Frankly, I'm still not even entirely sure I'm capable of putting the major events of the last century in perspective, much less those of last weekend. After all, Germany lost two world wars and today we are told it is Europe's indispensable nation, more influential than ever. And most folks think we lost in Vietnam, but three and half decades later the Soviet Union is gone, communism is discredited, and Vietnam is both a vibrant economy and open to business with the United States -- so whose vision of victory was realized?
David Rothkopf writing in Foreign Policy 5/6/2011
It is really impossible to tell what is going on in history when you are still in first draft mode. The events of these recent days are truly beyond the scope of this blog to comment on, except from perhaps a pulp fiction perspective.
Hitler, the bad guy from WWII, has lived on and on in popular imagination. Partially this is because he is distinct in a visual sort of way. His crimes are certainly monstrous, but he was hardly alone in that category even in his own timeframe. Chairman Mao and Uncle Joe killed more people for just as dubious reasons. Yet the Chairman and Uncle Joe Stalin do not have their stars on the walk of History Channel fame the way that Hitler does.
Hitler continued to draw through the 1970s. He was the absolute star of the Armpit Slicks. Old time cult leader Herbert W. Armstrong made a second career out of predicting that Germany’s reunification was going to lead to the end of the world—and at one time claimed in a church magazine that Hitler was still alive. In fact, Hitler still being alive in some way could be considered its own genre of literature—complete with comics, novels and films. All it needs is action figures and video games.
Our times have also produced its share of monsters. How much emulation they are going to have in popular literature remains to be seen. In general, the fiction machine starts up during the bad guy’s career. We haven’t seen much treatment of the now departed Saudi Osama, but that is only if you look conventionally. He’s something of a fictional hit in the Arab world. Here his clones have been limited to video games.
Let’s face it, he’s not visual, not designed right. An Osama action figure looks goofy. And he doesn’t do anything. Action Osama hides out in his Barbie mud house in the third world and makes bad videos. Comes with optional women in head to toe black bags for dresses. Unless you are a terrorist, there is not much appeal here.
If I had to bet, I would say the lasting villains of our times are going to be Enron and Bernie Madoff. Both are just complex enough and odd enough to spark use as fictional foils for the likes of James Bond to go after. As futures trading goes, this one is sort of hedged since it is already starting to happen.
The Arab Spring itself may also prove fertile for fiction of all types. But that depends on the outcome. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this century, which started out so badly, suddenly corrects itself in a few short years? Suddenly Iran, Syria, Libya and others are free, unlocking the vast human potential held in check for so long. That would be something worth weaving into fiction.
As for my own work, I have banged out part of a novel over the last week or so. I may have more to say about it in a while. The short story will have to wait until the next week.
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