11 Good Reasons
Did you know we love genre? Here's why.
      Compiled by the staff of The 11th Hour

We here at The 11th Hour are far too often accused of hating stuff. Network executives. Chris Carter. Roswell. And, sure, okay. Sometimes. But hey, we do like stuff too. Lots and lots of great genre stuff.

"How dare he escape me? Does he not know I'm wearing a cape?"

We know you understand. You like genre stuff too.

You probably know the names of your favorite episodes of Farscape or Brimstone. Possibly even Sabrina, though we don't need to hear about that. You're not only familiar with the work of Chris Columbus, Frank Spotnitz and Joel Schumacher, but you feel physically ill when forced to think about them (sorry about that). And you are perfectly aware that James Marsters was born in Modesto, California, is not actually the Londoner he sounds, and is, in fact, Adonis incarnate.

But more than that, you know what it is to have friends, family and work colleagues consider you just a few binary pairs short of a gaseous nebulae. These people think you odd. Both a geek and a freak, just 'cause you like to wear your Starfleet uniform around the house occasionally, and are considering getting a bird tattooed on your shoulder, just like Angel's. (It's okay to admit it. You're among friends here.)

Well, be not embarrassed, diffident or ashamed. 'Cause being a geek... that's the coolest thing in life. You get to refer to Buffy every other sentence, you know the deep and holy significance of prosthetic limbs, and as for names like Rodney Rowland and Michael Biehn, Eliza Dushku and Carrie-Anne Moss... well, they do it for you, too.

You -- you who know so much -- know why you love genre. But we're betting you've always wondered why we are so enraptured by it that we spend countless days and sleepless nights putting out this magazine, in homage. You've been clamoring on the inside to learn just what our favorite -- or "favourite," in the case of some of us -- aspects of genre are.

So... here you go. Ah... you were wondering, weren't you?

REASON 1: Space Battles.

OUR FAVORITES: Empire Strikes Back, Space: Above and Beyond, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Solaris...

Denise Richards and Richard from Melrose Place.

Remember way back when you were a kid and the coolest space battle you had ever seen was in Empire Strikes Back? It's still David's favorite. "Gotta be the asteroid sequence in Empire Strikes Back, prefaced by Han warning 3PO, 'Never tell me the odds.'" For Linda, that piece of maneuvering has likewise never been surpassed. "The asteroid field bit in The Empire Strikes Back," is her pick. "Unless someone can remind me of a better one." Lisa happily obliges with "Colonel McQueen versus Chiggy von Richtofen in Space: Above and Beyond. Now that was art, baby." Julie was likewise enamoured of S:AAB's military skill: "The last 15 minutes of the Space: Above and Beyond series finale. I think I've watched this at least 20 times, and there hasn't been a single time yet when I haven't cried like a baby." Of course, Julie also said something about an episode of Robotech, but we're just gonna ignore that. From Rachel's perspective, the best space battle is now, and may possibly always be, the "retaking of Deep Space Nine in 'Sacrifice of Angels' from, oddly enough, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." And as for Sarah, well... "That scene in Solaris where Johnny Rico and his fellow soldiers battle the giant, alien insects and one of them sucks out the brain of that dude who played Richard on Melrose Place... oh, gosh, I'm sorry, that was Starship Troopers, wasn't it?"

REASON 2: Strong Chicks.

OUR FAVORITES: Faith, Buffy, Honor Harrington, Ripley...

Leather and big guns are necessary strong chick gear, as Aeryn Sun demonstrates.

Actually, we love all of them, apparently. Hence Linda: "All of them." Names mentioned: Shane Vansen, Buffy Summers, Aeryn Sun, Honor Harrington, Esmay Suiza, Festina Ramos, Princess Leia, Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Trinity. At least two of which find favor with David: "Obviously, Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor tie for first place," he says, "seeing that they could both kick my ass." For Julie, it's all about Michelle Yeoh. "The female version of Jackie Chan, as Shu Lien in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- the strong, graceful silent type, though she gets really pissed off and kicks people's asses if they insult her man. If only every woman could be as cool as her." Some such women, believes Sarah, are: "Buffy Summers, Princess Leia and Dana Scully, for perpetuating the myth that you can be a girl under 5'4" and still kick so much ass." Rachel, meanwhile, likes David Weber's Honor Harrington above all others. "Honor is one hell of a military commander, and a perfect role model for anyone who is an aspiring navy admiral, feudal overlord, or, y'know, multi-billionaire. Other favorites are Hermione, from Harry Potter... and how can you not love Faith?" Lisa is certainly a fan. "I'm completely in love with Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer," she says, adding, "and I want to be Farscape's Aeryn Sun when I grow up." Yeah, like that's going to happen.

