the value of literature

So I just watched the Bruce Willis movie, Surrogates. It was entertaining and all, but I gotta say, the characters in the movie could have saved themselves a lot of trouble had they just read Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano.

Or maybe just a little Greek mythology.


Addendum:

10/10/14: So, I've been thinking about it, and I realize that maybe the writers had read Player Piano, because their plan was to kill every single person using a Surrogate, which was, like 90+% of the population. That probably would have stopped people from rebuilding. For a bit, anyway.

the Show

So today, I went to Zeus Comics, here in Big D, to see Danielle Corsetto and Randy Mulholland, of, respectively, Girls With Slingshots and Something Positive. It was, as these things always are, both very nice and very disappointing. Rather like sex, perhaps, which, however wonderful, is never quite like you thought it would be, and you know, you know that it is because of yourself (and your failings) that this is true*.

Still, it was great, and I spent way too much money, which is okay, because these people do a fairly income-less job (except for the marketing from stuff that they sell at events like this), so I dont really feel bad about spending money. I mean, in exchange for my cash, I got two books and four comics, all signed. They get cash for doing what they (presumably... hopefully) love to do.

Win - win, right? Yes, I think so.

Anyway, I've been reading the two comics for at least four years, though I couldnt exactly tell you how long. I have them listed in my first Comix list (Sept 1, 2010), and I read their complete archives sometime that year according to my book list. But the list is pretty extensive even at that point, so I could have discovered them that year, or I could have been reading them for a long time before that. Not knowing this is one of the (few) downsides to not obsessively posting every damn thing you're doing online.





*Okay, granted, there are are plenty of people out there who do not assume that the problem is themselves, and that the problem is always the other, but they are assholes and do not bear talking about.