The (disastrous) Hugo Awards 2020 ceremony - Hosted by GRRM

[whatsinaname]

Palette Swap posted in another thread but this deserves to be spun off.

After the brigaded voting nonsense of 2013-2015 (and the sad Sad Puppies movement), it looks the old guard in SFF are still struggling with how the readership and viewership is getting larger and more diverse.

Keep in mind this was pre-recorded.

George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun, or: The 2020 Hugo Awards Ceremony (RageBlog Edition)

As I said elseweb, I am thoroughly thrilled by all the folks who won Hugos tonight. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until I no longer have a voice to speak: we are living in…

www.pretty-terrible.com

The host for this year's festivities was George R.R. Martin and he spent an awful lot of time talking about John W. Campbell, noted fascist and racist. Pretty sure that between Martin and Bob Silverberg, Campbell (noted fascist and racist!) was mentioned more than the aggregate of the folks being honored. I aged approximately 67 years during Silverberg's segment.

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Speaking of Jemisin, Martin made the decision to first mention her unprecedented accomplishment of winning the Best Novel three years in a row–no one else of any race or gender has ever accomplished a Best Novel hat trick–and then attempt to undermine it by talking at great length the time Heinlein won three Hugos in nine years, culminating in some sort of shaggy dog story involving a white dinner jacket and Stranger in a Strange Land. I've forgotten the details because Heinlein is irrelevant to the discussion.


What I haven't forgotten is this: George R.R. Martin repeatedly mispronounced the names of nominees and, in one case, a publication which was nominated. All the nominees were asked to provide pronunciations for their names in advance. The fact that Martin chose not to use that information is disgusting and racist as fuck, as without exception the names he mispronounced were Black and brown. He mispronounced FIYAH, a publication owned, edited, and written by Black people.

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There was also a whole segment about the Oscar statuette and its crotch. It was gender essentialist and transphobic. It was so gross I don't even want to talk about it to be honest. CoNZealand tweeted a non-apology apology about it to people who were offended. I'm not particularly gender non-conforming, but if that segment made me feel gross and unwelcome, imagine how it made not only the trans and other gender non-conforming nominees feel, but also all those who were watching. It was a gigantic "fuck you, you're not welcome here."

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Nibedita Sen has some polite thoughts on this.

 

[Cuburger]

Not too late to take GRRM up on his offer to be imprisoned next to a lake of acid.

 

[Gabriel Hall]

Thank you for posting this, OP. I missed the Hugos but caught a lot of criticism coming from Jemisin and other authors I follow on Twitter. Your link isn't working btw, so I'm thankful you have some excerpts up.

For anyone who hasn't seen Jeannette Ng's acceptance speech for the formerly-known John W. Campbell award last year, I highly recommend you do so because I can't not see GRRM's praising of the man as an attempt to push back against her words. Not impressive in the slightest.

 

[Palette Swap]

Thanks for the thread spin off.
What's insane here is that this was all prerecorded and didn't have to go this way.

At a time when SFF is so alive thanks to such a large diversity of voices, it's more than infuriating.

 

[whatsinaname]

Thank you for posting this, OP. I missed the Hugos but caught a lot of criticism coming from Jemisin and other authors I follow on Twitter. Your link isn't working btw, so I'm thankful you have some excerpts up.

For anyone who hasn't seen Jeannette Ng's acceptance speech for the formerly-known John W. Campbell award last year, I highly recommend you do so because I can't not see GRRM's praising of the man as an attempt to push back against her words. Not impressive in the slightest.

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Damn, looks like the story is picking up steam.

Here's a google cache link.

Pretty Terrible: George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun

And yea, I could have written off the GRRM stuff as old person nostalgia but the Campbell name drops make it a lot worse.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

in for later

 

[Madison]

this is really fucked up, what the hell

 

[SolidChamp]

What the fuck...

 

[Steeped in a Sea of Games]

Milkshake duck moment.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

To brigade against the puppies and then release this is gross. Wonder how they will fuck it up with the stokers this year (or did those already happen, COVID has me all fucked up on this stuff)

 

[Deleted member 56306]

Man what the fuck?

 

[Burly]

Here is the video for anyone who is interested. It's like 3.5 hours.

Watch the 2020 Hugo Awards

Official livestream of the 2020 Hugo Awards. Hosted by George R. R. Martin. Presented at: CoNZealand, Wellington, New Zealand

watch.thefantasy.network

 

[onpoint]

Ah, more reasons to ignore Martin.

 

[Pau]

Damn, looks like the story is picking up steam.

Here's a google cache link.

Pretty Terrible: George R.R. Martin Can Fuck Off Into the Sun

And yea, I could have written off the GRRM stuff as old person nostalgia but the Campbell name drops make it a lot worse.

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Thanks for the link. The snippets you posted were pretty damning, but the whole thing is worth a read.

Particularly wanted to point out this part. Because of course this happened.

While the convention claims to have provided an agnostic platform, at least one attendee had their Zoom background censored for showing support for Black Lives Matter and opposition to the Uighur genocide happening in China.

