Harlan Ellison interview | Science Fiction Writer | Good Afternoon | 1976
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ม.ค. 2018
- Two extracts from a fascinating interview with celebrated and controversial author Harlan Ellison. In these extracts noted journalist Mavis Nicholson speaks to Harlan about his previous works and his tough up bringing in Ohio.
First shown: 09/09/1976
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Quote: VT14135
Only the man who wrote "I have no mouth but I must scream" can so nonchalantly talk about having a sniper in his back yard aimed to kill him, then sneak around with his own gun and call the cops on him. What a bizarre ass story.
It is one of the most beautiful and American stories I've ever heard. At the same time, I like the story of Ellison stealing typewriters better.
"I just knew it was a situation that needed to be tended to" 😂👏
I love it!
Similar to the guy (Easy Andy) who was in Taxi Driver who had to kill in self-defense (in real life).
Which is ironic, because I remember him launching himself over a table trying to throttle someone for asking what he considered a stupid question. LOL
They don’t have interviews like they used to. I swear many of these older interviews I watch have well spoken hosts asking insightful questions to equally intelligent guests.
Keep in mind people don't keep and post the crap. And you are not looking for it either.
Modern interviews are sorta clickbaity. They ask questions in such a way that they end up with a "gotcha" when the guest answers the weird question in a weird way.
The dialect is bound to change duo to cultural shifts
If you compare An interview in 40s 70s and 2010s you are going to find differences
It's not necessarily bad or good
Podacast are a good way to dive deep in the guests ideas and way of thinking...
@@HoussamNekkaa it's why people like Joe Rogan. He doesn't lead the guest and just sorta have a conversation. And then he starts talking about workout, DMT and chimpanzees.
That smirk he gives when she asks him have you ever experienced violence in your life is gold
I noticed that, too.
He’s so fine 😩
@@ophelia4825 Someone that gets it 😂👏
@@ophelia4825, fr 😩
The world is way less interesting without this man :(
There're thousands of interesting people like him. Random interesting person and author I can recommend is Jiddu Krishnamurti.
@@MightyForSure Krishnamurti ... a most unexpected comment.
I agree. We would probably be good friends. I love his short story "I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream."
In the summer of 1976, I went to Cambridge University. We got a free day and I went to London because Harlan was writing short stories while sitting in a bookstore window.
We spent a wonderful afternoon talking, I bought two copies of his latest book but didn’t get the copy of his story that day cause he didn’t get it finished.
When I got home to the US in September I found he’d sent me that day’s and the next day’s manuscripts, autographed.
And I was just your average fan. He was a very special person!
He’s so fine 😩
Real
Real.
His outfit is so perfectly 70s, down to the pipe lol
I still wear aviators
Oh my god he’s so hot
DNI if u got into ihnmaims after 2020 ur cringe
Right
he's SO fine and for what??
@@owometer7011he assaulted women btw
I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS COMMZNT
YOU GET ITTT HE'S SO FINE
One of our greatest voices was silenced Friday. RIP Harlan Ellison.
Loud and Clear.
I wish he could have said more while he was here though
Ellison seems like the kind of artist who would have a premature death in his forties or thirties. But somehow lived till his eighties
Why do people glorify him? He’s obnoxious and egotistical.
@@alecnichols7845 LMAO NOT even close. Troll harder.
Harlan: A science fiction writer is exactly what I'm NOT.
Thames: Harlan Ellison interview | Science Fiction Writer
He didn't want to be pigeon holed. He was a writer, and he wrote things that were not Science-Fiction. Lots of criticism outside of his SF writing.
Now I have read very little of what he wrote, of any kind because he did not write novels and mostly I read novels or non-fiction. But his rants are amazing.
Though Ellison eschewed genre categorization himself, his work was most frequently labeled _science fiction_ ; such short stories as; “ ‘Repent, Harlequin!’ "Said the Ticktockman”, “A Boy and His Dog”, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" , "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" and more of the science fiction genre. In his sui generis fictions, Ellison erected alternate (and often bizarre) worlds populated by characters that ranged from telepathic canines to malignant artificial intelligence entities. Ellison also wrote numerous screenplays and teleplays for series such as Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and Babylon 5. All in all, he made his living and rose to fame through science fiction.
