by William Dean
(10/08/03)
Without question, there's something wonderfully erotic about Science Fiction. Before the turn of the 20th century, women were swooning at the thought of mysterious Captain Nemo and the powerful Master of the World caring them off for some hot hanky-panky in Jules Verne's futuristic machines. As sci fi has matured, so have the erotic elements. The latest sexy hot tickets to tomorrow have been penned by the always imaginative M. Christian in his new book The Bachelor Machine. After reading what he has to say, you may find yourself wanting to teleport to your nearest bookstore for your own copy of the Machine.
Clean Sheets (CS): Science fiction erotica seems to the latest niche flavor of the month. What's been, in your view, the process by which it has grown into a full-on sub-genre? How long has this been going on?
M. Christian (MC): Well, I'm not too sure about October, but SF erotica has been around for quite a while. Now I'm not an expert -- I'm just a geek who likes to write both science fiction stories and has written more than my fair share of smut -- but as far as I know SF was fairly celibate for a very long time. Until, that is, writers started to realize that while they'd taken readers to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, parallel worlds, and all that kind of fun stuff, they hadn't stepped beyond the final frontier: sex. One of the first was Philip Jose Farmer with his story, "The Lovers," and then more and more started to trickle in -- all of which were pretty tame by today's standards. The 60s really saw an upsurge as a bunch of Young Turks started to rattle the cage, and from then on it's been pretty much everything goes. Though I still defend that science fiction still has quite a bit to learn from good old fashioned smut when it comes to human sexuality, things have been getting a lot better, especially during the last few decades or so.
CS: Are there any rules established for what makes high-quality sci-fi erotica or is it still pretty much "flying by the seat of its pants" to explore what's possible?
MC: Like any genre I don't think it's really a matter of "rules." Look at erotica, for instance. Lots of people think it should be arousing -- that folks should get a woody or the female equivalent -- or it's not a success. Others say that it should be a story "about" sex but not necessarily directly a turn-on (which is my camp). SF is the same, though because it's been recognized as a genre and has a huge fan base, there are a few more rules and breakdowns. For example, if you like a lot of science in your science fiction then you'll like Hard SF, if you like it more about people than precise math then Soft is your ticket.
For the hybrid that's erotic SF, it's even more fragmented: gay and lesbian, fetish, romance, noir, and so forth. What I consider quality isn't going to be yours, mainly because there are so many different flavors and colors of the genre.
As for writing it, that's very much like reading it: to each his own. I'm a huge SF noir fan, for instance -- what used to be called cyberpunk until the word got used by the wrong (i.e. not cool) people for too long and so now nobody uses it -- so I like to write it. Other folks like a bit more science in their SF erotica so they might go the hard-core Hard SF route. There's something for everybody, like all good stuff in the world.
CS: What are the sexiest elements emerging in today's best sci-fi erotica? For example, we're seeing fetish-oriented erotica coming on strongly as its own sub-genre; are parts of that blooming in sci fi erotica, too?
MC: There's always been a big fetish cross-over with SF, even before there was sexually explicit science fiction. SF got around sex by doing everything but sex for a very long time: love interests bound up by mad scientists, idyllic worlds populated by scantily clad aliens, form-fitting space suits, mutants with all kinds of outrageous body parts, and so forth.
It's wonderful irony that many fetishists got their first taste of their future interests by watching Creature Features or reading classic SF books. Older, they were able to indulge their fantasies, which helped bolster the fetish scene -- which in turn is now poured right back into SF movies and books. Look at the way latex heroes and heroines seem to be in every Hollywood SF flick for example.
As for what's going on in erotic SF, I think what's happening now is a direct fusion between SF and erotica, as opposed to simply putting sex into SF or SF into erotica. The standards are much higher, but the rewards are just as big. A lot of "mainstream" SF magazines and anthologies are publishing what only a few years ago would have been considered erotica -- because, I like to think, a good story is a good story, whether or not it has sex in it.
CS: One of the criticisms directed at some mainstream sci fi is that character development is sacrificed to the techno bits or the adventure saga (i.e. sci fi shoot-em-up Westerns). How important are the human passions as a driving part of good sci fi erotica?
