ettlz's Journal: On the sig

A number of replies to my comments have been on the subject not of the article but the whole "penis evil/gun good" sig thing. Well, I will now confirm that, yes, it is adapted from those opening lines from the 1974 film Zardoz.

The full speech, given by Arthur Frayn through the pitch-shifted PA system in his giant floating head, is:

The gun is good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seeds, and makes new life, and poisons the earth with a plague of men, as once it was. But the gun shoots death, and purifies the earth of the filth of brutals.

At this point, I curled up in laughter. And then, only to add to my beseiged ribs, shitloads of rifles, double-barreleds, pistols and ammo are barfed from the gaping mouth of this giant floating head. Sean Connery and his gang take the weapons, and head off to find the locals (all of whom look like something out of a Beckett play — it was filmed in Ireland) and shoot them up.

At this point, you'd be forgiven for thinking that 'twas I who'd been "shooting up", but no — I really saw this! And if you've not seen Zardoz, I really suggest you check it out because it's not a bad piece of science fiction.

To a certain extent, it has been treated somewhat unfairly: many reviewers pass it off as "visually arresting" (which it is: it's beautifully photographed), but otherwise bat-fuck insane. Clearly, they haven't watched enough sci-fi: the Zardoz plotline is a stock item (see, e.g., any episode of Space 1999) and it's quite easy to follow. The look-and-feel is very much of 1970s sci-fi: lots of hippies wandering around in togas (compare with Logan's Run). And it has Charlotte Rampling in it.

In fact, I think Moriarty summed up the whole idea much better than I ever could.

So there you go. Reply to the content, not the sig.