This caustic & pugnacious man loves to view himself as a man without borders, but Lenny Bruce would know better . . .
@@ethelredhardrede1838 Science Fiction was considered Niche. It didn't have the widespread appeal it does now.
Of course he won't want to be labeled as a Sci Fi Writer.
A lot of his work is quite obviously science fiction.
@@maejune2179 An interesting take, but Harlan carried this sentiment (his desire to simply be called a writer) throughout his life until his unfortunate death in 2018. Being stuck within a genre is restrictive and limiting, regardless of popularity, and someone of his intellect probably wouldn't appreciate being given such parameters.
This is a man who knew what was going on and saw humanity as it is. No sugar coating, no excuses, and complete honesty. He is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite authors. What a guy.
He seems restrained, witty, perceptive, and politically progressive here, rather belying his later raucous reputation. A valuable interview.
Socialism is cancer.
The key word is "reputation". I had the good fortune to meet Ellison on a couple of occasions, and speak to him over the phone on one other. While there is no doubt Harlan could indeed be, to use Heinlein's phrase, "a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch" when it suited him... my own interaction with him showed him as a kind, courteous, thoughtful person, quite approachable as long as one wasn't a damnfool. And, as so many here have stated, he was also one of the best writers of the twentieth century, in a variety of fields. Often caustic, frequently funny, at times wistful and almost always poignant, his work is a national treasure. We here in America are very lucky to have such emerge from our society. They are indeed shining lights, showing both what we are and what we can be. One of my favorite quotes from the man (from "Delusion for a Dragon-Slayer") addresses this: "a man may truly live in his dreams, his noblest dreams, but only, ONLY if he is worthy of those dreams."
He was always politically progressive, at least until he retired from public life.
I remember from his Dreams with Sharp Teeth documentary, he literally wrote a small piece about marching with Martin Luther King and saying that anyone who didn't march with him should go fuck themselves.
I obviously think that was somewhat hyperbolic and he wasn't accusing people who are born after the march to join him, but it showed how convicted he was in his beliefs.
@@alecnichols7845 Kay dude. Have fun on the wrong side of history.
@@ishtarian Exactly, the presence of genuine curiosity, a few brain cells and the absence of stupid questions/comments, and our dear Uncle Harlan is charm itself. He knows this interviewer isn't a cretin and time-waster and responds accordingly.
i dont know about you all but all i hear is AM.....its chilling
So you’re saying that you hear IT and not HIM?
AM got owned by a guy with an icicle
*HAAAATE!!!*
@@Valerio_the_wandering_sprite For you, hate....Hate...HHHAATTTEE
TH-cam's algorithms just recommended this vid to me BECAUSE I was looking for his No Mouth contents besides the PC game.
Charles Dickens over described. Harlan Ellison's descriptions are vivid but very concise. RIP Harlan. I knew something was wrong when you were not noisy, I thought you would go out fighting a dragon.
I believe Neil Gaiman said something very similar in his blog about his dear friend's passing. No doubt, his combative character was the defining source of his vitality, and without it, the Reaper must have stopped cowering around the corner and finally crept up on him.
I love this interview. She is a wonderful host. I was lucky enough to see Harlan Ellison read his work at the University of Calgary back in 1975. He is the writer that made me want to write. He was an amazing live performer: hilarious, acid, generous, profound, kind, furious, sad, riveting. The world was diminished with his passing and enriched beyond measure with his living.
RIP Harlan Ellison, my favorite PITA ever. He didn't consider himself a "science fiction" writer because very few of his stories (or anyone else's) involved science. He called what he did "speculative fiction" so he could still take advantage of the SF tag. Pretty clever marketing.
A lot of it's science fiction.
I want to hug him.
