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RESPONSES 2001-7 (July)
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Anonymous writes...
What does the Master Matrix and the LXM robots have to do with the Matrix that we see in Walkabout?
Greg responds...
A lot.
matt writes...
why did you and the writers decide not to have Macbeth join Arthur as one of his knights?
Greg responds...
Mostly because Macbeth didn't seem to want to join.
But also because I didn't need him there as a regular in Pendragon. Frankly, he and Arthur have too much in common.
Arthur and Griff and later Blanchefleur and Merlin seemed like a good core group to start with.
Macbeth makes for a good guest star.
Anonymous writes...
Have the names of Oberon and Titania's kids been mentioned in AskGreg?
Greg responds...
Two have. Merlin and Fox. Oh, you mean the kids they had together?
NO. Not that I can recall.
Anonymous writes...
Did Ra's al Ghul of Batman fame influence the character of Duval/Percival?
Greg responds...
No.
Todd Jensen writes...
When you came up with the notion of having King Arthur and Griff join forces, did you ever notice the parallel between their backgrounds in that both, during their original time periods, were defending Britain from Germanic invasions (King Arthur versus the Saxons and Angles at Badon, Griff versus the Nazis in the Battle of Britain)?
Greg responds...
I don't know. I mean it's all info in my head. But I can't be sure if I was conscious of it.
Mostly, Griff just seemed like Round Table material.
Punchinello writes...
Hello Mr. Weisman.
I don't come here often, but occasionally I'm struck by the urge to quiz you on something. I was browsing the questions you're fielding, and I was struck again by something I notice every time I visit this page. There seems to be some preoccupation here with "the mind of the other." I noticed another poster make reference to your interest in it (although I cannot find any record of your having initiated the discussion).
While the series was still active I saw you invoke this theme frequently whenever you emphasized the cultural shock that the gargoyles experienced in modern America, and I appreciated the fact that you treated our linguistic tendencies to "name everything" as a curious human social construction. It helped to push the idea that these creatures were _not_ human and that we could not understand their natures or their motivations from within the context of human sensibilities. I see there is some similar talk here of the fay, and the notion that their essential nature might be something that is sufficiently far removed from humans so as to be outside our understanding. All of this puts me in mind of the anthropomorphic problem that the SETI administration outlined for dealing with the idea of extraterrestrial intelligence's. Human beings have a tendency to ascribe human values to non human species, and beyond that have considerable difficulty in contextualizing "the mind of the other" without unconsciously resorting to the context of human sensibilities.
Which brings me to the reason for this post; because being a student of the sciences (and probably less attached to my humanity than most people), I have found reason to be extremely critical of some of the aspects of the way the anthropomorphic problem is treated within the natural sciences as it applies to non-human animals. Generally speaking, my problem is that some of the more archaic ethical distinctions that are made between humans and other animals have their foundation in the premise that the ascription of certain mental capacities ( reflection, emotion, etc.) are the ascription of _uniquely human_ qualities. The fact that this premise, itself, is socially constructed rather than informed by data, seems to be lost on at least most _social_ scientists. What is troubling me is that I have begun to observe this kind of thinking migrate into the popular domain through science fiction. I don't really follow sci fi, but I've seen star trek, and I have had occasion to see the half-dozen or so other popular sci fi programs that one can find on television. I see a trend wherein the heroes casual disintegration of a planet is commonly justified with the hazily defined and indistinct ethics of "It did not harbor any sentient life."
This trend is scaring the hell out of me; because the expression "sentient" is not really used within the scientific community, so it does not have any agreed upon definition attached to it and there is no objective data informing the idea of it. The word seems to have infiltrated popular culture, however, where it finds frequent expression. That's what's bothering me. I see a lot of the same hazy ethical reasoning on this board. A number of messages expressing the confusion that humans in your story were subject to when they "mistook the gargoyles for animals rather than sentient beings" and in doing so, justified a campaign to exterminate them.
I would hope that a reasonable group of people would be given pause by the almost casual disregard for life that is being demonstrated with the prioritization of one life over another based upon the presence or non-presence of this seemingly magical endowment. Because if I am reading the intentions of the contributors to this board accurately, then it would appear their position is that if the occupants of that clock tower had been a group of stray dogs or a family of polar bears, then annihilating them with a wire guided missile would have been perfectly reasonable. "It's all right. It didn't harbor any sentient life." I would encourage the fans that come to this site to give some thought to what it is they mean by "sentience." What is the content of this sentience? If it entails that a creature can react to it's environment, anticipate, reflect and emote, then it should be pointed out that what available data exists indicates that this capacity is only about as exclusive a domain as most land based vertebrates.
