Posted by Dom Ciocca, Jr. on May 15, 1999 at 12:37:52:
I basically came to the US without a word of English after my
US military Dad & Mom adopted my sister and I. I was nine years old and learned more English watching Star Trek than I did in the American schools (in 1967 I was 11.)Therefore I was a bit miffed when my favorite of all novelists JV told SciFi Network that American kids were brought up on junk, including "Star TreK". But I couldn't help noticing after participating in this BBS that so many of JV's fans were not American, Scandinavia seemed extremely well represented. Then recently an acquaintance asked me if I was familiar with "Dr. Who". I replied that I knew it was an old Brit SF TV show and maybe a movie with Peter Cushing. He replied "I didn't like Cushing's Who he played the doctor like a human being." Not understanding, I was further informed that Dr. Who was a Timelord,one of a praeter-human race that every millenium or so were granted another thousnad years of life and youth at the cost of a portion of his old personality and loss of some memories, and that Dr. Who was a rebel who is continually attempting to forestall his millenial "conversion". My man gave me a Dr. Who tie-in novel "The Man in the Velvet Mask" totally adult, very sophisticated stuff about the Dr's arrival in a France where the Revolution has been usurped by de Sade's mutant son "Citizen Minski". Then I checked a Dr. Who video "The Solarian Experiment" aired on BBC in 1967, very low budget and very much more plot-heavy and sophisticated-
frankly, it seemed written to please a much more literate viewing public than "Star Trek". I've never watched a "Buffy"
episode but I'll arrange to see one on Gwydy's recommendation. Are Americans stupid--I mean of course besides "Us" ha ha? Reagrds, Dom