It's curious how he always looked and sounded unquestionably cool.
its that sincere self assured confidence. he knows exactly what he’s saying, and he believes in himself earnestly
"So I got my binoculars and sure enough there was a man in the bushes with a rifle pointed at my home so I got my gun-"
"Why do you need a gun?"
Lady. Ma'am. Were you not paying attention?
She didnt even say that what are you talking about.
"Why do you own a gun?"
Lady, he just got done telling a story about him defending his own life with it. Why the fuck do you think he has a gun?
Well US gun control is garbage, and this was recorded over almost 50 years ago and it’s gotten worse.
RIP to one of the greatest writers to ever live.
Respect.
I'm for some reason thrilled that these two got on so well.
“My mother dies regularly”
I got the fattest crush on ellison‼️‼️
WHAT
We got a wacko case..
Same
Mavis Nicholson was a great host and used to interview very interesting people. This was daytime TV fare in the 1970s --- can you imagine seeing this type of thing nowadays?
I really appreciate what he says about violence. I have said several of these things myself. I honestly can only take so much in literature, but I do read books and watch some movies that are very very violent. Friends are often shocked and tell me how disturbing they find these stories, but I argue that indeed there is a lot of violence in the world, and many stories glorify it instead of describing it viscerally in a way that readers are sufficiently repulsed and don't want to commit violence. Glorifiying violence makes it seem fun, and is part of the reason people go out and do it.
The "Robocop" remake is a good example of what harlan is talking about. That being said, you can also take something vile, and exaggerate it to the point that it becomes ridiculous, a parody even... The OG "Robocop" film would be a good example of that. Then there's hot garbage like "A Serbian film", which is vile just for heck of it, some would say that it's too ridiculous to be taken seriously, but baby rape, and a dad anally sodomizing his own child seems much to cruel to be parodied, the violence is also depicted in a more grounded or "realistic" fashion, so it's harder (for me) to be more dismissive of it. Also, anyone that really buys into "Serbian" being a satire, a parody, or as the director himself proclaims "a political allegory" is downright delusional, I've read his reasoning, and it doesn't hold up. His idea of how the the "metaphors" in his film work are just ridiculous, anything can mean anything if you deliberately choose to see it that way, that's not enough, he's a terrible story teller, and it's a shit film, period.
*As I type this Mavis Nicholson I was happily surprised to find out is still with us and into her 90th year, born 19/10/1930, and was 45 when this first aired.*
I could listen to Harlan talk forever. This kind of balanced human was a dying breed in his day and fifty some odd years later, has almost been extinguished. Glad you got your kicks while you were here and thanks for all the laughs, from across time and space.
Edit: I should also add the "station bumper" or introduction animated split Thames image was a total blast from the past, I don't think I've seen that for 30 years and yet here it is again, blowing my 7 year old mind. Wild.
"Im a professional liar" Brilliant. exactly what the enlightened and intellectual would say. Every view and subject has a bad and good side. You can see that or avoid that. The enlightened welcome it and accept it, and those are the people who want GOOD change for the world...and that change will mean BAD for other people...usually the rich and powerful; who are in control of society.
He will be sorely missed. He knew his shit about society and used his intellect to shape peoples minds for the better.
Interviewer: "Have you experienced violence in your life?"
Ellison:
Me: Laughs uproariously
“Lady, I *am* violence.“
Wow, HE was charming and a lot less jaded 40 years ago!
Pelican1984 Based on interviews I’ve read, nah, he was just being nicer here, lol
I think he was respectful to the interviewer because she was actually engaging him and respectful.
Yeah that's what I gathered
Love his books and stories. Was lucky enough to see him speak in person many times and he, like his stories were entertaining and made you think. He was not afraid to voice his opinion on something and invited constructive conversation from others as well. Enjoyed his skills with the pen and paper. Miss him. RIP Harlan.
he;s so fine
real
so real brother
ur so real for that
real
real
And once again, I see an Ellison interview from the 70's that is just as relevant now. Hell... even moreso.
Harlan was such a brilliant man, and a brilliant writer. The world is a lesser place without him.
