Of ‘Wokeness’ & The Novel ‘The Forever War’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The problem with defining “woke” is it’s such a hodge-podge of different concepts that are framed relative to the needs of the Far Right. So, it’s difficult to come up with any clear sense of what it means in any practical basis.

But I guess another attempt to define it would be:

Woke, to be: Having a heightened awareness of past and current structural problems in regards to racial and gender inequality, with a particular emphasis on LGBQT+ rights.

Yet, that is not the whole picture.

Perception is a very powerful thing. And, at the moment, the perception among a lot of white conservative men is that they risk, at the hands of the “woke cancel culture mob” being “canceled” simply for being conservative and or believing in traditional heteronormative values.

This is where the idea of being “Red Pilled” comes from. For a lot of white conservative (Christian) men, there is a real fear that they are something of an endangered species with the “woke cancel culture mob” demanding that everyone become gay.

The problem is, this is a situation generated, in part, from a combination of technology and generational changes in societal expectations. It’s all happening so quick that your typical middle age CIS white man, as they say, simply can’t process or “grok” what the fuck is going on.

There is a book from the 1970s, called The Forever War, which probably is ripe for Chris Pratt to star in the big budget Hollywood adaptation. As I understand it, part of the plot is some dude coming back to earth from some sort of space war and everyone on the planet is a gay hippie. Seems like the type of subject matter a conservative like Chris Pratt might really like.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say, in part, about The Forever War.

Almost entirely through luck, Mandella survives four years of military service, while several centuries elapse in real time. He soon becomes the objectively oldest surviving soldier in the war, attaining high rank through seniority rather than ambition. He and Potter (who has remained his last link with the Earth of his youth) are eventually given different assignments, meaning that even if they both survive the war they will likely never meet again due to time dilation. After briefly contemplating suicide, Mandella assumes the post of commanding officer of a “strike force”, commanding soldiers who speak a language largely unrecognizable to him, whose ethnicity is now nearly uniform (‘vaguely Polynesian‘ in appearance) and who are exclusively homosexual. He is disliked by his soldiers and he assumes this is because they had to learn 21st century English to communicate with him and other senior staff and because he is heterosexual.

Engaging in combat thousands of light years away from Earth, Mandella and his soldiers need to resort to medieval weapons to fight inside a stasis field which neutralizes all electromagnetic radiation in anything not covered with a protective coating. Upon return, the strike force learns this is the last battle of the war. Humanity has begun to clone itself, resulting in a new, collective species calling itself simply Man. Man is able to communicate with the Taurans, who are also clones. It is discovered that the war started due to a misunderstanding; the colony ships were lost to accidents and those on Earth with a vested interest in a new war used these disappearances as an excuse to begin the conflict. The futile, meaningless war, which had lasted for more than a thousand years, ends.

Man has established several colonies of old-style, heterosexual humans, just in case the evolutionary change proves to be a mistake. Mandella travels to one of these colonies (named “Middle Finger” in the definitive version of the novel) where he is reunited with Potter, who had been discharged much earlier and had taken trips in space to use time dilation to age at a much slower rate, hoping for Mandella’s return. The epilogue is a news item from the year 3143 announcing the birth of a “fine baby boy” to Marygay Potter-Mandella.

Anyway, as I keep saying, we’re past the event horizon for something really, really bad happening at some point between now and, say, spring 2025. I don’t know what it will be, but it’s going to be bad. It could be civil war, autocracy or military junta.

All I know is — barring something I can’t predict — MAGA is going to try to steal the 2024 election in a very brazen manner and Blues either bend a knee or demand a National Divorce.

Pick a side or a side will be chosen for you.

Amuck In America: Chris Pratt, Steve Bannon, The Elusive Trump-Burnie Supporter & Me


Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m on one of my regular writer’s retreats and I went to a nearby bar for dinner. The bartender was very vocal about everything he thought was wrong with America.

It soon became obvious to me that in 2016, he was the guy who supported Trump and Bernie Sanders equally. He was just angry in general about “the Deep State” and felt everything would be fixed with term limits and tort reform.

Once I got over my shock at what I was encountering, I decided to use him as an “in” to the the angry mob that elected Trump president in 2016. I’ve been toying with the idea of if I was Steve Bannon, who would I pick at the next Trump. The only person I can think of at the moment is Chris Pratt. He’s personable, conservative (for Hollywood) and would be easy to use as the type of Trump-like empty vessel that Bannon loves.

Now, there are a few problems.

The biggest problem is much of the nation is once bitten twice shy when it comes to that type of candidate. So, it makes sense that that gambit is no longer viable. From a political operative perspective, you probably need to spend your energy on Pompeo, or Hawley or Cotton or DeSantis. You just can’t get away with running a Trump-like dingus again.

