Pope Leo XIV

  

Well, that was completely unexpected.

 

We have the first American-born Pope, though he holds duel citizenship with Peru, where he spent a large amount of his time. Didn’t know anything about him, though I did hear his name come up (negatively) in a podcast I listened to last week.

 

Last night I listened to half-a-dozen “hot takes” on the new Pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, age 69. He does have a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Villanova, which is a personal plus for me. Indicative of a logical, rational mind as opposed to a touchy-feely emotional one. However, he does hail from Chicago, which has been under the thumb of the extremely liberal Cardinal Cupich for the last 11 years. He was also appointed to head the Dicastery for Bishops (which recommends priests to the Pope for bishop positions) and has had a close relationship with Francis over the past 18 months. Though I have heard credible reports that they did not see eye-to-eye on every issue and Prevost was not afraid to make his opinion known.

 

Coming out on the balcony in the red papal regalia as well as taking the name of the extremely anti-modernist, anti-socialist Pope Leo XIII were both nice signals to the traditional minded. However, I am not unaware that such signaling might not actually telegraph actual intent, especially in this day and age where it seems most of the Church hierarchy is hell-bent on changing Catholic teaching to, er, non-Catholic teaching, in a phony spirit of “welcoming” and “dialogue.”

 

The greatest secret about your host Hopper is that he is a closet optimist. Thusly, I am hopeful Pope Leo XIV will be a pendulum swing toward normalcy from the mess that Francis made. He could start by removing restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass. He could also quash all this “synodal church” nonsense, though he has been on record in the past as supportive of such disingenuity. At this stage, it’s impossible to guess true agendas. After all, many were fooled by Francis for the first several months of his papacy, including myself. I renounce such gullibility going forward (thanks Lavender Mafia, for poisoning our childlike faith in the Church!)

 

From what I’ve gleaned from traditional to centrist sites (I can’t suffer to hear the take of liberal Catholic podcasters and such, life is way too short and precious for that), Prevost wasn’t the worst pick (that’d be either Tagle or Parolin) nor was he the best (Sarah, Burke, or Pizzaballa). He’s somewhere in the middle, probably a little left-of-center. But the thought is that many cardinals, either suffering from Francis fatigue or realizing that Francis pushed too hard too fast on his re-imaging of Catholic teaching, opted for a man who could stabilize and possibly unite the one billion Catholics throughout the world. My gut tells me it’s the latter, that they need a man who’ll institute change slower but more securely, and that perhaps an American pope might tamper down the protest from traditional American Catholic news media. That he was elected relatively quickly (on the fourth ballot, I believe), demonstrates that he was acceptable to both types of Cardinals. We’ll see.

 

Despite being that closet optimist, my official position is one of strict neutrality. Let the man show us who he is by his actions. Until then, he has my respect and prayers due to the office he holds. May he prove me wrong and be truly worthy of the Leo namesake.

An SF Similarity

 

I was thinking a bit about yesterday’s post regarding the stagnant state of silver screen science fiction in 2025. From what I’ve heard and read, there’s a slow recognition from Hollywood that the excesses of the past decade or so need to be curtailed in order to make a profit. Dial back on the DEI, the wokeness, the girl bosses, the Mary Sues, the political and cultural agenda hidden and not-so-hidden in every movie … perhaps that would put more viewers in theater seats or at least clicking on the streaming services and watching until the end.

But do I think a true change of heart is at hand? A return to the golden years of the 80s and 90s for science fiction action flicks?

No. Not really.

The phenomenon parallels nicely with the 2025 papal conclave set to commence on May 7. In that case, a lot of Catholics – in fact, a “silent majority” I would contend – are kinda frustrated with the direction Francis had guided the Church over the past dozen years. Since 2013 Francis, full of modernist ideas, had attempted to change millennia of Church teaching to varying degrees and varying successes, through the use of papal documents containing potentially heretical ideas, off-the-cuff airplane interviews where ideas contrary to the Faith were uttered, and suppression of traditional catholic orders, priests, and bishops.

So I think Hollywood has about the same chance of righting its course as does the Catholic Church. Dark times ahead, but I’d love to be proved wrong. Time will tell, I suppose.

