The Loyal Opposition

"Be a man!" said I. "You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent." - H.G. Wells, The War Of The Worlds

We've been on a G.K. Chesterton kick here at TLBC, lately, but have some items in the works from our other Patrons.

I've been reading H.G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds for the first time since I was a kid. It is one of those stories that has become an iconic cultural touchstone (like Don Quixote), that nearly everyone knows, but surprisingly few have actually read. Wells, a famous and influential atheist, was a contemporary of Chesterton, and the two maintained a running debate in the press.

As I read Wells' book, I find myself wishing that someone had made the story into a movie. Oh, I know there have been movies based on the idea, but they have (as far as I know) all been set in contemporary times, so that the events and technology might seem more "real" and frightening to the audience.

What I would like to see is a period piece, a film telling the story as it was first written, as if Martian invaders landed near London at the end of the nineteenth century. What is needed, I hope you'll agree is a Steampunk adaptation of The War of the Worlds. It would be perfect. The Martian machines are descibed as always belching steam, and one character in the book calls them "boilers on stilts, I tell you, striding around like men". Oh, bring on the gears, antique pipe fittings and brass gauges.

I would pay double to see that movie, if it were decently well made. From the first page of the book, I have kept picturing the main character (naturally enough) as Orson Welles in the Citizen Kane phase of his screen career. Who could play the role now?

To help you get in the right frame of mind to consider that question, here is a Steampunk inspired song, which curses the inventor of the digital clock (hat tip to Der Wolfanwalt);

You know it's a cold, inhuman world we have built when numbers of us find themselves pining for the relative romance and charm of the steam engine and the metal cogwheel.

Comments

[Jeff Hendrix]

Without doubt, the origins of steampunk can be dated legitimately to Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis, the precursor without which Gilliam's Brazil (1985) and, recently, a noble effort, Sky Captain, wouldn't have been conjured. Honorable mention to City of Lost Children (1995), Pam Anderson's uproarious yet darned-good Barb Wire (1996), and Dark City (1998).

The list is, of course, not exhaustive, Brother Tim! Cheers

[Maolsheachlann]

The term really bothers me. Where does the "punk" come into it? When I think of Victorians in space, I don't picture Johnny Rotten. The fact that "punk" is one of the ugliest words in the language also contributes to my botheration.

I haven't read War of the Worlds, but I have read the last few pages, and think they're one of the greatest passages of prose poetry I've ever read. "For neither does man live nor die in vain". And you say Wells was an atheist? (Didn't he give up his atheism later in life?)

[Tim J.]

I'm not sure how the term "punk" became wrappped up in the concept. It doesn't seem especially apt, but there it is.

I thought Wells' quote above was noteworthy. I'm not sure about the story arc of his personal belief or unbelief, but "God is not an insurance agent" bears repeating in certain quarters. From televangelists hawking cheap grace like carnival hucksters to atheists lining up to denounce God over the latest earthquake or tsunami.

[John Kasaian]

I also find there is romance to cogs and rivet and mechanical paraphenalia. Look at something mechanical long enough and you can figure out how it works. Countless boys learned about mechanics fooling around with Model As and VW Beetles.
It is sort of like a detective story where you get to get your hands greasy.
Digital has leds but precious little else to amuse the curiosity---its a plug in plug out thing. Steam locomotives are always a joy. They breath like a living thing. Steam locomotives dominate memory---the word "locomotive" always conjures up a steam engine even for those who grew up after the sunset of steam railroads (just like Communion kneeling at the rail is the thought that comes to most Catholic minds when Communion is mentioned, even all these years after Vatican II)
As a kid, we had the last steam switcher in our area thundering down the alley behind our house several times a day (and night) It was a Baldwin 0-6-0 if I recollect and I still have some flattened pennies somewhere around the house courtesy of that glorious engine.

[John Kasaian]

BTW I have this reoccurring nightmare of some day being exhumed from my grave and the diggers find a digital watch on my skeletal wrist still glowing with the time of day. Eek!

[Pierce O.]

Give The Tripods Attack a read: http://www.amazon.com/Tripods-Attack-Young-Chesterton-Chronicles/dp/1933184264

This has everything necessary to make a great book:
1)GK Chesterton is the main character
2)It's War of the Worlds in Steampunk Edwardian England
3)Father Brown is a supporting character, as is HG Wells

Now we just have to wait for the movie...

[Benjamin McBride]

The "punk" comes from the fact that they view themselves as anti-establishment with a Victorian flair. You'll find that Steampunk is not just one strain. The more liberal subset tend to be posers, while the others view Steampunk as a hearkening back to "do it yourself" Mechanics with a Victorian flair. This following link is a good place to get a feel for it.

http://steampunkworkshop.com/

[Pierce O.]

Here is a good article on and exhaustive list of steampunk works: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SteamPunk

Laconic version as follows:
http://www.inseparablenomads.com/root/pics/steampunk1.jpg