The Death of Doctor Island Movie

Daniel D Jones · 17 Oct 2006, 16:06 · from 2006-October.txt.gz

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From: ddjones at riddlemaster.org (Daniel D Jones)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:06:34 -0400
Subject: (urth) The Death of Doctor Island Movie
In-Reply-To: <4534FDE3.7000208 at io.com>
References: <10610161738.AA05285 at slack.com>
	<200610170720.21725.ddjones at riddlemaster.org>
	<4534FDE3.7000208 at io.com>
Message-ID: <200610171206.34675.ddjones at riddlemaster.org>

On Tuesday 17 October 2006 11:59, Jeff Wilson wrote:
> Daniel D Jones wrote:
> > On Monday 16 October 2006 22:51, Jeff Wilson wrote:
> >> Daniel D Jones wrote:
> >>> On Monday 16 October 2006 13:38, David DiGiacomo wrote:
> >>>>>> Care to expound on why you find it offensive?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I was thinking the same thing.  I mean there is some violence in
> >>>>> there, but nothing more than you'd find in any of his other books.
> >>>>> Heck, he had an executioner for a protaganist.  So what did you find
> >>>>> offensive David?
> >>>>
> >>>> Oh, blatant misogyny.
> >>>
> >>> Misogyny on the part of Wolfe or the part of characters in the story? 
> >>> If the former, I'm not sure what you're referring to, particularly if
> >>> you take into account that the story was published in 1973.  It would
> >>> be a bit of an understatement to refer to Dr. Island's dismissal of
> >>> Diane's murder as unimportant because it helped cure Ignacio as
> >>> misogyny.  I can certainly see why those events would be offensive, but
> >>> that's part of what makes the story so forceful.  But I don't think
> >>> that describing offensive events makes a story itself offensive, unless
> >>> you believe that the moral or theme of the story somehow supports or
> >>> lauds those events.
> >>
> >> It's just that Wolfe seems to be really fond of including misogynist
> >> characters and situations in his stories.
> >
> > And Sam Clemons was really fond of including racist characters and
> > situations in his.
>
> And he was himself an admitted and practicing racist.

Which, true or not, doesn't at all change the fact that his stories are 
powerful arguments against racism.

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