It may interest (or frighten you, depending on how you feel about the matter) you to know that, despite being a voracious reader and a science fiction fan, I'm not really much of a science fiction reader. Oh, I've got and have read all the Doctor Who novelizations done over the years, I've been getting the BBC books, and I get fan fiction when I can, but as far as non television or movie related science fiction books, I don't have many. The Asimov book I just ordered will be the first I've gotten or read of his, apart from the occasional short story here and there. The only Bradbury I can remember reading was from a Twilight Zone book. For some reason, I just never got into those tomes. I think the filmed versions of things hit me too strong as a youth.
Now not to play 'Grandpa' or anything, but when I was a boy, things were different. I'm only 25 soon to be 26, so I'm sure there are plenty of people who are aware of what I'm about to say, but there may be a few younger people out there who don't realize what things were like. In the late seventies I grew up with a whole seven television channels: three networks, two PBS stations, and two local independent stations. If I wanted to see something, I had to be around to watch it and hope nobody else wanted to see something else (like my dad, who got to watch what he wanted and rightfully so as it was his house and his TV). Luckily at this point in time, you could see lots of movies, as that's mostly what the independent stations had to offer, apart from reruns, and things weren't quite as segmented as they are now. Saturday afternoons were filled with Godzilla movies, classic fifties horror/sci fi movies (like the original 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' which really creeped me out), and what would know be called 'cult' films no doubt (like 'The Green Slime' which featured monsters that looked like mobile mounds of mouldy cottage cheese!). I remember hiding behind my mother's chair while watching 'Soylent Green' (her chair was right by the hallway to the kitchen and, when things got rough, I'd pace between the kitchen and behind her chair, trying to watch and sometimes not making it). It was a good time in some ways. I have friends that have fond memories of the kung fu movies (mostly the kind referred to as 'chop-socky' the cheap movies ground out in Hong Kong at the time that, for the most part, were pretty formulaic, much like movies today) that were on at night, but I didn't get to see those. I didn't get a VCR until I was in high school. I didn't even know cable existed at this point in life (I think I started hearing about it in middle school) so these seven channels were it. If I missed something, I had to hope they'd show it again. There were home movie projectors, and we had one, but it didn't play sound, the movies were edited clips from the features, and they were expensive, so we didn't have many. If I wanted to find out about old movies and shows, and I had a yearning to, I had to go to books.
It was these books that I spent most of my childhood reviewing and rereading, as opposed to the classics of Asimov, Pohl, Bradbury, and anyone else you can to mention. I can still remember bits and pieces from one book I must have read whilst still in single digits. It was a classic horror movie book set up for kids and I must have borrowed it from the library three or four times at least. It told and showed pictures from 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', 'Der Golem', 'Frankenstein', and plenty more I can't exactly remember. I always wished I could see these films and was pretty reassured I never would. Nice how some things change for the better, isn't it? They're all out, or will be out, on DVD and I've got 'Frankenstein' already, pleasing the eight-year-old in me to no end. In retrospect, this might be the first time I heard of some old films being missing (probably in regards to one of the old 'Golem' movies) but I won't swear to it. If so, this would explain a lot. I was always fascinated by these old films and read anything I could find about them. I was particularly happy when I got old enough to get to the 'adult' side of the library and saw the rows of books about such things. It was a great way to spend a summer. Life was good.
So, apart from the fact that this is a nice story, does it have anything to do with the me of now? I think so. It explains, in part at least, why I collect all these old movies, especially now that I have a DVD player. More importantly, it's affected my writing. While I'm probably imaginative and different (it's what I'm told at least) I'm also a very visual writer. All this time spent reading about movies and television shows and then being able to watch some of them, and now more of them makes me describe things differently (and you can't deny some influence from all those Doctor Who novelizations). When I write, I tend to visualize the scene as a segment of an episode or movie and do my best to describe things as I see them. It's like those old books where they tried to describe the movie to you because you weren't likely to be able to get to see it. I've got all these movies and television episodes in my head and I'm trying to describe them to those of you kind enough to be interested in reading them. Some of the movies in my head take a bit more explaining or I have problems getting them to play to the end, so that's what slows me down a bit (that and the whole work/play thing). So that's one influence anyway.
-Stephen M. Wolterstorff
1/11/2000
