Dark Sponge said that a female contestant was given “bonus points” in order to produce the desired outcome of having a woman win. I don’t see how you can say that’s not rigging the contest.
Here, for reference, is exactly what Dark_Sponge said:
I see a significant difference between “they let the gender of the competitors partially influence their decision” and “The contest was rigged.”
To be fair, any judge’s statements made on a television talent (or “talent”) show are likely to be heavily influenced by the questions “What makes the best television?”, “What tells the best story?”, “Who can we shamelessly exploit for commercial reasons afterwards?” or (on a personal judge level) “What can I say or do to make sure the producers don’t replace me next season?”.
There is no PC agenda per se, but if they can craft a narrative of some kind around a contestant to make them a plucky underdog they’ll do it for ratings. And I’ve seen plenty of awful acts on these shows (from all demographics) praised and promoted based purely on having a good narrative hook. That’s not being “PC”; that’s just showbiz.
Excellent point.
I doubt it. The sad puppies have left SFWA because the organization didn’t share their concerns. Mostly because it’s become far more diverse than it used to be.
The list is chosen by the vote of the members. No one has any idea which books will be on the list until the titles are announced. So for all anyone knew when voting, there would have been plenty of representation of space opera/hard SF and white male authors, so there was no need to add any.
In a way, you’re doing just what the puppies do: objecting to a work because it doesn’t match your idea of what good science fiction should be and saying it had to do with race/gender etc.
In any case, there are still people who like space opera, and Chuck Gannon is a well-liked person in the field (which is often a factor in nominations) and this is part of a very successful series, so probably more members read it than some of the other works (always a big factor with awards).
I think LHoD’s post was tongue in cheek. He fully realizes that taste is subjective; he’s just showing how easy (and senseless) it is to argue against a book because of “reasons.” The parallel to the Sad Puppies is intentional.
Except with literature, it’s not just about the writer, it’s about the subject matter, too. As I understand it, the Sad Puppy types aren’t just upset that stories written by women and people of color are willing popular awards, they are upset that stories about women and people of color, and stories that wrangle with issues of social justice, are winning popular awards. They don’t believe that people really want to read that stuff, that people find it fascinating and compelling: they must be promoting it out of a sense of righteousness, not sincere appreciation.
The nice-guy factor definitely affects nominations (back in 1980 or so, Niven and Pournelle have their sf-author character die at the beginning of “Inferno” because he’s showing off for the fans to ensure they think of him as a cool guy worth nominating).
It appears we disagree on what constitutes rigging a contest.
That is the 5th book in a well loved and best seller series. Sometimes, the Hugo Nom is for the series, if previous books havent been nominated.
Look, we all know that a few voters always vote for the book they think they should like, if they have no clear preference or havent actually read them all. Happens a lot in the Oscars.
However- I doubt if that makes a big difference. The issue with the Sad Puppies, and their bigoted lying full of crap leader- is they they cant understand why their best selling and decent adventure hard SF isnt getting noms and awards. Sure, Correia for example sells a lot of books, and the books are entertaining. But it is just the same shit piled higher and deeper. Sure, lots of readers want more of the same, and that is understandable. But Popular does not equal Best.
The Whopper is a best-selling sandwich, but if Burger King gets a Michelin star, I’ll make fun of that, too.
Which is why, after the first couple of seasons- the winners didnt go on to become big stars.
American Idol, Wiki:
The winners of the first eighteen seasons, as chosen by viewers, are Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery, Phillip Phillips, Candice Glover, Caleb Johnson, Nick Fradiani, Trent Harmon, Maddie Poppe, Laine Hardy, and Just Sam respectively.
Clarkson and Underwood hit it big. The last 12 I havent even heard of.
The voters and the judges pick the ones who bring the best ratings- all of whom are of course quite talented. But not the best talented.
Phillp Phillips has actually been pretty successful. His song “Home” was everywhere (and apparently is the best selling song in the US by any Idol alum).
Not trying to prolong the Bujold hijack, but I wanted to respond to your last point. A few years ago, my wife and I agreed on a book swap; we’d each read a book the other recommended. Mrs. SMV doesn’t read sci-fi or fantasy; she’s fond of family dynamics, and novels about the inner lives of their protagonists, especially women - things like The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
So I gave her Paladin of Souls, thinking she’d enjoy Ista’s reclamation of her own agency, sexuality, and worth. (Her pick for me was a Jodi Picoult novel that turned out to be a ghost story about elephants, which I enjoyed more than I expected to.)
Overall, Mrs. SMV said she liked Paladin well enough (although not enough to seek out further Bujold stories). Her one complaint, though, that soured her on the story, was the ending: Ista in bed with Ilvan. She doesn’t like the implication of the traditional ending of an epic quest: the marriage of the hero. She also doesn’t like romance stories - I think she finds such culminations unrealistically tidy.
As for Bujold’s overall theme in the Vorkosigan Saga, I think it’s a sci-fi take on “What is the measure of a man?” - the intersectionality of biology, technology, and identity. Clones, genetic engineering, uterine replicators, post-humanism - biotech is behind almost all of the conflicts in the series.
Ha! I haven’t read that book in years and this is the first time I’ve seen anyone else reference it. I can’t even remember the title but I can remember who was acting as the tour guide through hell!
It’s not so much that Bujold does it once in a while. I like a good love story sometimes, too. It’s more that she does it over and over and over – as if she thinks that it’s not possible to have a good story if somebody doesn’t get paired off; plus which, in some of the Vorkosigan books she seems to have the need to pair off everybody, even if some of it has to happen mostly off-stage.
“All true wealth is biological.” And to some extent, the weapons, also.
Benny! (last name omitted).
I would expect all Ultramarines to be a deep shade of blue, no?
Are there inframarines, too? (who would be, I guess, yellow maybe?)