History Creator / HarlanEllison

* ''Franchise/StarWars'', because people consider it a good science fiction story but it doesn't really examine the effect of the setting on humanity as a whole. He also felt that the film has no humanity or soul[[note]]he says the characters don't even have the depth of those in the old 1940s serials on which ''Star Wars'' is based, which always included some kind of AnAesop that was useful, believable and possible in everyday life[[/note]], and believed it "keeps people stupid"[[note]]he particularly noted [[SpaceIsNoisy the Death Star exploding with a huge KABOOM in space]] and revealed how Creator/AlanDeanFoster had strenuously objected to this and proposed believable alternatives -- Lucas' cynical retort was that "there's a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something explodes so I'll give them the boom". Foster hasn't worked with Lucas since.[[/note]] and ruined the public cultural perception of science fiction. It's especially evident in his infamous rant "Luke Skywalker is a Nerd and Darth Vader sucks runny eggs", collected in his book "Watching". Which feeds back into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDNrnpefGio the distinction between "science fiction" and "sci-fi"]]. With that said however, Ellison ''did'' genuinely enjoy watching ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and considered it a solidly made movie (though this didn't stop him from writing a disparaging review of the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 tie-in game later on).

* NewMediaAreEvil: He initially had a very low opinion of video games, seeing them as brainless time wasters, if his review of the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 ''Empire Strikes Back'' game is anything to go by (which he particularly disliked for the seemingly nihilistic message implied by the [[EndlessGame game being impossible to win]]). This didn't stop him from authorizing or doing voice work for game adaptations of his own stories, however (and in an act of irony, Ellison ''wanted'' the game adaptation of ''I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream'' to be [[UnwinnableByDesign unwinnable]], but ultimately compromised by allowing the game to have a [[MultipleEndings Good Ending option]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding albeit one that is frustratingly hard to achieve]]).

Harlan Jay Ellison® (yes, he [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope made his own name a registered trademark]]) (May 27, 1934 -- June 28, 2018) was a science fiction writer, who was strongly associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement of the 1960s. His work has won eight and a half UsefulNotes/{{Hugo Award}}s, three UsefulNotes/{{Nebula Award}}s (plus a lifetime achievement award), five UsefulNotes/{{Bram Stoker Award}}s (including a lifetime achievement award), two Edgar Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards for Most Outstanding Teleplay -- more awards than almost any other writer. The majority of his work was one-off short stories published in magazines and digests, often with magical realism, science fiction, fantasy and even erotic themes, often told in a surrealistic manner.

* LongTitle[=/=]WordSaladTitle: He ''loved'' these. In his repertoire you'll find titles like "'Repent, Harlequin!'" Said the Ticktockman", "Demon With a Glass Hand", "The Wine Has Been Left Open Too Long and the Memory Has Gone Flat", and of course, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream".

* People who [[ScifiGhetto discount all science fiction]] as being no better than the worst of film and TV {{sci fi}} ("that hunchbacked, gimlet-eyed, slobbering village idiot of a bastardized genre"). In fact, as of ''Dream Corridor'', he hated the label "science fiction writer", which he saw as too limited, and ''really'' didn't like the label "sci-fi writer".

** In "Grail", the demon [[LockedDoor Surgat]] is a minor demon who specializes in opening locks. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgat He has his own]] UsefulNotes/{{Wikipedia}} page.

* DeathBySex: Implied for [[spoiler:humanity as a whole, if not all species of creatures on Earth]] at the end of "How's the Night Life on Cissalda?"

->''"Darkness falls early. From the horizon comes the wail of creatures pretending to be human. The red tide has come in, and shapeless things float toward the shore. He stands before the altar of Art, naked and with fists raised, and he vows: ''I will not be lied to''.''

->''Hello. My name is Harlan Ellison and I am a writer."''