My father gave me Harlan as my middle name , i then 30 years later named my son Harlan . Harlan Ellison
This is the most 70s-looking man I've ever seen lmao
Lol casually dunking on Scientology in 1976
Thank the e gods that he lives on through these old videos, he was one of a kind and the world seems a little emptier without him......RIP....Harlan......
Brilliant, I hope there's more of this interview released in the future!!
"The only living organism whose natural habitat is hot water."
Robert Bloch
@@sarahwilliamson8646 actually the quote. Was about Harlan Ellison.
@@ColonelMarcellus I know
While I am far more interested in his views on writing than on politics (as I would be with any writer, unless perhaps the writer is known specifically for politics e.g. Churchill), I was very pleased to see this interview preserved and posted for us to view decades later. My main complaint is that as we were getting into a fascinating story about something he had written, the interview ends.
I disagree on almost all political views with him but I have respected the gentlemen since I was 12 years old and first found him on Sci Fi Buzz. I always respect people who are real and I am sad that the world lost one of them.
Many thanks for this.. I've always been fascinated by Ellison & his work, would love to see any more of this interview if there is any available. RIP to the chap.
Harlan is a man after my own heart. I love the black comedy side of him. For some reason it always feels like the most outcast are the ones that can come to a level of understanding of the world most will never see. That introspection and self motivating gives way to poignant works of chilling reality. I can especially vibe with his dealing with violence at his own home, methodical. In the moment when your adrenaline is pumping you simply act, there is no emotion to it.
As a Roald Dahl fan, I was pretty amazed that a fantastic writer like Harlan Ellison mentioned his name.
Rip to both amazing writers of the whole world.
Both prickly customers but very good writers.
Especially when considering how Roald Dahl would later gain a reputation as an antisemite.
R.I.P. HE, one of our greatest sci-fi authors.
I can imagine an interview with Harlan Ellison being somewhat uncomfortable. The line "I have no mouth but I must scream" about the endless torture of the twisted remains of a human by a malevolent, sentient computer, with an unwavering and personal grudge against humankind, having been created to wage the war that eventually wiped out all but five humans. These were kept, and made immortal so that the computer could inflict suffering and pain for ever (four did manage to kill themselves, leaving the fifth to be the sole target of the computer's attention).
Not even J.G. Ballard came up with anything quite so dark.
I remember this from when it was originally broadcast. I'd never heard of Ellison beforehand but was instantly captivated. Pity the anecdote of his encounter with Frank Sinatra in a pool hall wasn't included.
What was it ?
Just Frank being a wanker.
www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/.
Page search for Harlan.
Luis Alonso 95 If you go to the Esquire website there is a podcast available of the encounter from 1966. It is two segments in length, about 30 minutes each, and features comments from writer Gay Talese.
RIP Harlan.
My favourite writer and one of my favourite Humans. Thanks for the upload, it greatly helps the research I've been doing for my book!
Thanks for being Harlan! R.I.P.
That pipe is actually cool...
I remember watching Harlan on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. What a blast! I'll never forget the time I got to meet him in Denver, he signed all my books. Everything Harlan said in this short interview is quite revelant - now more than ever. (Nothing has changed with the NRA except that they are now a bigger bully than before). RIP my friend.
"I read your stories and got disturbed by them, I like them very much", fantastic
Yellow Glasses...
Who wore it better: Harlan Ellison or Hunter S. Thompson or Johnny Depp
I guess insane, yet brilliant writers wear yellow glasses?
AM wore it better
Thompson
They're shooting glasses. Cuts the tint and glare for firing guns. Something Thompson prolly did waaay more. But Ellison is also badass in that he's an articulate educated asshole. Thompson taught himself to write......in a weird way
“I hate yellow”
They don't build em like Ellison anymore
Absolutely brilliant interview thanks
Imagine thinking it would be unacceptable for a man to kill someone who threatens him with a rifle.
Mr. Ellison is incapable of telling a boring story.
All I hear is AM.