REASON 3: Humor.

OUR FAVOURITES: Buffy, Angel, Joss Whedon, Darin Morgan, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett...

42, man. 42.

The Whedon worship begins with Linda: "Buffy has been the most consistently funny so it gets my vote." Lisa agrees, saying: "Buffy and Angel are my regular sources of genre comedy, specifically David Boreanaz and Alexis Denisof doing their funky, funky dances." For Sarah, it is the writing of "...Darin Morgan and Joss Whedon, for combining wit and poignancy in such an effective and unique way. Episodes like X-Files' 'Humbug' and Buffy's 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' brought genre TV into an entirely new territory that is often imitated, never duplicated -- just ask Chris Carter." Julie also came down on the side of Darin Morgan, citing "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense" from Millennium as "the smartest, funniest thing I've ever seen on TV. Thank God Darin is a recluse... it's the only explanation I can think of as to why John Travolta and his merry band of Scientologists haven't come after him with a machete." Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also appeals to Julie, 'cause: "'Not only is it a wholly remarkable book, it is also a highly successful one -- more popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, better selling than Fifty More Things to do in Zero Gravity, and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes and Who is this God Person Anyway?'" And for Rachel, it is likewise a tie: "Terry Pratchett's Discworld consistently makes me laugh out so loud, just recalling a sentence or phrase," she confesses, "that I scare people. They begin to think I'm a lunatic and then they go away. Something similar happens every time I remember Spike's monologue from 'In the Dark.'" David is also admirer of Pratchett, though he seems to have forgotten the master's contribution to his favorite humor novel. "Neil Gaiman's Good Omens," he nominates. "Never has the Apocalypse been so giggle-inducing. And I'll have you know that I giggle in a very MANLY manner," this token male of the panel hastens to add.

REASON 4: Aliens.

OUR FAVOURITES: Star Trek, Farscape, Star Wars, Babylon 5... and Superman II.

Pilot: One sweet-ass Muppet.

Julie is a scarred human being. "Terence Stamp as General Zod gave me nightmares as a kid," she shares. "Psychotic, scary, bad-ass 'alien'." (But, oh, the outfit!) David is drawn to those nightmare-inducing "nasty, swarming critters from Pitch Black," while Linda is more of a Star Trek girl (which she correctly and geekily shortens to ST:TOS). "Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans, oh my!" she exclaims. Sarah's very life was changed by "... the Cantina scene in Star Wars. Watching that as a child, I became a scifi fan." She also loves E.T, and the Close Encounters visitors. "The idea of friendly aliens -- of these otherworldly, weird creatures as a positive force -- was revelatory, and for those of us with geeky, um, proclivities, somewhat relatable." One such friendly alien, finding favor with Lisa, is Pilot on Farscape, whom she considers "... one cool-lookin' Muppet." However, she adds that she's most freaked out by the aliens that try to look like normal human people. "Like Michael Jackson." For Rachel, meanwhile, there is just one word. "ALF." Though she is actually fondest of the aliens from Star Trek: The Animated Series, with a special place in her heart for the cat-like M'Ress, a felinoid from the planet Cait in the Lynx system. "There's just nothing quite like cartoon subtlety," she says.

REASON 5: Metaphors.

OUR FAVORITES: Buffy, Space: Above and Beyond, Star Trek, Final Destination... and some movies most of us have never seen.

Linda, confused about the assignment, asked: "Do the InVitros of Space: Above and Beyond count as metaphors for various ethnic groups in the U.S.?" Uh. Sure. In a similarly political statement, Sarah mentions: "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer's 1919 silent film -- generally considered the first horror movie ever made -- is even scarier when you learn its inspiration lies in murder, Mayer's faked insanity, and the very real horrors of World War I. Janowitz cites the inspiration as 'the craftsmanship of murder, by means of a Fatherland that had gone mad' -- a very apt and prophetic metaphor for Weimar Berlin." Yikes. More politics, with Julie's mention of "the Howard Hawkes classic, The Thing From Another World, which is really all about the threat of them wacky Communists, made in the paranoid era of Joe McCarthy." Rachel keeps the socio-political ball rolling with her love of Star Trek which she says "...in all its incarnations, showed the foolishness of the world in which we live, and a way to make it better," and David brings up the fact that "Final Destination works nicely as a metaphor for the fears associated with the afterlife," but it is Lisa who really got to the deep and meaningful crux of this metaphor matter. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 'Fool for Love.' Spike and 'dancing'. Is he talking about death, sex, fighting or the waltz? All of the above, I'm sure. That counts as a metaphor, right?"

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