Self mutilation act

[pitchwife]

One of the scenes that most exasperated me in the Gap (up until now, I'm still reading the last one) is the self mutilation act in Ease ‘n’ Sleaze, it was truely sickening. Why? what was the purpose of that scene?

In on of his interviews SRD said:

The ideal balance in a book is that absolutely everything is aimed like a laser at the climax of the book. Despite the length of my work, I think of myself as being a very tight writer; there is actually nothing extraneous there.

So what was importance of this act in the story? How does it contribute to the climax? what is SRD trying to say?

Maybe he is criticizing our society, maybe he is trying to show us where we are headed?

-pitch

[Skyweir]

I think you are right! SRD is criticising our society .. our need for new forms of entertainment .. our obsession with violence (speaking generally-not personally) .. the voyeristic nature/tendencies of humankind .. and this act of self-mutilation was the incarnation of all those negative traits ..

It was truly gross and repugnant to read .. what a sick lot humankind become .. in SRD's science-fiction fantasy anyway ..

and that really is the underlying tone of the Gap series isnt it? What a sick lot of amoral corrupt elements that dominate the governance of humankind ..

[Eddy]

I agree with Skyweir's point that SRD is showing how low humanity can get. There is plenty of vile "entertainment" already out there, so what is it going to be like in the future?

[Skyweir]

yeah speaking of vile entertainment is the popular obsession with 'reality' TV shows!!

Which imo are most definitely an artificial reality at best .. but they draw a popular following .. this demand is translated into their more prolific presence.

They are designed to tap into the voyeristic tendancies of the viewing audience .. and this is just the beginning ..

When do we start televising gladiatorial conquests?? .. that maybe the next step towards SRD's ultimate vision of public entertaining acts of self-mutilation

[pitchwife]

I thought that WWF was the lowest kind of entertainment, but you're right Sky, reality TV is even lower. And what strikes me most is that it is real (or at least is supposed to be). When you watch a movie you can allways say to yourself, well this is just a story, it didn't really happen. But reality TV...

Yes, the whole Gap series is full of sick ideas.. like his description of the gutter-gangs, and freefall... I couldn't get over how people were driving themselves with hype, stim and cat...

But the ultimate corruption was the overtaking of the world's fate by huge corporations, who's interests are purly those of power and profit. Somehow that does not seem so far-fetched...

-pitch

[Angus Thermopyle]

Yeah, I think he was just illustrating just how low society was in that universe. Even more interesting, I think, is that Angus and Nick pay very little attention to it - as if it happens all the time.

[Angus Thermopyle]

Yeah, I think he was just illustrating just how low society was in that universe. Even more interesting, I think, is that Angus and Nick pay very little attention to it - as if it happens all the time.

[Skyweir]

actually thats right .. another indication of how desensitizing acts of violence and depravity of this nature as part of public entertainment are ..

I remember here a 16 year old boy was recently convicted for the murder of a 7 year old boy. He was coming down from a high and thought that killing the victim would provide him with a desired rush ... so he did .. and what in fact it provided him with was a rightly deserved gaol sentence!!

The defence counsel assigned to the boy raised in mitigation or maybe in explanation of the heinous act .. the fact that the defendant had been affected by snuff videos - which he used to watch .. and other violent material ..

Snuff videos!!! .. a familiar theme eh? .. sure only available on the black market but available nevertheless .. sufficient that a 16 year old boy could access this form of entertainment.

A sad and tragic indictment on our humanity or heinous lack of it!

SRD isnt referring to the absolute depths of the inconceivable - or anti-reality imo .. its the sick part of humankind .. that finds its way to the surface of so many.

ok now I am incredibly depressed and think I needs a hug ..

[danlo]

now all better!

[Skyweir]

LOL!

[Vain]

Oh Boy. I like WWF and some reality TV

[Lady Genni]

I didn't take that scene as a social commentary by SRD - I took it as an example of how wretched that place was. How psycho the Bill was, etc. I thought it did an excellent job of showing us what kind of people inhabited that place (sorry, the name is escaping me) and what they considered entertainment.

I guess I just didn't read to much into it. Probably because I didn't want to think about it after I had read it. Very sad.

My take on reality shows is "Why would you want to watch reality when you have to live in it?" Give me a fantasy anyday. I want my entertainment to help me forget about reality.

[MsMary]

I guess that it could have been social commentary, or just a way for SRD to show how degraded the people there were. Like Lady Genni, I didn't read too much into it - it was something that happened on the sidelines, a distraction, and not central to the story. However, a friend of mine who has read and enjoyed other SRD writing was so turned off by (combined with the sexual violence in The Real Story) that he stopped reading the series altogether. He said the rape and violence just made him too angry.

~MsMary~

[Hile Troy]

As a fairly new SRD fan, I didn't read that much into it either. Give me a another reading or two.

However makes great sense that it is a social commentary on growing moral decay and sensationalism in the world. I mean this is a very far future vision of humanity and the present course is not looking promising concerning the entertainment and media, sex, and violence. Why did Donaldson include this absolutely repulsive, gratuitious scene in amongst the bowels of his far-future universe? :: shudders :: I would have to agree Skyweir and Pitchwife, that there is an underlying message there.

[Nav]

Hmm, the scene didn't bother me overly. It was fairly horrific, granted, and I felt like I was getting phantom pains just reading it, but it let the reader know just how bad Billingate was, and how depraved it's inhabitants were. SRD was asked this exact question in an interview once, and he basically said that the point was to make the reader respond in that way.

[Landwaster]

I also agree that it was just to set the scene, explain how rough that area of BG was, how twisted and sociopathic society was there.

[amanibhavam]

Yes, that is true, but I also think that SRD deliberately chose this scene, because it is a logical consequence of today's society and media. Just think about how the films that are made now are how much more violent and how much more _graphically_ they depict violence; just compare them to any Hitchcock film, for example. And this is not because (or not only) people are more violent; this is because they've become insensitive to the pictures of violence, because we get so much of it every day. It seems to me a logical thought that in a hundred or two hundred years only a scene like the self-mutilation at BG will bring enough chill and thrill to the people or else they will be simply not interested.

[Skyweir]

precisely!!

.. which is exactly what I love about SRD's work .. he does raise these kinds of questonable issues .. and provides reason to reflect on our current social state .. its humanity or lack of it etc ..

.. and ofcourse this scene without a doubt .. does set the scene .. demonstrating to the reader that Billingate was definitely a rough and twisted place .. you couldnt walk away and not think that .. neh?

[aTOMiC]

I found the scene in question very disturbing but was true to the continuity of the story to that point. The previous scenes with Angus and Morn helped set a rather gritty tone that seemed to set the stage so to speak for rest of the story. It was a nauseating read for me but I got through it and I appreciate the Gap series as a whole.

[Revan]

The entire Self mutilation act made me sick. I mean... GROSS!