11:35 i feel him i use to bullied in elementary for being autistic
So THIS is who Stephen King wanted to be when he grew up...
man i wish shit like this was coming out today
Harlan Ellison
Rod Serling
George Carlin
Bill Hicks
Thank you America.
First two, yes. Last two not so much.
@@thursoberwick1948 Why?
Great to see. Take it you have the rest of it in storage somewhere? Release the tapes, I dare you! H.E. wouldn't thank you for calling him an SF writer but given the number of awards he's won in that field I think it's fair enough. It should also be noted that he is a very, very fine essayist, and all the ease and range you see on display here can be found in the Hornbook, Glass Teat columns, Sleepless Nights, &c.
I've watched this interview at least a dozen times
Do you know where to find the full interview?
Harlan, - the all-time brilliant curmudgeon of writing, fantasy, imagination and existential angst.
He was one of a kind. Loved. Adored. Feared.
Even Sinatra found out, "ya don't mess with this fierce little smartass tough guy"❗
Looney & lovable.
8:10 “Why do you own a gun?”
He kind of already answered that question with the story he just told.
It's amazing that a man as intelligent as Ellison believed in gun control, _even though he saw the necessity of owning a gun for self-protection._ Take guns out of the equation. Let's say he got his wish and all guns could have been removed from civilian hands. Ellison was 5'4" tall, and probably weighed about 140lbs dripping wet (at least in his youth; he got rather fat in his eld), how does he think he would have defended himself against an attacker who was six and half feet tall and weighed twice as much as he did? He said himself he understands how violent people are, and how nasty the world is, did he think that would have changed if guns went away?
Harlan Ellison is crucial, relevant today more than ever
my favourite author of all time- real inspiration to me for writing :)
A great writer with a great mind. He pulls no punches.
I can only imagine how much Ellison would hate having "Science Fiction" in front of "Writer" in the title
Woah, just realized that Matthew Hollness in Garth Marenghis Dark Place is just Harlan Ellison cosplay from this era.
Even if most of his personal stories aren't true hes still a stone cold badass, love this guy
They just don't do real, authentic interviews like this anymore, where an interviewer and interviewee can disagree but still discuss topics without being at each other's throats. Everything today is so canned and scripted and bland. I don't agree with everything Ellison says in his interviews, but he was a brilliant writer and mind, and was quite an interesting person. I've just started reading his works and it's quite fascinating.
Good man, he was.
He inspired me to start writing, and I also share his philosophy.
Im loving this. Calls scientology nonsense lol. He doesnt take shit
L. Ron Hubbard was an acquaintance of his. They moved in the same circles for a while.
@@thursoberwick1948 didn't know that interesting
@@HopelessHermit He talks about it in another interview on here. A lot of the old SF writers knew each other. I don't think they were good friends though.
To be fair, I have enjoyed a lot of LRH's stories. Even Battlefield Earth (more holes than Swiss cheese!) Whatever I may think of Scientology I still read his stuff.
God he was styling.
That was it?! There's got to be a lot more to this.
Right??! I hate how it cuts out on him talking about "I have no mouth but I must scream". It's easily one of my favorite stories ever made.
I got chills when he mentioned the three powers of WW3. China was very poor during the time of the interview, but now the three top world powers are indeed, US, Russia and China. I think it’s eery, but I need to make the disclaimer that I am not making the assertion that “I have no mouth and I must scream” is by any stretch prophetic. Just strange he picked China as a superpower when there was no indication during that time period that they could be.
Many predicted the rise of China
Because of its huge population
No indication? Obviously you didn't hear about the Korean War. The writing was on the wall for a long time.
@@maskcollector6949 I would still argue the possibility of low military efficiency & spending due to the extreme poverty before China adopted some capitalism into their economic model.
every day i get so sad that he never pursued comedy. my god hes funny. he’d have KILLED on a stand-up stage, and its possible he’d have found it rather cathartic. though, knowing other comics who were popular in his time, he would have only become MORE infamous
I absolutely love American intellectuals. Fascinating people. My favourite is Stephen Donaldson, America's Tolkien.
