KoW

From: Torres, Capt Timothy M <TORRESTM.HQAMC_at_MHS.SAFB.AF.MIL>
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 1995 08:09 CDT


Martin Crim

>>In V2 #227 (the second 227), Mark Smylie comments on his admirable
first draft of "What the Warlord Says" and "What My Captain Told Me": I am also afraid that none of it is quite as "beautiful" or as "terrible" as I would have liked.<<

>That would have to be my criticism also. None of it scared me, or even
grossed me out.<

I loved Mark's work. Martin seems to have misunderstood what Mark meant by "beautiful and terrible." Mark was referring to the kind of beautiful terror of his earlier quote of Galadriel when Frodo wanted to give her The Ring. Another good example is the classic fairy tale, The Snow Queen. On a more modern level, there's a TV commercial for milk. In it, a man dies, then awakens and thinks he has gone to heaven. He's surrounded by white, sparkling walls, floors, and furniture. On a table is a plate full of cookies. He starts stuffing his mouth full of them, then he gets thirsty. He sees a refridgerator, opens it and finds it full of milk cartons. He tries to drink from them, but realizes they are all empty. Then he asks, "Wait a minute. Where am I?" (Hell). I think Mark is talking Twilight Zone, not Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I thought Mark hit his target. As far as propaganda about the invincible war machine and graphic sexual references, I find Mark's work scarier. As part of a war machine that considered itself invincible after Desert Storm, my gut reaction is that "What My Captain Told Me" captures what is most beautiful and most terrible about effective military organizations. What's even scarier is, "What My Captain NEVER Told Me."

Tim Torres


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