The Forever War: Final Thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, I found the portrayals of homosexuality disturbing and the themes of violence to be perturbing -- but in a good way. I found that the portrayal of homosexuality to be constant throughout the novel. Towards the end, people could switch whichever way they desired -- I suppose that would be nice since it would be individual choice. But homosexuality is still given the stint.
For example, when they all get back and realize that the war is /finally/ over, they find that there are a lot of clones of a perfect individual running around. The clone says that heterosexuality is in vogue again in order to keep a good supply of genes on hand in case the cloning doesn't work out but that a homosexual doesn't have to go to these breeder planets. You can stay on one of my planets [the clone planets].
And then later on Charlie, a homosexual, says that he's going to be switched over to heterosexuality because the alternative of having sex with a Male clone is less attractive than having sex with women. But surely there are other homosexual men who wouldn't want to make the switch? Am I missing something?
So why am I harping on this. Science Fiction is about the future. It's about exploring our souls in terms in hypothetical scenarios with a science-ish slant. It's about experimenting with different way to view things. It is for this reason that I believe Science Fiction is so ideal in breaking people out of their boxes and their preconceptions. Yet both Stranger in a Strange Land and The Forever War put decidedly negative, bigoted, narrow minded views about homosexuality. Sexuality is an ideal which much of the modern science fiction fare today is content to leave at the status quo -- which really frustrates me. It's one of the reasons I adore Caprica because they have non-stereotypical homosexual characters who are real and married. One of the characters can say that his brother would get the girls and he'd try to catch the eye of some guy -- it's portrayed as so normal and natural that there's not even a word for homosexuality in Caprican culture (or so I understand). This is what I'm talking about -- I adore it when science fiction uses it's hypothetical scenarios to just turn around and challenge the way people view the world.
I really enjoyed the fact that Haldeman noted the change of language -- made the quasi language geek inside of me squee a little bit. Would have been nice if he had complicated it a bit more, but that's okay.
The clones were creepy. I really, really hope that the future doesn't end up doing that. There'd be like -- no individuality. Ew
And finally, I really appreciated that the cause of the war was simply because the two different races couldn't communicate with each other. I think the Doctor would approve.
For example, when they all get back and realize that the war is /finally/ over, they find that there are a lot of clones of a perfect individual running around. The clone says that heterosexuality is in vogue again in order to keep a good supply of genes on hand in case the cloning doesn't work out but that a homosexual doesn't have to go to these breeder planets. You can stay on one of my planets [the clone planets].
And then later on Charlie, a homosexual, says that he's going to be switched over to heterosexuality because the alternative of having sex with a Male clone is less attractive than having sex with women. But surely there are other homosexual men who wouldn't want to make the switch? Am I missing something?
So why am I harping on this. Science Fiction is about the future. It's about exploring our souls in terms in hypothetical scenarios with a science-ish slant. It's about experimenting with different way to view things. It is for this reason that I believe Science Fiction is so ideal in breaking people out of their boxes and their preconceptions. Yet both Stranger in a Strange Land and The Forever War put decidedly negative, bigoted, narrow minded views about homosexuality. Sexuality is an ideal which much of the modern science fiction fare today is content to leave at the status quo -- which really frustrates me. It's one of the reasons I adore Caprica because they have non-stereotypical homosexual characters who are real and married. One of the characters can say that his brother would get the girls and he'd try to catch the eye of some guy -- it's portrayed as so normal and natural that there's not even a word for homosexuality in Caprican culture (or so I understand). This is what I'm talking about -- I adore it when science fiction uses it's hypothetical scenarios to just turn around and challenge the way people view the world.
I really enjoyed the fact that Haldeman noted the change of language -- made the quasi language geek inside of me squee a little bit. Would have been nice if he had complicated it a bit more, but that's okay.
The clones were creepy. I really, really hope that the future doesn't end up doing that. There'd be like -- no individuality. Ew
And finally, I really appreciated that the cause of the war was simply because the two different races couldn't communicate with each other. I think the Doctor would approve.