MC: Personally, I definitely think SF has more than its fair share of groaners when it comes to sex scenes, but as I've been reminded, SF isn't the only genre that can't score when it comes to erotic interludes. To be technical, it's called Sturgeon's Law (Sturgeon, by the way, was a brilliant SF author did a marvelous job of writing about sex without needing to feature pounding anatomy). It goes something like this: "90% of science fiction is crap, but then 90% of everything is crap." For sex in SF, think of it as "90% of sex scenes in SF are crap, but then 90% of sex scenes in any genre are crap."
In short, I think it's not just SF that has a problem with sex but our whole culture. What I really don't understand is why SF, which can deal with aliens, time travel, and so forth, has just as much trouble with sex as do more..."mainstream" genres. Part of it could be SF's intellectualism, part of it could have something to do with the arrested emotional development of the readers, or maybe it has more to do with a lot of pop culture SF movies and books being designed for kids and not sexually sophisticated adults. Unfortunately, I'm just a writer, and not a researcher or psychiatrist, so we'll just have to wait until one of those does the work and puts forth some answers. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep writing erotica, and smutty SF.
CS: What, in your opinion, do readers hope to gain from some of the themes of sci fi erotica, such as, for example, sex with aliens?
MC: Okay, maybe I was more than a bit harsh about SF and sex, because for every ten books that have crappy sex scenes, or just plain wrong elements of sexuality, SF has two or three brilliant explorations of eroticism. Of course, sometimes you may not pick it up as it's hidden behind some fantastic element, but it's there nonetheless. Right off the top of my head, check out Venus Plus X or Godbody by the already mentioned Theodore Sturgeon (actually anything by Sturgeon), The World Inside by Robert Silverberg, The Female Man by Joanna Russ, Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (actually anything by Delany), The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, anything by John Varley and -- well, that should at least give you a start.
Sex and SF can go very well together because SF can sneak some very serious or thoughtful ruminations on sexuality right under the radar. You think you're having a nice little read about the Snipsnapsnoopians on Cygna 7 but before long you're pondering gender, gay (or straight) sexuality, consent, power play, and all kinds of other sexual goodies.
Here's a pop culture example: the first interracial kiss is often credited to Star Trek. If anyone but stalwart Captain Kirk and loyal Uhura had locked lips, the world at that time would have come to an end, but since it was on a "sci fi" show people just smiled and waited for the phasers to fire, the importance slipping right under their radar. Great SF is like that, using speculation and cool stuff to ponder deeper meanings -- even sex.
CS: Back in the 1960s, a handful of sci fi writers wrote books that became the progenitors of cult-like followings, such as Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and Frank Herbert's Dune saga (not to mention L. Ron Hubbard's work that spawned Scientology). Do you think we might see something like that happen with The Bachelor Machine?
MC: Actually, while I wouldn't mind a few dozen mindless slaves ("Your Spiritual Master demands a soda! Fetch!") I would much prefer a few thousand minions in snappy silver uniforms. Cults are just so dull -- no wonder their members commit suicide so often. It's a villainous life for me! Volcano lair, death ray, dominatrix assassins, piranha pools, terror for breakfast, and global domination for dessert. Not now, but as soon as I get my Mad Scientist degree from Pottsylvania U, I'll be setting up shop to begin terrorizing the world. Bwahahahahaha!
CS: Like The Village in New York, San Francisco is often cited as a sexual frontier where tomorrow's erotic life meets today's. Living there, how has this helped you to write sci fi erotica that is both believable and edgy?
MC: It's the water. Seriously.
Actually, I am being serious. I have a crackpot theory that the reason San Francisco is such a wild and woolly berg is because it was a major port city for so long, after, that is, half the damned world ran out here looking for gold. The crazies that stayed had to quickly learn to get along with everyone because everyone eventually passed under the Golden Gate. Put that many people together from so many countries and it makes a very unique and horny mix. Thus, San Francisco. Add Silicon Valley, Lawrence Livermore Labs, Berkeley, and a huge Japanese population and San Francisco becomes San Francisco Science Fiction (SFSF) land.
CS: What are some of the most rewarding experiences to you, personally, as a writer that have emerged from creating The Bachelor Machine? Insights about erotica and/or yourself? Any surprises or funny things that occurred to you?
