ATTN JMS: This Week's Voyager/Writing by Committee

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: Blaise Byron Faint <faint at email.unc.edu>
Date: 15 May 1997 12:20:07 -0400
Lines: 30

This week's episode of Voyager made a few sly comments about
writing by committee.  However, the other interesting thing was
the attitude toward writers.

Tuvok anonymously writes a well-received holo-novel.
Once he claims authorship, he refuses to make revisions.
Janeway overrules him, and gives Paris permission to proceed with
new permutations of the play.
Various crew members make suggestions for "improving" the plot.
Finally, Tuvok insists on having a voice in any revisions.
Once Tuvok re-opens the narrative parameters file, we learn that
Seska had made her own changes over a year ago, before she died.
Finally, to save Tuvok and Paris, Janeway makes revisions on the fly
and introduces a _deus ex machina_ to save the day.

This episode seems to approach things from the perspective of the fans:

if the audience demands it, the author ultimately has no control over
what happens to her creation.

Given Harlan Ellison's argument in favor of burning his unfinished 
manuscripts, and your support of this ("the public doesn't get a vote"),
do you have any comments about this episode?

I don't have the title in front of me, but it aired this week (May 12-16,
1997).





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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 17 May 1997 04:34:57 -0400
Lines: 9

Not having seen the ep, it'd be inappropriate for me to comment based on a
synopsis, however well intended.


 jms




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