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[TheXbox]

I swear, I read the OP ten times before I realized the author was talking about John Campbell and not Joseph Campbell. Not the same dude! I mean, Joseph is a little suspect, but not in the same league as John Campbell, based on a cursory glance at his Wiki.

Martin... just why?

 

[Glasgow Mega-Snake]

Years ago when the Sad Puppies tried to take over the Hugos GRRM did great work to denounce them, so this is especially disappointing

Just being a bad moderator is one thing, tbh anyone reading GRRM's blog could have foreseen that he'd go way overboard with stories about the"good old days" of SF and someone should really have told him not to do that (especially since it's prerecorded)

But the stuff like him still talking about the Campbell Award without acknowledging the name change (or making fun of it) is on another level and really sucks

And this non-apology on his Twitter is pretty useless (if it's about the Hugos, could also be about his "imprison me in New Zealand if TWOW isn't out" joke since he doesn't actually say anything)

 

[Kyuuji]

🗑️

 

[WrenchNinja]

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Wow this is clown shoes

 

[gforguava]

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Responding with this is some next level asshole. Fuck him.

 

[Jombie]

Depressing stuff.

 

[JDSN]

No wonder Jemisin was so subtly mad last night, she is the fucking queen of sci fi and kicking ass in both books and cómics so this crusty living writer's block is dismissing her acomplishments.

 

[Nappuccino]

oof

 

[Deleted member 1476]

GRRM: "I forgive you for being offended."

Fuck off into an acid lake and melt.

 

[teague]

The Hugos can fuck off at this point honestly, besides Jemisin (deservedly) winning 3x in a row they've been trash for at least 25 years and probably the whole time

 

[Palette Swap]

No wonder Jemisin was so subtly mad last night, she is the fucking queen of sci fi and kicking ass in both books and cómics so this crusty living writer's block is dismissing her acomplishments.

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I actually caught wind of the fiasco because I was trying to guess what she was subtweeting.

Also, yeah, this goes way beyond Martin. I'd say he was being himself, warts and all, and I'm way more suspicious of the people who chose to put him in a position where it would happen.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Can't finish a book to save his life but has time to wreck the recognition of people who can.

 

[whatsinaname]

So is this the first ever public broadcast of the awards? Because the tweet chain above indicates it has been a long standing problem.

 

[Palette Swap]

Also, I'm really happy the pronunciation thing is blowing out, because I always find it incredibly grating and it tends to be swept under the rug.

You fucks make up languages, use Norse and Germanic names really easily, correct misspelled Tolkien names, but all of a sudden, a name that's too ethnic, too urban or whatever doesn't deserve the same care. FOH.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Thanks for the link. The snippets you posted were pretty damning, but the whole thing is worth a read.

Particularly wanted to point out this part. Because of course this happened.

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I was about to point out the same thing. What a fucking horror show. Some of these events just seem to be lost causes at this point and marginalized people would be better served abandoning these straight cis white male founded and run awards shows to create our own while rubes like Martin continue to circle jerk amongst themselves.

Can't finish a book to save his life but has time to wreck the recognition of people who can.

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[GSR]

I started watching at the start and tuned out around the time Martin was making jokes that the woman presenting the current award with him was conceived at a Worldcon. When I tuned back in for the final few categories he was telling a long, rambling story about Robert Heinlein having some kind of epic "burst into the room" moment at some 70s Hugos.

Just could not be more out of touch with the actual winners of the night.

 

[Quiksaver]

I'm sad Middlegame didn't get it. :(

 

[steejee]

Yessh.

Not like I had much interest in the rest of GoT at this point, but this pretty much kills even that sliver.

 

[GSR]

I'm sad Middlegame didn't get it. :(

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I've been reading Seanan McGuire for a long time (mostly her work as Mira Grant) and Middlegame is by far the strongest book she's ever written imo. I was pulling for either it or Gideon to win, though I've heard nothing but good things about A Memory Called Empire and it's sitting in my to-read pile.

 

[Gwenpoolshark]

I hope the final book does eventually come out and it manages to be even shittier than the show.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Yessh.

Not like I had much interest in the rest of GoT at this point, but this pretty much kills even that sliver.

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I had the boxset and was legitimately interested in digging in but now I'm just gonna let it rot.

 

[Quiksaver]

I've been reading Seanan McGuire for a long time (mostly her work as Mira Grant) and Middlegame is by far the strongest book she's ever written imo. I was pulling for either it or Gideon to win, though I've heard nothing but good things about A Memory Called Empire and it's sitting in my to-read pile.

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Finding out Middlegame's story structure is based on the Alchemical process clinched it for me. She deserved the win.
Then again, I haven't read A Memory Called Empire either, but who can be totally rational when discussing awards?

 

[Ashdroid]

I tuned into the livestream after my Twitter feed became full of subtweets. It my first time watching the awards, and I was surprised by difference between the show and the amazing and diverse SFF that's been nominated (and been winning!) for the past several years. Like, it was almost bad enough to make me forget about all the excellent writing by women and minorities that I've been reading. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't an accurate portrayal of the genre.

I feel awful for anyone who watched it without being well-enough versed in modern SFF.

