this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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"Do Androids Dream of Eletric Sheep"
You'll probably recognize it as Blade Runner but the film took so much liberty the author allowed a good friend to write three sequels in order to harmonize the book with the movie.
Also "Starship Troopers".
I can give Starship Troopers a pass though. Making it into a satire of fascism works better than it being straight up fascist propaganda. The book is basically a social experiment and people who read books will most likely get the point. People who don't read on the other hand...
No, Starship Troopers was not a direct endorsement of fascism. This is exactly why it wasn't a good adaptation, largely because Verhoeven famously didn't even read the very short novel he wanted to criticize but he's convinced a horde of fans of trash movies that the novel says things it simply does not.
The movie made up the majority of its criticisms of Heinlein's fictional society, including misrepresenting the process of "earning" citizenship, the most suspiciously fascistic element that in the novel is much more benign, and throwing out a completely fabricated plot hint that Buenos Aires was a false flag, as well as portraying the Pseudo-Arachnids as simple space bugs when they're a technological species, but he didn't bother critiqueing all the time he spent on malding on modern military officers being hyper-responsible warrior-poets.
And that's, like, the bad part! Which he'd have fuckin known, if he'd read the fuckin book!
Heinlein is best described as a militarist liberal, and eventually a neoliberal when that became a thing. He literally ran for office as a Democrat in the Reagan years.
Everyone who's read one Heinlein novel thinks they know exactly what Heinlein's real-world political views must have been, because he wrote characters who expound on theirs. But the politics of Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, and the Lazarus Long stories aren't the same, just to pick a few examples.
The terror mission in the opening of the book would have been a very interesting introduction to the political and military dynamics in the universe. Shame it doesnβt seem to show up in any Starship Troopers media.
Haha I would put both of those at the top of my list of movies that were actually much better than the books.
Do Androids Dream of Eletric Sheep felt so flat to me, I think it probably didn't age well. The animal obsession didn't land for me, I guess it's supposed to be an allegory for material obsession, since the animals are more for showing off than being actual pets, but it just seemed to slap you in the face with it like many of the very not subtle metaphors. The main character is also just dull as hell and walks straight into dangerous situations or traps without a second thought, but it always works out for him because plot armour and the androids either just comply for some reason or they're so incompetent that it doesn't matter. It wasn't a fun book imo and it's themes were so obvious that it didn't "make you think".
Starship Troopers (Book) was just hoorah military propaganda. The movie did such a good job of making fun of it and turning into a ridiculous over the top satire.
Electric Sheep is the first book I thought of when I read the thread title.
I'm pretty indifferent on Blade Runner. It's got a great soundtrack and aesthetic, but as an adaptation of my favorite SF book of all time I can't stand it.
Iβm beyond the debate over the Starship Troopers book vs movie. Both are very much being their own thing, and I am able to enjoy them both.
The knife training scene in each summarizes the different approach they have.
I highly recommend scifi fans read Starship Troopers and Forever War back to back. I consider them complimentary books regarding the nature of war, and government.
Was my first thought, as well. I saw the movie first and hated it, glad I stumbled across the book at some point and found one of my now favourite authors.