I guess they shouldn't have disintegrated that planet after all. I hope to encourage others to give this issue the thought that it requires. I am also hoping to elicit some commentary from you, on the matter of how you perceive "the mind of the other." What mental distinctions do you draw between humans and gargates or faeries. I would be interested in hearing you address the notion.
Punchinello
Greg responds...
Thank you for writing. It certainly gets me thinking.
I'm probably as guilty as anyone of overusing, or rather overbilling the issue of "sentience". I think the concept has its uses. But it's probably used as a crutch too often.
Certainly, I don't want to see a family of polar bears, anthropomorphic or otherwise, blown up by a guided missile.
I don't much like the idea of destroying planets. In science fiction or otherwise.
As to this "mind of the other" concept...
Well for starters, I don't believe I did initiate the discussion of it -- unless you're including my constant admonishments to posters here that they are thinking like a human.
The previous post by Demoness and my response are a perfect example. She thinks Oberon is out of line. But she's thinking like a human, and a biased one at that. (I don't mean to pick on you, Demoness.) Oberon has a valid point of view. We may not like it, but it seems justifiable to me.
But the question of the mind of the other, was posted here initially by someone else. ( I can't remember who it was at this moment. ) I only just answered it in the last few days. Since you posted YOUR question, hopefully you've seen my response to that one.
And to reiterate, my response was that I'm still (in our universe) interested in the mind of US. Not the OTHER. But one way to explore that is to put ourselves in the shoes of the OTHER. Finding and describing and bringing the OTHER to life, whether as a Gargoyle or as a Child of Oberon, is for me an exercise in EXTRAPOLATION.
For example: If I was me, BUT I turned to stone every day AND I aged at half the rate I currently do PLUS most of my species had been exterminated 1000 years ago, ETC. -- then WHAT WOULD I BE LIKE?
For me, it's less about investing in species then in individual characters. Each with his or her own UNIQUE LIST of "extrapalatory parameters" (I just made that phrase up.)
It's really no different with a character like Elisa. After all, I'm a white Jewish male from California who has spent his entire adult life working in fiction. Elisa is an African-American/Native-American female from New York who's spent her adult life fighting crime. To understand her, I need to extrapolate.
However, in order to understand individuals of another species, I need to know more about that species. I need to envision the parameters that I will use to fully create their characters. So I've done that. In many ways, to me, gargoyle culture represent a kind of ideal. Not perfection, which doesn't personally interest me. But an ideal. Purpose. Loyalty. Oneness with the world they live in. Etc. I've borrowed things that I admired from multiple cultures and from my imagination, and I've tried to weave it into a coherent whole that fits the biology that I assigned them. These biological limits also create parameters for extrapolating character. Yes, the turning to stone thing. But also the group egg laying on a twenty year cycle. This naturally leads into the group child rearing thing. One is biological. One is cultural. But they are linked by extrapolation.
[Or... and I know this sounds silly but... perhaps they are linked by truth. By the fact that they exist in the Gargoyle Universe. As I've said many times before, sometimes this show flowed so well and easily, that it just seemed like I was tapping into something that existed. (But that's got nothing to do with this discussion, so let's ignore it.)]
And yet, from my point of view, all this is used to further illustrate the human condition. I don't think Oberon does or should think like us. But don't we all know a couple people with a little Oberon in them.
Keith David has said, as recently as seven days ago, that when he grows up he hopes to be like Goliath. And I personally think, that flawed as he is, Goliath is a wonderful role model. So we, as humans, can learn from Gargoyles. And we, as humans, can learn from Margot Yale as well. Maybe as a negative example. Maybe as something more down the road.
Ending Hunter's Moon with Jon Canmore becoming the human equivalent of Demona, was not an accident. They arrived at that point in two very different ways -- each, I hope, well informed by his or her species. (Or well extrapolated.) Nevertheless, the similarities between them are obvious and represent a "lesson" for us all.
All that stuff interests me MUCH, MUCH more than the exercise of creating something fully OTHER, just for the sake of achieving that.
Someday that may not be true. Aliens could land in Washington D.C. tomorrow and then comprehending the OTHER for the sake of understanding the OTHER will become a BIG priority fast. But for the time being, the human race is effectively alone in the universe. And before the aliens land, I'd like us all to get to know ourselves MUCH, MUCH better. In that sense, an Oberon, a Goliath, a Nokkar, are all just tools to that end.