* * * * * * *

But if the film studios do in fact toss out their enforced and often unpalatable agendas, may I offer a suggestion?

Mine the works of Robert Silverberg. And in doing so, be faithful to his stories and characters.

In 2017 I read a half-dozen Silverberg novels, and perhaps another half-dozen in the years before, going way back to my childhood. His tales age well. The characters all have fascinating backstories and dialogue is natural in revealing innermost thoughts and advancing the plot. There’s always a compelling science fiction-y dilemma, and a pinch of existential horror tossed in. I can honestly say I’ve never read a bad Robert Silverberg story.

Not sure what he’s up to now, at age 90, but he’s said to have retired from writing in 2015. His last published novel was in 2003, and the following year he was voted a Science Fiction Grandmaster by the Science Fiction Writers Association. He first was published in 1955, so there are 60 years of material for screenwriters to peruse – over 500 works. Perhaps they have reached out and he’s rejected every offer. Couldn’t and wouldn’t blame him. But what a treat it would be to a fan of legitimate SF if one of his novels made it to the big screen in a faithful adaptation.

 

Here are seven reviews of Robert Silverberg novels, for those who may be interested:

 

Downward to the Earth (1970)

“… an SF-stylized take on Kipling … a ‘snake milking station’ … a deranged yet undoubtedly charismatic man named Kurtz (enjoyed the reference!)”

 

Kingdoms of the Wall (1992)

“… some interesting speculative dialogue, bits of horror, neat confrontational characterization, even an M. Night Shyamalan twist towards the ending …”

 

Lord Valentine’s Castle (1980)

“… this is going to sound a bit loopy, but – I think I just spent a year on another planet …”

 

The Majipoor Chronicles (1982)

“Majipoor truly comes alive – and it is a wonderful world. Dangerous, yes, amoral, often, but so lifelike and real, more real to me than, say, Australia or China or the African continent.”

The Book of Skulls (1971)

“What would you do, see, study, experience, master, if you would live forever without having to taste death?”

 

Tom O’Bedlam (1985)

“… something very strange begins to happen. It starts with Tom – dreams of distant worlds, lush green worlds, worlds with multiple suns in the skies, then dreams of the inhabitants of these worlds, ‘eye’ creatures, ‘crystalline’ creatures, horned giants and flying ethereal things …”

 

Nightwings (1969)

“… translucent bodies soaring in the twilit skies … fortune-tellers who foretell the present … starstones to decipher the will of the Will … and a man with his back to the wall who sells out mankind …”

 

Bonus recommended books (but not reviewed on the Hopper):

   The Face of the Waters (1991)

   Conquerors from the Darkness (1965)

   At Winter’s End (1988)

   The New Springtime (1990)

   Planet of Death (1967)

   A Time of Changes (1971)

Woe Unto the State of SF

 

I may not have made millions over the course of my life, may not have moved the culture with my writing, may not have influenced a generation of musicians with my music. But one thing I have done is gained an in-depth appreciation and understanding of science fiction, going way, way, all the way back to my single digits. That boy who spent second grade sick in bed devouring black-and-white 1950s sci fi, who eagerly tore into that Asimov five-pack of paperbacks Santa left under the tree (and dozens and dozens of other authors afterwards), who wrote his first science fiction story on a twenty-five pound metal typewriter he could barely lift, now sadly laments the state of science fiction.

 

More concisely, corporate science fiction, as in, but not exclusive to, Disney.

 

If you want to know where Hopper stands, consider the following:

 

Star Wars ended in 1983.

 

Star Trek ended in 1994.

 

The Alien franchise ended in 1992.

 

The Terminator movies ended in 1991.

 

Superhero movies, of which there really were only two, ended in 1980.

 

The Indiana Jones movies wrapped up nicely in 1989.

 

There was only one Matrix movie, released in 1999.

 

Likewise, there was only one Jurassic Park movie, in 1993.

 

Every franchise movie released after these dates is either bad or gross or both. Wokeness, DEI, and greed, ruins all.

 

Hopper hath spoken.

 

Sidenote: Wasn’t the 90s a great time to be a moviegoer?