12, 2003

homunculus, only have to read the first couple of sentences of that press release to get their opinion. Which is fine, less time wasted.
posted by billsaysthis at 3:06 PM on October 12, 2003