The concept of sentience, comes in again, as I said, as a crutch. A convenient distinction between Bronx and Goliath, for example. Let's say you're from Russia. You don't speak English, and Goliath doesn't speak Russian. Still you have a hope that one or both of you may learn to speak the other's language. Dialogue is possible.
Bronx isn't ever going to speak Russian or English. That's the distinction. For what it's worth. In a moral sense, I'd say it's not worth MUCH at all. In a PRAGMATIC sense, we're not being honest if we don't admit it MEANS a lot.
Now. I don't think sentience is a WALL. Koko the gorilla can communicate in sign language. And I've got to say, I'm not sure that whales and dolphins aren't squealing complex philosophical discussions every day of the week. (Which is confusing because Dolphins have an eight day week, and whales have a thirty-seven day week. But what are you going to do?)
But even including a Bronx or a Cagney has value in the show. How do we respond to them. How do they respond to us? It's fun to do "The Hound of Ulster" and try to understand how an "animal" responds to various stimuli. It's still extrapolation. Now, with Bronx, I can cheat. I can keep him a beast and anthropomorphize him to my heart's content, because that species doesn't truly exist. I can make him as intelligent as I want. My goal there is to simply be consistent. Bronx can't start responding like Scooby Doo one day. You get the idea.
It's still about us understanding us and our place in the world. If in my own small way, I'm helping to open minds, helping to pave a bit of a way for when the aliens DO LAND, then great. But first and foremost, I'm asking us to KNOW OURSELVES.
Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to get repetitive. But this whole thread intrigues me. Feel free to post again with a follow-up. And everyone's welcome to join in.
I'm only one month behind!!
That's all I wanted to say.
Sloth writes...
I was reading some of the old arcives, and I found one of your responces listing a bunch of movies you liked. A few hours ago, I just saw a movie called "Ladyhalk" (which was great) and I suddenly felt the need to ask you I you have seen and/or liked it.
Well, while I'm at it, and since I don't have any Garg questions right now, how bout your views on these other movies: Somewhere in time, dead again, bram stokers Dracula(the newest), frequency, Indiana Jones(all), Scarface and uummmm, One flew over the cucu's nest. Be as brief as you want to be, or go on about some or even wright full reviews for all of them, I'll leave it up to you cause I'm just curious.
Thank U
Greg responds...
LadyHawk. I LOVE this concept. I'm not as thrilled with the execution. It's been TOO long since I've seen it to go into detail, but I felt with that cast and those ideas it should have been a MUCH better movie. I actually tried to get Disney to option the rights to turn it into an animated film. But TPTB weren't interested. I do recall that the music is really dated and inappropriate to the subject matter.
Somewhere In Time. Which one is that? All those time titles melt together for me.
Dead Again. Is that the Branaugh/Thompson movie?
Dracula. The Coppola one?
Frequency. Didn't see it.
Raiders of the Lost Arc - Loved it.
Temple of Doom - Hated it.
Last Crusade - Hated it.
Scarface - Which one?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Amazing film.
Jonathan M Perry writes...
WHo does the voice of Fox Xanatos? Its been bothering me for weeks.. please let me know. cavalier80@home.com
Greg responds...
Laura San Giacomo. Currently a regular on "Just Shoot Me".
Anonymous writes...
Are there actual gargoyles that resemble Raven's clan of illusion?
Greg responds...
Not particularly.
Mutai Walker writes...
You said that you once had Death of the Endless in Captain Atom so was this the infamous issue where Death is seen as an equal to the Nekron and the Black Racer?
Greg responds...
I'm not sure about "equal". That's subject to interpretation.
But Death, Nekron and the Black Racer all appeared in the same issue. And yes, I wrote it.
I love that it's called "infamous". I heard that Neil was pissed off about it. I feel NO GUILT. His own editor had the opportunity to comment on the script. Hell, she could have sent it to him for his comments. Had either she or he notified me with concerns, then of course I would have changed the script to address those concerns. But there was no comment until AFTER the thing was published. And then suddenly, I was "in trouble".
The one thing I do feel bad about is that Death was miscolored in the issue. But that was beyond my control. I never saw the color proofs.
Otherwise, I tried to be faithful, and even intentionally vague. Death never says what she is. Captain Atom guesses at her function and at her relationship to the other "death" figures (i.e. the Racer and Nekron). No one in the issue says that he guessed right. So even if what he said was completely off-base, there's still nothing in the issue that contradicts anything that was established about the Endless. At least not to my mind. One can always choose to believe that Captain Atom was simply wrong.