 

[anamika]

Why even is GRRM hosting this? What is his claim to fame? Some half finished books and an unfinished story for nearly 3 decades? Are there no better SF writers to moderate these awards?

As mentioned upthread, anyone who has read GRRM's blog would not be surprised by this. He is pretty egoistic and loves reminiscing about the writers of his time. This is the man who equated himself to Dickens, Fitzgerald and Tolkien because they had some unfinished works.

I do intend to finish A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, of course… but doubtless Peake, Dickens, Fitzgerald, and Tolkien would have said the same.

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FIRE & BLOOD : On The Way | Not a Blog

As for the casual racism and disregard for diversity, again, anyone who has read ASoIaF should not be surprised.

Fandom and the book world's regard for this man continues to baffle me. Time for the new generation of SF/Fantasy writers to come to the forefront. Let GRRM fade into obscurity with his unfinished novels like he deserves.

 

[RulkezX]

At least the old white guys aren't winning now.

The nominees and winners were fabulously diverse.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Wow, this seems like an even bigger dumpster fire than the Sad Puppies stuff years ago. At least then people were sympathetic to the people running the Hugo Awards.

It's hilariously pathetic seeing how hard the hosts were trying to undermine the nominees and winners, intentionally or not. I'm happy the actual nominees and winners were good, though.

 

[hythloday]

Responding with this is some next level asshole. Fuck him.

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He's posted a lengthier apology/explanation here:

2020 Hugo Awards

2020 Hugo Design by John Flower CoNZealand presented the 2020 Hugo Awards in an online ceremony today. Full voting statistics are here. Deputy Hugo Administrator Nicholas Whyte’s analysis is here. …

file770.com

He's saying he was only given phonetic pronunciation info for SOME of the finalists and didn't have contact information for the rest of them to ask them and find out. He's also denying the whole "refusal to re-record incorrect names" thing, saying he complied with 2 out of 3 requests to re-record segments but didn't do one because he didn't have the same props available.

I'll say that I think the event organizers bear a lot of the blame for this (Not giving your host all the pronunciation info is lazy, censoring the BLM background on Zoom is lame and from what a lot of people have said, the event's had big problems for a long time overall) but GRRM has assistants to hunt down all those e-mail addresses for him if he'd really wanted them.

It seems like the Hugo Awards is just a big party of old white authors waxing nostalgic about "the good old days" more than they're about actually honoring new and talented voices in SF/F.

 

[Deleted member 7279]

I watched basically the entire thing and it was awful

Ranging from cringeworthy to just downright offensive it was just bad.

Also N.K. Jemisin said on twitter that she sent her acceptance video in beforehand so if she seemed short or pissed it wasn't anything to do with last night's show. I think the entire process of WorldCon and the Hugos is very draining to her and others and we saw precisely why in part last night.

 

[DrForester]

There's already an effort to get the story in the top post nominated for a Hugo next year.

 

[mbpm]

There's already an effort to get the story in the top post nominated for a Hugo next year.

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Wait what? Why is Jenny Nicholson's video there lol

 

[DrForester]

Wait what? Why is Jenny Nicholson's video there lol

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MLP is Fantasy, so it qualifies as something related to the field of scifi/fantasy.

This is the same category that Lindsay Ellis' Hob it videos were officially nominated for.


Keep in mind thats an ongoing list of eligible works people have submitted. We're a long way off from official nominations.

 

[KingWillance]

A Memory Called Empire is a damn good novel and I hate that it's gonna get overshadowed by this shitshow

 

[FnordChan]

A Memory Called Empire is a damn good novel and I hate that it's gonna get overshadowed by this shitshow

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I second this. I loved A Memory Called Empire and have been enthusing about it since reading it with my tiny SF bookclub earlier in the year. It's an excellent novel and entirely deserving of the Hugo for Best Novel. Here's hoping folks are encouraged to check it out.

 

[Deleted member 511]

Also, I'm really happy the pronunciation thing is blowing out, because I always find it incredibly grating and it tends to be swept under the rug.

You fucks make up languages, use Norse and Germanic names really easily, correct misspelled Tolkien names, but all of a sudden, a name that's too ethnic, too urban or whatever doesn't deserve the same care. FOH.

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Thissss.

 

[B.K.]

I second this. I loved A Memory Called Empire and have been enthusing about it since reading it with my tiny SF bookclub earlier in the year. It's an excellent novel and entirely deserving of the Hugo for Best Novel. Here's hoping folks are encouraged to check it out.

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The Kindle version was on sale a few days ago for $2.99. I bought it on impulse. I have never heard of it before. I hope it's worth the money.

 

[Glasgow Mega-Snake]

NK Jemisin's post about her experiences with worldcon in general is also worth reading







This really seems to be the gist of the whole thing. For GRRM and his clique worldcon is a chance to remember the good old days when they were young.

For the new generation of writers it's the site of the most important science fiction awards, and it could be a way to celebrate today's authors, but instead they have to listen to people from the old boys' club tell decades-old in-jokes
(while many of them wouldn't have been included in that club, that instead welcomed open racists like Campbell)

Seems like it's high time for a generational change