Rest In Peace brother, you were an inspiration to me and a God damned hero. I miss you
Respect to Ellison, his manner of writing is manna for the brain. Though I will disagree on his stance for gun control.
Imagine having “hired gunman” on your resume! I was born in ‘63 and grew up watching those same movies and I cannot watch them anymore without experiencing many of these same feelings. I also feel the same way about guns. I own them but wish I didn’t.
I think his voice sounds very much like Christian Slater, but that's just me.
I would say Michael douglass and Christian slater on helium.
He sounds like Richard Dreyfuss too
They forgot to say he ran with the Hell's Angels, punched Frank Sinatra for making fun of his cowboy boots and bet L.Ron Hubbard $50 he couldn't turn a Sci Fi story into a religion.
Minute 14: 25 "The first thing I ever wrote and sold was when I was 10 years old I sold a 5 part serial to the _Cleveland_ _News_ , to the young people's column. It was a direct steal from Sir Walter Scott...Then I followed up with my second big success which was a direct steal from Rider Haggard."
--Harlan Ellison was born in 1934. The stories he is talking about here are "The Sword of Parmagon" and "The Gloconda." Both stories were published in 1949 when he was 15 years old. Did he write them when he was only 10 years old only to have them published 5 years later? Anyway, they are good stories.
It's hard to tell when he's lying.
this mf asked why do you own a gun right after a story of him using a gun to protect himself from a phsyco
When I saw the thumb nail i thought it was John Stamos
waaaait a minute....he wrote the book that people claim terminator ripped off?
Best part about the rifle story is that he later admitted to Robin Williams that he had in fact put up his own car and lost to this guy! He then told him to go to hell and that he wasnt gonna give him the car. So I feel like the guy went to Vietnam feeling like his life spiralled because of Harlan and thats what he tried to kill him.
6:20 a, ok :3
He seems fundamentally interesting, I'd love to just talk to him one day
You can. Read all his books. (He's dead. But he would be delighted that you read his books.)
For someone so into the First Amendment he was a real pissant when it came to the Second Amendment.
He was proud, arrogant, and staggeringly narrow minded. Let that not take away from his intelligence nor his creativity, but when it comes to matters of being clever or aware? He falls poorly short.
Hex Maniac You hate him because he doesn’t like guns, forget the pretentious nonsense you wrapped that in.
@@irarelyupload6930 You can appreciate his work and still think he's a pissant for promoting gun control. Only a pissant would say or think such a thing. You probably hate the OP because you believe in gun control...yet disarmament precedes every genocide in human history and only a pissant would think otherwise. There's nothing pretentious about calling him that, because it's sub-logical and sub-human to promote such a thing which becomes like a playground for tyrants as history has shown repeatedly. It's a very logical deduction to acknowledge and respect that pattern of history and to call him a pissant for going against the grain of history for the sake of idealism/extremism/being contrarian. He was an extremist in everything he touched, him possessing a gun and using it is a great example of it remaining ideology indefinitely. The only way that will EVER change is if human nature evolves dramatically, and it would then be a choice not a mandate. It's totalitarian and infantile thinking that promotes such a thing as disarming any free peoples, which we all ought to be until proven a danger to the public. Study history more, you're only as ignorant as you let yourself be, only a pissant would critique him being called a pissant for this. Evolve out of it.
This man could eviscerate with words - leave you staring at your beating heart as he holds it in his hand.
Or
Leave you in tears as you enter the bedroom of a sweet childhood friend named Jeffty.
That's why we love our Unka Harlin
Interesting interview, even if I don’t agree he is captivating to listen to
Jeffrey Combs should play him in a biopic
Jeffery combs is an awesome actor
When I read "Bug Jack Barron" by Norman Spinrad, I pictured Ellison as the title character. It's a real missed opportunity that they never made a movie adaptation of it with him playing Jack.
I study this man and is writing techniques and apply them in my own stories i myself am a writer
Ancap Otaku wow