-->"But that's the point! Is the single defense I get when I alienate myself at dinner parties by my negativity. It's supposed to be mindless, I'm told. And then those professional types who are safe in loving ''Star Wars'' where they might be attacked for reading the latest Creator/RobertSilverberg or Thomas Disch sf novel, explain to me as carefully as one would a retarded child, that ''Star Wars'' is a return to the worship of the Eternal Verifies: honor, truth, fighting Evil. All black and white. Try black and white in a world of credit cards, punk rock, mastectomies, Watergate, the rise of homegrown Nazism, Anita Bryant, and the terrifying fact that more than half of all serious crimes in the United States are committed by [[TeensAreMonsters people between the ages of ten and seventeen]]---and that includes rape, murder, robbery, aggravated assault and burglary."

* People who asked him about the jellybeans in "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman". Which were lampshaded in the story itself.

* "''Literature/RepentHarlequinSaidTheTicktockman''", Hugo- and Nebula-Award-winning 1965 short story. Which, he writes in an intro to the story in [not sure what anthology], that he wrote it all in one sitting, the night before he had to hand it in for a writing-workshop. This is now reported to be one of the most reprinted stories in the English language.

* "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman", Hugo- and Nebula-Award-winning 1965 short story. Which, he writes in an intro to the story in [not sure what anthology], that he wrote it all in one sitting, the night before he had to hand it in for a writing-workshop. This is now reported to be one of the most reprinted stories in the English language.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'', because people consider it a good science fiction story but it doesn't really examine the effect of the setting on humanity as a whole. He also felt that the film has no humanity or soul[[note]]he says the characters don't even have the depth of those in the old 1940s serials on which ''Star Wars'' is based, which always included some kind of AnAesop that was useful, believable and possible in everyday life[[/note]], and believed it "keeps people stupid"[[note]]he particularly noted [[SpaceIsNoisy the Death Star exploding with a huge KABOOM in space]] and revealed how Creator/AlanDeanFoster had strenuously objected to this and proposed believable alternatives -- Lucas' cynical retort was that "there's a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something explodes so I'll give them the boom". Foster hasn't worked with Lucas since.[[/note]] and ruined the public cultural perception of science fiction. It's especially evident in his infamous rant "Luke Skywalker is a Nerd and Darth Vader sucks runny eggs", collected in his book "Watching". Which feeds back into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDNrnpefGio the distinction between "science fiction" and "sci-fi"]]. With that said however, Ellison ''did'' genuinely enjoy watching ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and considered it a solidly made movie (though this didn't stop him from writing a disparaging review of the Atari 2600 tie-in game later on).

* NewMediaAreEvil: He initially had a very low opinion of video games, seeing them as brainless time wasters, if his review of the Atari 2600 ''Empire Strikes Back'' game is anything to go by (which he particularly disliked for the seemingly nihilistic message implied by the [[EndlessGame game being impossible to win]]). This didn't stop him from authorizing or doing voice work for game adaptations of his own stories, however (and in an act of irony, Ellison ''wanted'' the game adaptation of ''I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream'' to be [[UnwinnableByDesign unwinnable]], but ultimately compromised by allowing the game to have a [[MultipleEndings Good Ending option]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding albeit one that is frustratingly hard to achieve]]).

* LongTitle[=/=]WordSaladTitle: He ''loved'' these. In his repertoire you'll find titles like "'Repent, Harlequin!'" Said the Ticktockman", "Demon With a Glass Hand", and of course, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream".

Harlan Jay Ellison® (yes, he [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope made his own name a registered trademark]]) (May 27, 1934 -- June 28, 2018) was a [[BerserkButton science fiction wri]]-- erm, that is, [[InsistentTerminology writer]], who was strongly associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement of the 1960s. His work has won eight and a half UsefulNotes/{{Hugo Award}}s, three UsefulNotes/{{Nebula Award}}s (plus a lifetime achievement award), five UsefulNotes/{{Bram Stoker Award}}s (including a lifetime achievement award), two Edgar Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards for Most Outstanding Teleplay -- more awards than almost any other writer. The majority of his work was one-off short stories published in magazines and digests, often with magical realism, science fiction, fantasy and even erotic themes, often told in a surrealistic manner.

