PhilCon – Friday, Nov. 16th
Wow, normally it’s about a 3 hour trip from Brandywine, MD to Philadelphia, PA. However, when you add in a pit stop for a drink and bathroom break, a stop for gas, and a quick trip to Target to replace a need appliance (razor for him) it can add to the time. But not that much. We were running about 30 minutes late and should have gotten into the hotel at 9:30PM in time for my 10PM panel. Cutting it fine but doable. But we didn’t count on the traffic jam as we exited the highway. Evidently we were right next to a sports center parking area — at least that seems like a likely explanation since as soon as we cleared that intersection traffic cleared up. Next we had a problem find the last turn for the hotel because the street wasn’t marked — so, end result: Registration had closed. Information didn’t know where the Parlor rooms were located and had been trying to find out (not their fault since the rooms are in a bit of an obscure area). So, I was about 12 minutes late for the panel.
Western Genre Themes in Science Fiction. Panelist: Gayle Surrette, C.J. Henderson, Nathan Lilly (moderator), Eric Flint, James Daniel Ross. Description: Some have said that Space Opera was influenced by horse opera for good or ill. Where and how did themes from Westerns insinuate themselves into science fiction?
The audience was small but joined in the discussion avidly. Some of the points brought up were how the concept of a frontier might be a better definer of the genre than setting (West) and that space being a frontier would also fit the theme. The loner as hero. Often the hero was someone who was an outsider. There’s a bit of anti-authority, get the job done, to the hero. There was also a lot of discussion about defining the Western by culture or social setting. There was a lot of talk of movies and TV: High Noon/Outland, Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica (original one)/Wagon Train. Lots of talk about which was better Seven Samuri or The Magnificent Seven. Off topic, sort of, looking at some films from a new angle, for example: Star Wars as a Civil War reenactment. All in all I thought it was interesting to hear all the thoughts and various connections others drew between Westerns and Space Opera.
So, now we’re calling it a night. Should be ready for tomorrow with a good nights sleep. And hurrah, the room has a coffee pot and coffee.