Science fiction's favorite cranky old man is saluted in film and song

[thatcrazycajun]

You know him, you either love him or loathe him: there is no middle ground for most. Yeah, you know who I mean...the guy who used to be called the enfant terrible of science fiction until he got too old for the title; the author of both award-winning fiction and scalding essays on society and media (and the occasional—okay, frequent—in-person public rant); the man who gave us "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream; helped give us some of the best parts of Star Trek and Babylon 5; and provided decades of real-life entertainment watching him scandalize half of fandom with his behavior and inspire the other half by going all Don Quixote on some of the biggest, nastiest windmills around. Yep, the one and only (thank all the gods that ever were or will be; I am not at all sure the Universe could stand two of him!) Harlan Ellison.

Now a company called (how utterly, wonderfully apropos for this subject!) Creative Differences has produced a documentary film about the man, his life and his work called Dreams with Sharp Teeth. Robin Williams, Neil Gaiman and other luminaries in and out of our favorite genre appear in the film talking to and commenting on Harlan, as does Harlan himself, overflowing as usual with piss and vinegar from both present-day scenes and excerpts from previous filmed and taped interviews over the course of over a half century's toil in literature, film and television writing.

I don't have that much more to say about Harlan that I didn't already say in this rather long LJ entry from nearly three years ago, so I'll only add that the film even features an original song about him from someone calling himself The Jazz Butcher. You can listen to it on the website, streaming for free; it seems to me well qualified as "found filk," depending on whether or not the songwriter is actually a fan in the sense filkers usually mean. The film's premiere was held in 2007, and a video of said premiere is on the homepage, but no indication is readily apparent as to whether the film itself is now available for purchase or viewing. My suggestion? Google and Amazon searches, which I'll be doing; I wanna see this thing...and I strongly suspect my Songbird, also an Ellison fan, will want to as well. It spares no dirt, pulls no punches and leaves no doubt about its subject...kind of like Harlan.

Comments

[supergee.livejournal.com]

Not Ray Bradbury?

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

If you find a source for the DVD, or any indication it's coming out, you WILL let us know. I, too, would like to see it, but flying to LA to catch a film is not something my budget can handle.

I'm thankful to Ellison (as many are) for turning me on to the work of Gerald Kersh. I've been seriously collecting Kersh books for about 30 years, and have been lucky enough to find copies of all of them, including many signed, and at least one that Harlan Ellison doesn't have. I also have a huge and enviable collection of the works of Harlan Ellison.

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

I encountered Harlan's work at a time when it had a profound effect on the genre and myself. His writing is interesting and, especially at the time I encountered it, made you think and consider certain ramifications of where society and civilization were heading.

And then, perhaps because my perceptions shifted, he became a one note song.

Some time later I had the dubious fortune of being at a convention with him. Didn't meet him. Didn't want to. Mainly because I saw how he behaved to a lot of people who enjoyed his work. It kind of saddened me because the ego overshadowed the good his writing had done for the genre.

[kayshapero]

Harlan didn't outgrow it; he's just the World's Oldest Enfant Terrible. Long may he remain so; the world would be a duller place without him. (Ever read the article, collected in The Other Glass Teat, about the game show? The comments on Amazon.com barely scratch the surface.)

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

Having met Mr. Ellison 5 times over a period of 30+ years (first time in about 1975, last time at the 2006 Worldcon about an hour before the famous Connie Willis incident) I must respectfully disagree. Those few times I've seen hin directly insult anyone, they had to work pretty hard to provoke him - overall, he is a very kind, considerate individual. Despite his bypass surgery, he still goes out of his way to spend hours signing books for his fans.

My favorite book of his: Deathbird Stories. I started reading his work long before that, but I don't think he's topped the level of writing in that book yet.

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

I may have seen/encountered him on a bad weekend. I have had others tell me their perceptions of him are different than mine. *shrug* I also had similar encounters with Jerry Pournell at two different cons. I have been told he is quite charming. I never saw it.

I have been told that Larry Niven is an ass. I found him funny.

Different circumstances may have elicted different responses.

I thank you for your input. It may not change my mind, but there is practically zero chance that I will ever encounter him again, so the question is moot.

[maugorn.livejournal.com]

I went and read your essay and liked it very much.
Bravo!

And yes, I think you nailed it right on the head. Sometimes to tell the truth and face down injustice and the power it amasses to support itself, you have got to have nothing to lose.

And while it may be a hasty judgement, I think (after watching some of his talking on that website and hearing him say his words in his voice), that there's a bit of Trickster in him. Some of his bluster is for sport, just to see if you can see thru it and call him on the crap to his face. He invokes for me the Baba Yaga story that ends where Baba chases the young heroine who's passed all of her trials, earning the right to the artifact she seeks AND to not be eaten (and we learn that a measure of her success is owed to the child's mother having blessed her). Baba chases her out in a rage saying "Get OUT! I won't have any "blessed" children in here! Go!".
Baba Yaga is portrayed as the ultimate horror, an eater of children. And yet in the end, she actually HELPS the young protagonist in a quest for justice against her truly wicked stepmother.
But the protagonist has to earn that help, performing these impossible tasks that Baba puts her to. Repeatedly, Nature itself intervenes not to cheat the tests, but to show the *child* that she is worthy of what she asks of Baba Yaga. And the way she learns that lesson is to attempt the task, knowing that she will likely fail.

Ellison challenges you to stand up on your hind legs and tell him that he's full of crap. If you just can't bring yourself to "sink to his level" you're not worth the time. If you can throw it back in his face, you might be a worthy opponent and at least you can tell bullshit when you see it. If you can throw it back *with style*, and have fun with it, then you might be a friend.

He's also a comic, a jester. And one of the keys of good comedy is to be willing to take the hit. If you're one of his punchlines and you can take it with grace, then the audience sympathises with you because you're funnier. And so it makes no difference to him if he's playing the villain, because the *goal* is to entertain. Notice also that when someone dishes it out to him, that he takes it and runs with it.

His goal is to inform and entertain, and to that end, he's made himself a character in that play, and is treating *himself* as he would a fictional character, and doesn't care what happens to him as long as the story is told.

I frequently make the joke that my own reputation has a hell of a lot more fun than I get to. If I pulled out *all* of the stops, I'd be more like Harlan, and then I'd actually live up to my rep.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sir; I'm glad you liked the essay...and offer my most abject apologies for taking so long to remit said thanks, but I only just discovered today on re-reading the entry that you had posted this. I wrote it after finally getting to speak privately with the gent, and he was amazingly gracious considering the situation and his rep.