Anyway, the fact that I actually talked to a guy who in April 2016 would have been equally interested in Trump and Bernie kind of blows my mind. All I know is, he fit the bill of that type of mythical voter.

Of Chris Pratt, Daniel Craig, Matthew McConaughey & #Writing A ‘Breakout Novel’ #AmWriting



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner


As I keep saying, I really, really hate how much cloyingly annoying preening I see on Twitter within its “writing community.” I have no beef with any of them. God speed, guys. Hope your “WIP” is a success. But one thing I fucking hate is seeing people go on about how their MC of their WIP is supposed to be this or that person.

Fuck that.

But no one reads this blog and I’m in the mood to write, so I thought I’d do the very thing I hate so much. Chris Pratt is who I think of when I write about my novel’s Hero. He’s got the ability to be both serious and comical. My hero is meant to be someone who likes to have a good time — and drink — but when push comes to shove, he grows serious and is willing to suffer for what he believes in.

In fact, the idea of the importance of having principles in an era when seemingly NO ONE has any is crucial to the story as I see it. I’m impressed with Pratt’s range and he’s the right age for the character. Setting the Hero’s age has been a real pain in the ass for a number of reasons. I’ve settled — for the time being — on 40, which is just about Pratt’s age. Any older, and some of the relationships I see for the character become, well, a little creepy.

Though, I will note, if I’m going to mentally masturbate about this subject anyway, that I could see Daniel Craig being interested in this character. Or, put another way, if he was interested in playing the Hero in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, he would be interested in playing this character, should the occasion arise.

Since my Hero is from the South, I could also see Matthew McConaughey being interested in the character. But, again, like Craig, he’s 10 years too old. But this is Hollywood we’re talking about, they don’t care about shit like that.

And, yet, Pratt lingers in my mind as the perfect person to convey my motivation for my Hero. My Hero is a guy that everyone underestimates because ostensibly he’s a womanizing drunk, when, in fact, he has a deepseated core of beliefs that he’s willing to fight — and suffer — for.

Now, let me be clear — the more serious I become about this novel, the less I care about any potential Hollywood adaptation. This happens in large part because as I grow more serious, the more I realize how unlikely it is that I’ll be able to even sell this novel, much less it become so successful that Hollywood would be interested.

About 99% of a novel’s “break out” nature is sheer luck. You spend years working on a novel and the context of the finished product is such that it hits the zeitgeist at just the right angle and blammo — it’s a huge hit. So, really, at this point, I have no idea if a lot of people are going to be interested in reading a thriller that’s really just a very diffused polemic on the Trump Era and extremism in general.

Maybe they will, maybe they won’t.

And there’s a lot of other things to think about. Someone could steal a mach on me. Or people will be tired of hearing about Trump. Or whatever. There are half a dozen reasons why everything might work with the novel but for things out of my control.

This novel is not “A Confederacy of Dunces.” If I can’t sell it pretty quick, then, lulz. I’ll just self-publish it. I have a pretty tight schedule in my mind, but a lot of things could still go wrong.

Wish me luck.

I’m Modeling The Hero Of My #Novel After #ChrisPratt #AmWriting


By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner


Let me be clear — I really fucking hate it when people preen about who they think should play this or that character in their “WIP.” I just want to scream at them to shut up and actually write the novel. But, here I am, doing that very same thing.

My only excuse, I guess, is I’m 100% extroverted and I can’t help myself. And, also, I’m not really being aggressive about it. It’s just something to write about while in thinking in the back of my mind about an important first draft scene I’m working on at the moment.

Chris Pratt is who I imagine my hero looking like right now. He’s the right age and fits the phenotype of the inspiration for the hero. It is interesting how men who are in the 40 to 60 age range can play just “the Hero” while the female romantic lead usually has to be played by a far younger woman. I think that says more about Hollywood as an industry and the power male actors accrue as they grow older. (And the fact that the more powerful an actor becomes, the more he seeks out all the younger hot actress to play against so he can bang them.)

What’s interesting is I could see Chris Pratt play my Hero and Jennifer Lawrence play the Female Romantic Lead. (Or maybe Phoebe Waller-Bridge.) Those two have worked together in a movie. I really need to get back to writing the first draft of the novel. But, for some reason, I just feel the need to mention that on this blog that no one reads.

Anyway, like I said, I really fucking hate when other aspiring novelists do exactly what I’m doing. It’s so cloy and preening. It fucking drives me up the wall.

Just write the fucking novel already, people.