* ''Literature/SpiderKiss'' (aka ''Rockabilly''), a 1961 novel about a sociopathic teen idol and the publicist who has to keep the singer's drunken rampages out of the scandal sheets. His only full-length novel, and also the only novel given a spot in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

* ClocksOfControl: ""Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman" is about a ruthless dystopian government led by a figure known as the Master Timekeeper or the "Ticktockman". Under the Ticktockman's rule, everyone is perpetually bound to an incredibly strict schedule every day, and failing to follow this schedule is punishable by death, which the Ticktockman carries out by stopping one's heart.

* ShutUpHannibal: ""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman"

* BrutalHonesty: Ellison did not hold back or sugarcoat his opinions on ''anything''.

* FriendToAllChildren: Ellison ''loved'' kids, despite never having any of his own. Their presence was a sure way to bring out his softer side, and messing with them was a sure way to [[PapaWolf bring out his volcanic temper.]]

* GrumpyOldMan: His infamous grouchy demeanor didn't get dulled in the slightest with age.
* HairTriggerTemper: Ellison was notoriously volatile and ill-tempered with a list of [[BerserkButton things that pissed him off]] a mile long.

* {{Jerkass}}: He was to writing what Creator/ErichVonStroheim was to film - a man with great ideas and enormous talent, but ''impossible'' to work with. Case in point, he once managed to get kicked out of a convention at which he was the Guest of Honor.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all his faults, he was an outspoken supporter of human rights, often helped out struggling writers, and was a fiercely loyal and devoted friend. He also [[FriendToAllChildren loved kids]] and was always much better with them than adults.

* JewsLoveToArgue: He was Jewish and famously volatile and confrontational. His good friend Neil Gaiman once described him affectionately as a "cranky old Jew who is in love with his cranky old Jewishness".
* LargeHam:
** His voice acting in ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream.'' (TEEEEEEEEDDDD!)
** Also, debatably, his whole life. As Creator/NeilGaiman said (In ''Dreams with Sharp Teeth'') "I think all of Harlan's work is actually a giant piece of performance art, called...Harlan Ellison."

* UnreliableNarrator:
** ''Many'' of his stories about his interactions with Hollywood/other writers have gotten called into question by the rest of the science fiction community. Ellison was one of those people who won't let the truth get in the way of [[TheMunchausen a good story]]; take any quote of his with a salt mine.
** Like many other thinking, intelligent people, Ellison fell for the March 1964 ''New York Times'' story of [[https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/27/37-who-saw-murder-didnt-call-the-police.html thirty-eight people (37 in the article)]] who supposedly stood and watched [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese Kitty Genovese]] get slashed to death on a New York street without trying to help because they didn't want to "get involved".[[note]]For example, only one man said he didn't want to get involved, and gave that as his reason for asking a friend to call the cops -- and the friend did call. It was the ''police'' who didn't take the calls seriously. Domestic violence and assaults on women were considered the participants' problem; you stood a good chance of getting arrested yourself if you "bothered" the police with such calls. And a couple of men hesitated to call because they were gay. In those days, that could get you ''killed'' by cops (Genovese herself was a lesbian, and the police might have not cared if they'd known).[[/note]] Calling them "thirty-six motherfuckers", he actually began work on a screenplay about evil forces that might be behind such willful inaction. While there really is such a thing as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect bystander effect]], [[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/10/a-call-for-help the real story of Kitty's murder is much more complex]]. Ellison hopefully learned this before his passing.
** The tale of his alleged encounter with the larcenous "Valerie" (in ''Harlan Ellison's Hornbook'') has an incredibly large continuity hole in it.[[note]]Valerie's friend who allegedly stole Harlan's credit cards out of his car -- who keeps their credit cards in their ''car???'' -- would have had to be clairvoyant. He'd have to know that, and when, and where, Ellison was going to get his car washed, so he could steal the cards out of it for Valerie. Nice work if you can get it.[[/note]]

* HornyDevils: A succubus delivers retribution to a HandsomeLech in "Lonely Women Are the Vessels of Time".

