In this collection of brief science fiction reviews at Toronto’s The Star, reviewer Alex Good takes a swipe at Cory Doctorow’s latest novel, Pirate Cinema, for it’s underlying messages. According to Good, the novel “has to be judged a very irresponsible book.” Rather than focus on any literary merit, Good attacks the content of the book:
[Doctorow] peddles a dangerous fantasy, especially for a YA title: Trent is a kid who runs away from home to the big city, where he is immediately adopted by a lovable street-wise buddy and gets to enjoy a comfortable life of petty crime, playing around on the Internet, casual drug use, and sex with a cute anarchist girl, before becoming an overnight hero and global celebrity by splicing together a bunch of video popcorn (apparently this is the only thing artists are capable of in our age of cannibal culture, where all human life is dependent on the Internet). The fact that Doctorow is a good writer with a large following only makes it more essential that he take a big step back and think a bit more about what kind of message he’s sending.
Perhaps we instead should devote efforts to sending in police to raid the computers of nine-year-old girls? I don’t care much for glamorizing piracy, but IP laws need to examined and gain a measure of sanity. And, oh yes, this is a work of fiction, meant to entertain.
