The Point of It All
From doktorsleepless
Internet Jesus save us, what is the damn point of it all?!
Warren Ellis, the infamous bastard who gave birth to this weighty tome currently growing in this dark corner of the Intertubes, had this to say on the matter...
You are never going into space.
You will never own a jet pack.
Your car will never fly.
HIV will not be cured in your lifetime.
Cancer will not be cured in your lifetime.
The common cold will not be cured in your lifetime.
Don't these things bother you?
Suicide is the third biggest killer of teenagers in the United States.
In 1999 more people in America died from suicide than from homicide.
Do you think about this?
As anyone who ever read MyDeathSpace.com for any period of time know, the leading cause of death in America is automobile accident. This is generally interpolated into a number placed under the heading "accidental death." When the operation of cars is the leading cause of loss of life I'm not entirely sure how it comes under the term "accidental death." It wasn't a fucking accident, it was done by someone with a car. It's 2007 and we don't know how to operate cars without killing people. It's not a fucking accident if it was caused by someone getting into a one-ton metal bullet that cannot be operated with complete control at all times.
In Europe in 2004, 13000 kids – persons under the age of fourteen -- died due to poor water. It’s 2007 and the society does not yet understand how to operate water.
Are you thinking about this now?
People keep asking me what DOKTOR SLEEPLESS is about. This is what it's about.
Someone stole your future. Don't you ever wonder who?
Well, we do now, thank you kindly, and that's what this page is about.
So let's talk about where we can find Prime Suspect Number One...
Your Reflection
That's right. Look in a mirror, you self-righteous prick.
Flying cars? Jet-packs? These things are a child's dreams.
Everything on this site and in Doktor Sleepless is based on real things that already exist in the here and now. Haptic [1] technology. The Wireless_Transmission_Of_Power. Spime. [2] These are just the first three things on this site and in the comic I can think of, and they all exist in one form or another right now.
The best example of this parallel being drawn in the comic book is in issue #2, when Sleepless explains the creation of Shriekyware to Nurse Igor. This stuff is all just lying around in a warehouse somewhere, not being used, because the best thing somebody could thing of to do with it is stick it in a novelty phone. You use haptic technology all the time, except you call it "rumble," or "dual-shock." Your wife has called it her vibrator for years.
Ellis said it best in a recent chat on Newsarama [3]... "The future is moving very very fast. But the culture has stopped dead." Damn straight it has. Because while we're all sitting around waiting on our completely inefficient and impractical flying cars, regardless of the fact that we haven't mastered the non-flying variety, the potential for the future is passing us by.
But like John Reinhardt, Ellis is a little too real. People don't like to listen to real folks typing real words from real public toilets. People like to listen to characters. And thus, like John Reinhardt, Ellis created Doktor Sleepless. Reinhardt's goal is to show the people of Heavenside exactly what he told them at the end of issue #1... "There's no future coming. No-one thinks they owe you shit. You're waiting for a day that'll never fucking dawn." And like Reinhardt speaks to Heavenside, Ellis speaks to us... Through the perfectly safe character of Doktor Sleepless, telling us to stop our bitching and look no further than the world around us.
Or at least, this is one possibility. I'm certain there are other suspects out there.