* ''Franchise/StarWars'', because people consider it a [[SturgeonsLaw good science fiction story]] but it doesn't really examine the effect of the setting on humanity as a whole. He also felt that the film has no humanity or soul[[note]]he says the characters don't even have the depth of those in the old 1940s serials on which ''Star Wars'' is based, which always included some kind of AnAesop that was useful, believable and possible in everyday life[[/note]], and believed it "keeps people stupid"[[note]]he particularly noted [[SpaceIsNoisy the Death Star exploding with a huge KABOOM in space]] and revealed how Creator/AlanDeanFoster had strenuously objected to this and proposed believable alternatives -- Lucas' cynical retort was that "there's a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something explodes so I'll give them the boom". Foster hasn't worked with Lucas since.[[/note]] and ruined the public cultural perception of science fiction. It's especially evident in his infamous rant "Luke Skywalker is a Nerd and Darth Vader sucks runny eggs", collected in his book "Watching". Which feeds back into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDNrnpefGio the distinction between "science fiction" and "sci-fi"]]. With that said however, Ellison ''did'' genuinely enjoy watching ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and considered it a solidly made movie (though this didn't stop him from writing a disparaging review of the Atari 2600 tie-in game later on).

* SacredCow:[[invoked]] He considered it nothing less than his mission in life to go after these, heaping sneering contempt on ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and [[FanHater all those who enjoy them]]. He [[EveryoneHasStandards loved]] the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' books, however, and openly called ''Series/DoctorWho'' "the greatest science fiction series of all time" at a lecture, writing glowing introductions to the American editions of ten Classic Series novelizations. His full-length audiobook rendition of Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' is read in the vivid narrative style of a children's storyteller, and he's clearly loving the whole thing.

* SacredCow:[[invoked]] He considered it nothing less than his mission in life to go after these, heaping sneering contempt on ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and [[FanHater all those who enjoy them]]. He [[EveryoneHasStandards loved]] the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' books, however, and wrote glowing introductions to the American editions of ''Series/DoctorWho'' novelizations. His full-length audiobook rendition of Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' is read in the vivid narrative style of a children's storyteller, and he's clearly loving the whole thing.

* Was hired by Creator/WarnerBrothers in the late 1970s to write a film adaptation of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''I, Robot''; the script (which is available in book format) is highly-regarded by those who have read it, but the project fell apart after Ellison accused a studio exec of having the intellectual capacity of an artichoke. Asimov loved the script, and it was most certainly TruerToTheText than the actual ''Film/IRobot''. Ellison considered it nothing less than one of the great tragedies of his life that the film was never made, and his dear friend Isaac never got to see it.

Harlan Jay Ellison® (yes, he [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope made his own name a registered trademark]]) (May 27, 1934 -- June 28, 2018) was a [[BerserkButton science fiction wri]]-- erm, that is, [[InsistentTerminology writer]], who was strongly associated with the NewWaveScienceFiction movement of the 1960s. His work has won eight and a half UsefulNotes/{{Hugo Award}}s, three UsefulNotes/{{Nebula Award}}s (plus a lifetime achievement award), five UsefulNotes/{{Bram Stoker Award}}s (including a lifetime achievement award), two Edgar Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards for Most Outstanding Teleplay -- more awards than almost any other writer. The majority of his work was one-off short stories published in magazines and digests, often with magica realism, science fiction, fantasy and even erotic themes, often told in a surrealistic manner.

* AdamAndEvePlot (parodied)