My Arisia schedule

[yendi]

(Posting this quickly before I head home. Note that names and descriptions are all copied directly from the website. Times and locations may change. Panels might be canceled. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.)

Friday:

9:30-11PM: TV Year in Review — 1hr 30min — President's A

Look back at SF, horror and fantasy in 2009 on TV. What were the memorable shows? What are the new ones to watch? What's hot and what's not? Jude Shabry, Misty Pendragon, Howard G. Beatman (m), Adam Lipkin, Randee Dawn

Saturday:

11AM: The Changing Face of Fiction: Literature, Diversity, and Backlash — 1hr — Molly Pitcher

There's been a lot of talk about race, racism, and representation in fiction. Some say these real life issues have no place in what is meant to be an escape from reality, while others want to see characters that look like them as part of their escapism. Is a future with no diversity really an escape? What are we escaping from, and what is inescapable regardless of venue? Julia Starkey (m), Rachel Silber, Adam Lipkin, Michael Kabongo, Woodrow "asim" Hill

12PM: 1980s — The Silver Age of SF Movies? — 1hr — Paul Revere A

People like to talk about the great SF films of the 1950s, but look what was in theaters twenty-five years ago this year: "Back to the Future," "Brazil," "Cocoon," "Explorers," "Lifeforce, "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," "The Quiet Earth," "The Stuff" and "Weird Science." Elsewhere in the decade were "Blade Runner," "The Empire Strikes Back," "Aliens," "E.T.," "Ghostbusters," "Gremlins," "The Fly," and "The Terminator." Was this one of the greatest decades for the genre or what? Michael Toole, Daniel M. Kimmel, Resa Nelson, Garen Daly, Adam Lipkin (m)

Sunday:

10AM: Continued in the Next Issue — 1hr — Crispus Attucks

Shows like "Buffy," "Firefly," and "Farscape" are continuing their sagas in comic books, often with series writers telling the stories. How is this changing our understandings of these popular franchises? Are fans who don't read them missing out? Mercy E. Van Vlack, Adam Lipkin (m), Alisa Kwitney Sheckley

2PM: Here Comes the Bride — 1hr — Molly Pitcher

This is the 75th anniversary of "The Bride of Frankenstein." Why do some people consider this the best Frankenstein movie ever made? Is the Monster redeemable? Why does the Bride reject him on first sight? How does she know he's a monster? And why wasn't Dr. Pretorious given his own movie series? James Zavaglia, Stephen R. Wilk, Frank Wu, Adam Lipkin (m), Sonya Taaffe

Monday:

12PM: Old Worlds, New Writers — 1hr — Haym Solomon

After Douglas Adams, Frank Herbert, Robert Jordan, and Roger Zelazny (among others) died, their books were given official sequels by new authors. Is this a legitimate way to explore their universes further, or just milking them dry? Vonnie Carts-Powell, Tyler Stewart (m), Paula Lieberman, Adam Lipkin

Notes: On the one hand, for once, I don't have a 6PM Friday panel (meaning I don't have to rush from work). On the other hand, that 1.5 hour panel's going to be brutal. Fun, but brutal. I'm also happy to have a relatively spread-out schedule; last year, I had five Saturday panels, and it nearly killed me.

I've been on panels with Taafe, asim, Dawn, and Zavaglia before (in fact, Dawn, Zavaglia and I were the entire Alien panel last year, as the other guests were no-shows), and am looking forward to working with them again, as well as sitting alongside a bunch of people for the first time.

Comments

[enderfem.livejournal.com]

I am so excited about going to Arisia. And I get to see you. I haven't seen you in Far. Too. Long.

[kitteridge.livejournal.com]

Yay to Alien panels! (Good working with you last year there, see you at the TV event....)

Also, I hadn't realized the Shadesong connex then!

--Randee (aka Kitt)

[yendi]

Ha! And likewise, I had no idea you knew 'song!

[kitteridge.livejournal.com]

We met at one of Scott's parties just one time, but it was quite indelible!

[yendi]

:-)

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

Oh, huh, Dan Kimmel is a good friend of mine, and Mike Toole's a good gent as well. Nice to see the three of you on a panel together...

[lovingboth]

This has prompted me to ask something that's been on my mind ever since I first saw an SF con's programme...

Why are SF/fantasy cons obsessed with panels? All of the ones I have seen the programmes for have panels, guests of honour spots, more panels, the odd games or similar spot, and yet more panels. Does the audience sit there, apart from the odd question, and expect you to do all the talking?

It looks - from the outside - like an 'experts talking' model rather than the 'peers discussing' one that I'm more used to.

[yendi]

Generally, it depends on the panel and the con. One of the digs at some cons is that there's a real sense of an artificially imposed divide between the panelists and the audience. At Arisia, most of the panels generally feature interaction between the panelists and the audience; the panelists are usually there because they are knowledgeable and articulate on the topic, but I fully expect folks in the audience to have questions and comments, and to be a part of the discussion (that said, if the audience doesn't want to participate, the panelists should be prepared to keep talking).

As far as the general obsession with panels at cons, I can't speak to why or how they came about, but I'm guessing that there's a combination of a desire to provide value for one's time and money and the general fannish need to share thoughts and opinions with each other.

[ex-frankwu.livejournal.com]

Hey Adam - I'm on the "Bride of Frankenstein" panel with you. I just re-watched it a couple weeks ago. Awesome, awesome movie. I love how creepy Dr. Praetorius is. Giving the monster a chance to speak, unlike the first film, really humanized him. Also, in the final shot we see of the monster, he's crying. There's a depth of expression and emotion in him that we get from no other Frankenstein movie. Your thoughts?

[yendi]

Hi, Frank -- I need to rewatch the movie, but I definitely agree with your sentiments. One of the things I'm impressed by with BoF is that it actually makes the first movie better by its very existence. Pretorius just adds so much to the film, and the Monster and the Bride both have elements of layered tragedy. I'll try to gather my thoughts together more coherently this weekend and touch base with you and the other panelists. I'm really looking forward to this one!

[ex-frankwu.livejournal.com]

One of the issues I find fascinating about Dr. Frankenstein is... why does he keep making monsters when they keep going wildly insane? Why does he keep making the same mistake?

In BOF, there are two interesting reasons: 1. He can make a mate that will calm his monster down - two wrongs can make a right, 2. if he calms his monster down, he won't be responsible for the destruction; and maybe there's a third reason, because of the scientific awesomeness, as he's inspired by Praetorious, and maybe a fourth, because the monster basically forces him, too, after they kidnap his bride.

Interesting that the film creates all these external motivations for Dr. Frankenstein. Because, basically, he doesn't want to.

As opposed to...

Peter Cushing. Gary Westfahl provides an interesting commentary on Dr. Frankenstein: http://www.sfsite.com/gary/cush01.htm - Dr. Frankenstein as an accountant.

"Although scripts fleetingly obliged Cushing to mouth lines to the contrary, his Frankenstein has absolutely no interest in playing God, advancing scientific progress, or improving the human condition; instead, he keeps making monsters primarily because he enjoys the process of making monsters. Totally indifferent to the results of his work, he naturally keeps making idiotic mistakes, and he naturally never learns from his mistakes—it doesn't really matter to him."

Dr. Frankenstein in the first two Universal films is anything but an accountant!