And if the problem is that she even appeared on the page with Nekron and the Racer, then I have no sympathy. Neil chose to set his characters in the DC Universe. He even absconded with Destiny. I have no problem with that. But it's a shared universe by definition. There were death concepts in it that pre-dated his.
Now, here's the thing. Neil and I have never met or spoken. I don't actually have any conflict with him, and I definitely don't want to generate one now. I'm a huge fan of Sandman. Heck, I don't know if he even remembers the issue at all. I don't know if he ever really had a problem with it. I just heard he did.
(So do I have a chip on my shoulder about it or what?)
Demonskrye writes...
I know I'm probably setting myself up for a big fat "no" or a cryptic response, but I think this is worth a shot.
What do you know about Tom's father? Who was he? What did he do for a living? Was he dead by 995 or still alive? If he was alive, why didn't we see him at all?
Any little teasers would be appreciated. Thank you.
Greg responds...
You're welcome.
Greg "Xanatos" Bishansky writes...
Ok, this has been on my mind for a while, and checked the archives and didn't find it there.
What was Raven hoping to gain by driving everyone away from Queen Florence Island in "Heritage". I don't really understand his motivations there.
Greg responds...
I used to live on Queen Florence Lane in Woodland Hills, California.
He was looking to gain power. Queen Florence Island was a place of power. He didn't want to share.
Anonymous writes...
Why did you give up reading comics? I mean there are still some good ones such as Rising Stars(Rising Stars) and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen(Moore).
Greg responds...
Never heard of 'em.
It's kind of a long story, but in a nutshell here are a few factors as to why I gave up comics in 1996:
1) Many of the comics I was reading at the time ended their run. Love & Rockets. Sandman. Etc.
2) Other comics I was reading became UNREADABLE. Hulk springs to mind. It wasn't really Peter David's fault. But by that time Hulk was the only Marvel Universe Book I was still reading. Then the Marvel Universe split in two or something, and I couldn't make heads or tails out of Hulk anymore. DC's Universe wasn't that much better.
3) Comics I still wanted to collect, like Cerebus, were becoming hard to find. There was no longer a good comic shop near my office. I couldn't go every week like I used to. So I'd try to go once a month. I'd miss an issue and not know it for another month when the NEXT issue came out. By that time, finding that back issue became VERY difficult.
4) Because so many comics I used to love were gone or unreadable, I was down to collecting very few titles. Given that I collected so few and the logistical difficulties of getting to a decent store, I was no longer feeling the old, "Gotta get in there and by the next issue of everything" pressure. Half the time I did go, I no longer found ANYTHING that I wanted.
5) I didn't plan on quitting. I went to a store in November of 1996. Didn't get around to going again in December or January of 97. By February or so, I realized that I had gone a while without... and that I didn't MISS IT AT ALL. This was a shocking revelation to me. SHOCKING. I'd been addicted to comics for DECADES. I had a huge collection -- particularly huge since from 1985-1987, I got every issue of every comic being published (with very few exceptions) for FREE. (I was on staff at DC at the time, and the various publishers had a gentleman's agreement to provide each other with free copies). Once I found I didn't miss it, I decided to quit. Freed up a ton of time and money.
Demoness writes...
Isn't Elisa a member of Goliath's clan? If so, why was she affected by Oberon's magic in "The Gathering" when he decreed that Goliath's clan was immune.
Greg responds...
Oberon clearly doesn't realize that she's a member.
matt writes...
1. do either Broadway or Lexington shave their heads? do either have hairy heads if they wanted to let it grow?
2. do some beast have hair in the same way that some gargs have hair and some don't?
Greg responds...
1. I don't think so. But maybe.
2. Yes.
Anonymous writes...
Wouldn't gargoyles 2198 also tie your hands on certain arcs in the gargoyles universe?
Greg responds...
That's a risk. It's also one of the reasons I moved the setting from 2158 to 2198. I wanted to get far enough into the future that most everyone from the original would be dead no matter what.
Demoness writes...
1a. Do the Fae tap into Earth's Magic?
1b. If yes, lets say a Fae somehow finds himself on Mars, would he be weaker then normal or completely powerless, or not effected at all?
2. How come Oberon could throw Xanatos magically when his magic is powerless against iron? (The Gathering pt 2)
3. In your opinion, who would win in a fair battle, Q or Oberon?
4. When did the Mab/Oberon war happen? Could you please give me an estimated date like c. 1000 BC-500 BC.
Greg responds...