MC: Probably the most rewarding is that it's been so well received by the SF community. When I first put it together -- collecting my more or less "straight" SF stories into one book -- I expected it to be an uphill fight to get it accepted by the science fiction world but I've been more than pleasantly surprised by how many people have been picking it up or reviewing it. I even got a pair of tremendous raves from multiple Hugo-winning author Mike Resnick and the acclaimed Paul Di Filippo which shocked the hell out of me. I'm even doing readings at SF bookstores rather than my usual erotica haunts. It doesn't hurt, of course, that I've sold some two or three dozen SF short stories and edited The Mammoth Book of Future Cops and The Mammoth Book of Tales from the Road with Maxim Jakubowksi. I just hope this good reception sticks around when my deconstructionist vampire novel comes out next year some time from Alyson Books. Just have to wait and see I guess.
CS: When a potential reader picks up a copy of The Bachelor Machine off the shelf at Barnes & Noble or Borders and opens it randomly to a page, what are they going to read that will make them need to have this book?
MC: Let's see (picks up copy of book and turns to page at random), this is from "Everything but the Smell of Lilies." It's a bit extreme, this one, about a necrophiliac ambulance attendant who meets up with a prostitute with a very unique "talent."
I'm a corpse. I'm a professional victim, a stiff for hire. Pull my string (okay, slit my throat, strangle me--), and I do my little number. And while I'm down there on your floor, on your bed, you can do whatever you want to do to me. Special job, as only Morley's dark doctors could have done. Don't know all of it myself -- one lung gone for a refillable tank of air (so no breathing), blood now flowing through the back of my neck so my throat can get sliced or crushed if you like that kind of thing. On cue I get all cold, my nipples get all stiff, my cunt chills, my eyes lock up (in case you like to see your reflection in them when you fuck my stiff self) and I'm dead. Everything but the smell of lilies. Pay in advance, don't break the rules, and you can kill me, fuck me, and go back to the wife and kids. It's a living, dying is--
CS: What are the three most significant changes do you think that will change the now of sex into the future of sex for us?
MC: Crap. No, wait that's not a change I see for the future, it's just me being stymied. I'm just a writer not a seer, so I really don't have or shouldn't give my opinion. But since you're pointing a loaded pistol at me, I guess I'd better at least try to say something on the subject.
Three changes...well, one is right around the corner. Think about Viagra. The potential for neuropharmacology to change how we think of sex is foreshadowed in that little blue pill. An erection on demand. Pretty soon, it'll be orgasm on demand, or a complete cessation of desire for as long as you want it gone. If it really is nature and not nurture, what happens when you use medication or gene therapy to turn your orientation or sexual inclinations on or off like a light switch? Will homosexuality or heterosexuality become fashionable? "This Summer everyone's gay!" Can you imagine a terrorist attack that makes everyone in a four square mile area sexually attracted to green argyle socks? What about clubs where you walk in the door, take a pill, and share a surreal fetish for a few hours? Right around the corner...
Two would be technology that changes how we view and interact with the world. Right now we have dozens of little gadgets: cell phone, digital camera, mp3 player, GPS, and so on. Jump ahead a few years and it's all one gizmo, probably built into something like a pair of glasses with a HUD (Heads Up Display). Look at someone and you'll be able to instantly know everything about them, maybe even their orientation or if they are looking for a quickie. Something like that. You think we have information overload now, just wait until you have instant access to any pieces of information (including video) at any time. How this will affect sex is anyone's guess, but if there's a human constant, it's that we will take any new technology and try to get laid using it.
As for three...I've often thought about how well accepted plastic surgery has gotten. I'm just waiting for a kind of fusion between body modification, cosmetic procedures, and genetic engineering where whatever body you want is the body you can have. I'm not just talking sex reassignment but rather a whole new concept in genitalia. One of my faves is the idea of genital taste buds, or even turning something like your hands into seriously erogenous zones through a bit of nervous system rewiring. Fashion time again: "Guys, you're just not with it if you don't have breasts." Our grandkids are going to be making fun of us for having the gender and genitals we were born with.
Of course, all of this could be bull. I'm just a writer, remember. But it's still damned interesting to think about -- which is where a good part of The Bachelor Machine came from: sex, the future, and the future of sex.
