The culture war in science fiction

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Most of us know the story of Gina Carano, the actress from Disney’s hit Mandalorian series that was terminated for her posts on social media.  As a creative talent with conservative ideals, she became the target of online wrath that led to her termination.  Perhaps the most galling aspect of her being released was that other stars of the show produced offensive leftist social media posts and received no repercussions for their actions.  It was clear that the entertainment industry was more than willing to target conservatives.  

It wasn’t an isolated incident.  

For 37 years I wrote for a military science fiction series called BattleTech.  I was a major contributor to that series.  That came to an end in March of this year when I was told that I would no longer be writing for them, because of complaints about my conservative beliefs.  

It began with an online stalker, a person claiming to be a lesbian nurse, who complained that I had hidden secret messages in my novels. The publisher, Catalyst Game Labs, under license from Topps/Fanatics, disregarded the complaint – rightfully so.  A year’s worth of my social media and my books were reviewed by the publisher who agreed there were no subversive messages.  They didn’t like my political stand but acknowledged I had a right to express myself.  I thought the matter was over.  

When it was announced in March of 2021 that I had a new conservative political thriller, Blue Dawn, coming out from a different publisher, Defiance Press, the stalker escalated – threatening my life.  Law enforcement got involved and a protective order was put in place.  As it turns out, this lesbian nurse was really a 39-year-old man, living at home. He had been fired from his employer for issuing terroristic threats, which he pled guilty to in court.  

I wrote articles for a number of mainstream conservative sites, such as American Thinker, PJ Media, American Greatness, Bizpac Review and others. From time to time I referenced my online stalker as an example of the cancel culture. I informed the President of Catalyst Games that I would be doing this.  He replied, “I would do the same thing if I were you.”

When my latest BattleTech novel was released in February, my stalker and a small handful of others complained not just to Catalyst, but to Topps and Fanatics. They claimed I was a radical alt-right extremist, an insurrectionist, a seditionist, and other blatant lies.  

My publisher’s response was to terminate our over-three-decade relationship going forward. 

Much like Gina Carano’s situation, there were other contract employees of this publisher that had posted far more offensive Leftist/Progressive comments on their social media.  Nothing happened to them.  My punishment was exclusion from a popular franchise that I had been a long-time contributor to. Despite his assurance he would tell the fan community, the President of Catalyst opted more for a passive-aggressive stance and said nothing.  Meanwhile, fans were clamoring for books and short stories they knew I had written. As such, I have decided to go public about this.  

It would have been easy to remain quiet on the matter, but that is what companies like Fanatics and Disney want. They desire for conservatives to be driven into self-imposed silence and censorship. I refuse to be silent on this blatant censorship. 

As if to rub salt in an open wound, one of the principals of Catalyst reached out to me to ask if I would write up a short piece about what BattleTech meant to me, for an upcoming book. I was stunned that they would ask this only a few weeks after ending our relationship. They wanted me to help them promote their products that I was being told I could no longer contribute to. My former editor then sent an email to me referring to my latest work on a book from a different publisher as “drivel,” even though the book had not yet been released.   

All Catalyst had to do was put out a simple statement.  Something along the lines of, “We produce great entertainment content.  The politics and beliefs of our authors are not reflected in their works nor do we employ people based on that standard.”  Disney should have done the same thing with Ms. Carano. Instead, it was easier to lop off the heads of conservatives rather than stand up to the whining minority of woke complainers.  

I will go on writing for publishers who don’t care what my politics are, or, like Defiance Press, embrace conservative values.  The second book of the Blue Dawn series, A Most Uncivil War, comes out at the end of June and I am already working on book five.  I will continue to write articles for conservative sites.  

What is lost is my stories and books that will never see publication. The fans of the series, many of whom I included in my books, will not see any BattleTech writing by me.

The true victims of this are the conservative fans of sci-fi. They are cut off from authors like me when publishers drag politics into their decision-making. When publishers strike out at conservative authors in favor of progressives, it does not make our culture better.  It isn’t inclusive or diverse.  It is censorship at the source, the artists. 

Blaine Pardoe is a New York Times Bestselling and award-winning author.  He is a regular contributor to American Thinker, PJ Media, American Greatness, Bizpac Review, and other conservative sites. His most recent works include the conservative political thriller Blue Dawn tells the story of the violent overthrow of the government by Progressives. The sequel, A Most Uncivil War, is out on June 28.   His new book, The Democratic Party Playbook 2022 Edition was an Amazon bestseller for new political humor.  

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Blaine L. Pardoe
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