1a. Sometimes.
1b. I'm not big on hypotheticals.
2. He grabbed his head.
3. I have no interest in this question.
4. It is forbidden.
Todd Jensen writes...
Sorry for asking another "Roswell Conspiracies"-related question, but:
You've indicated in past responses that your original plans for the series included its female lead being a banshee whom you were going to name Siobhan. When you came up with Siobhan, were you planning to use her as an at least partial "cannibalization" of the plans that you'd had for the Banshee/Molly in "Gargoyles"?
Greg responds...
No. I developed Roswell Conspiracies, but I didn't create it. The basic concept was handed to me.
The idea on that show, at least when I was working on it, was that all those magical creatures like Yeti and werewolves and vampires and Shee, etc. did exist. But that they were various alien races from other planets.
Siobhan was native to Earth, in the sense that she was born here. But she wasn't human.
By the way, I offered up a copy of my pilot script to Roswell at the G2001 charity auction. I'm curious who bought it, what they paid for it and what they think of it? Please post and let me know.
(handel)Luna Wyvern writes...
Why was Gargoyles canceled off the air?
Will it ever be on ever again?
Can I do something about this situation?
Greg responds...
Start by taking a look at the archives for a good answer.
At this point, I might suggest that the most pragmatic thing people could do is to petition Disney for a DVD release. Politely.
Demoness writes...
In your opinion, if Gargoyles ever became a motion picture, out of the well known actors, who do you think might best play Macbeth?
I say Sean Connery. He's got the looks (well use too, stick some hair on his head and he's fine), the accent, and he's played a King and warrior before. :)
Greg responds...
We just had this discussion here. Check out the Ask Greg Archives under Macbeth, or Live-Action Movie or Voice Talent.
matt writes...
are there any other titles and positions in gargoyle clans besides leader and second in command? perhaps like rookery-guard, gargbeast-keeper, shaman, etc.?
Greg responds...
Not universally.
Demonskrye writes...
Been a while since I asked anything. So here are a few questions related to gargoyle mating and the related customs. (Don't worry. It's pretty G rated.)
1. If a gargoyle does not mate for some reason, is he or she still considered a clan father or mother to the children of his or her rookery siblings?
2. Is there any kind of social pressure on young gargoyles to choose mates?
Thanks for answering.
Greg responds...
1. Depends. Generally not. But there are always "uncles" or "aunts" who act more like parents than the parents.
2. Probably. (I'm not defending this, but I'm sure it exists.)
matt writes...
1. what spinoffs would be see Gabriel and Opheila in?
2. what is the relationship between Angela and Opheila?
3. when Opheila hatched do you imagine she had that head frill or do you think it grew in later?
4. how would you describe Opheila since we've seen so little of her?
Greg responds...
1. Gargoyles for sure. Maybe Pendragon. Big maybe on 2198. Maybe TimeDancer.
2. Sisterly.
3. She had a little one.
4. I'd start by spelling her name right.
Sloth writes...
When Goliath found out Puck was Owen, or owen was puck, whey didn't he persue the matter of whether Future Tense was a dream or a profossy?
Greg responds...
What's a 'profossy'?
Seriously, did the timing seem right to you?
And at any rate, G's not a dope. He knows he'd never get a straight answer from the Puck.
SEM writes...
I know generally TGC is avoided in this forum, but since you wrote "The Journey":
Was there any significance to why Vinny was sent to Japan? Did you envision showing him and the Japanese Gargoyles at some future point?
Greg responds...
Yes.
And "The Journey" is absolutely within the purvue of this forum. My last episode.
Anonymous writes...
You said that the Olympian/Titan conflict and the Frost giants/Aesir existed, but what about the conflict between Tiamat and Marduk did it exist in some form?
Greg responds...
Yes.
Sloth writes...
OK, Heres a good one!
If Fox had stayed as leader of the pack untill "upgrade" would she have upgraded her body in anyway or would she have taken Dingo's view on the matter. If she did upgrade herself what sort of thing would she do to herself and how sadistic would it be.
Mabey you wont mind this type of hypothetical question.
thanks
Greg responds...
Why is THIS type of hypothetical any different from the others?
I'm not fond of them, but I doubt Fox would have done anything to her body.
Yttrium writes...
Ever notice that when Demona's in her human form, her hair seems much fluffier than it does when she's gargoyle? It retains its spiky quality, but it appears slightly softer to me. Is it because the texture of gargoyle hair is different than human hair?
---Ytt
Greg responds...
I haven't noticed the difference.
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