work and movie watching

[ellen_datlow]

I've been juggling work on three original anthologies plus YBFH over the past week: line editing stories for The Beastly Bride and Other Tales of the Animal People (we're awaiting three more plus a poem, I think). Reading the stories that Nick Mamatas passed on to me from his Haunted Legends slush pile, and working on the ones we've decided to buy

Comments

[stephen_dedman]

It's been quite a long time since I saw the film, but I still have the review I wrote. The lack of contraception I put down to the victory of an abstinence-only regime, though I can't remember whether this was stated in the film or something I only inferred.

I was impressed by the use of locations, a multi-ethnic cast and the futurese; less so by the plot depending on too many improbable coincidences. Ultimately, though, I think its weakness is that it's too subtle for its own good. Contraception illegal; huge gulf between rich and poor; older married man sleeps with younger unmarried woman and gets away with it completely (no disruption of his own marriage, not even a trace of guilt) while she's punished for immoral behaviour... that may seem wrong to you and I, but it sounds suspiciously like a conservative male voter's vision of utopia.

[ellen_datlow]

Unfortunately, the lack of contraception is NOT mentioned. If it had been, and had been made clear that the government was responsible, that would have helped.

Yes, the polyglot language and multi-ethnic cast was really good.

You could certainly see it that way, although after the first encounter I think he does feel guilty. Someone pointed out on IMDB that there seemed to be three alternatives: the enclaves, the desert, and the freeports. Why couldn't she have gone to one of the freeports to live?