Mind Over Ship Book

Clones! poor misunderstood clones!

Marusek's follow-up to his lauded, nightmarishly dystopic, drily comic Counting Heads is just as enjoyable as its predecessor. it is also far less complicated, so folks who appreciated the almost swarming effect of constant information and constantly strange characters popping up all over the place may be disappointed. the change certainly makes the action easier to follow. many characters have been simply eliminated - a ruthless decision, as they were all intriguing and amusing creations. but fortunately their absence allows focus on the most fascinating characters - the clone couple Fred and Mary.

here in san francisco, we have what are known as "Castro Clones". these are gay gents who shop, carouse, and often live in the predominately gay neighborhood The Castro...and they often have an eerie similarity to each other. perfect hair. sculpted bods. the freshest of clothing labels. bitchy commentary. an entitled attitude. needless to say, the label is pejorative, much like "hipster" is when referred to a certain kind of 20- or 30-something. personally, i find Castro Clones to be a mixed bag and not entirely negative. there is strength in numbers! and there is community in numbers as well. i can't help but think that there is something pleasant and enjoyable in looking around a neighborhood or bar or restaurant and seeing versions of yourself everywhere. it must be a very safe feeling. i may mock these so-called clones, but i understand their motivations, their desire to band together and their need to be instantly recognizable to each other.

in the novel, Fred the clone is a "russ" - a clone that is based originally on an extremely loyal presidential security guard, uncomplicated and unquestioning and prone to writing lists to organize his thoughts. Mary the clone is an "evangeline" - a dreamy, wispy sort of clone, emotional, innately supportive, originally designed as the ideal companion for rich old dowager types. i find these two clone personalities to be, in a word, adorable. if only the real world was full of such clones! in Mind Over Ship, the narrative itself is fast & furious adventure, but the real story is about how Fred and Mary start moving beyond their clone templates. this is fascinating, but i couldn't help but wonder - are their original clone templates really so bad? i admired Fred and Mary's ability to change, but it was hard for me to view their original personalities negatively - and impossible for me to condemn their fellow clones' need to stick together, clone to clone. the evangelines and russes did not just enjoy safety in numbers but had genuine pride in their culture. russes are predictable but highly trustworthy. evangelines are weepy but incredibly empathetic. these are not bad things.

a few times a year i facilitate a training on "Peer Support". it is a part of my job, one of my favorite parts. during the long weekend of the training, there is a module on "Cultural Competency". during the intro to this module, i track the history of Cultural Competency and its two primary models.

classic Cultural Competency is about understanding that different cultures have different ways of expressing themselves and different ways of living their lives - different from the local majority population, that is. classic Cultural Competency says that because different cultures have unique cultural norms, a person may be able to improve communication and show support by understanding those norms - or, at the very least, respecting those norms regardless of understanding. a positive outcome of this is respect for things outside of our comfort zone. a negative outcome is the idea that "Blacks act his way... gays act that way... etc"

new school Cultural Competency has a very different point of view: each individual is a silo of completely different things. each characteristic (race, class, gender, orientation, education, and the like) is treated as separate things that come together and create a whole person, and so trying to understand this person does not hinge on any single characteristic. a person is many things, and those things may change over time. the positive side is that this allows every facet of the person to have importance. the negative is a bit more intangible, but it is there nonetheless: it subtracts from that feeling of community that so many people desire.

i thought about these models all throughout reading Mind Over Ship. i admired Fred and Mary's slow movement towards complete individuality. i see myself in them, as was intended by the author. individuality is always a treasured thing. yet i also couldn't help but see the positive side of the clone culture as well. it is not like all the clone russes and evangelines were completely interchangeable - they have their own personality variations - but there was a strength and beauty and resilience to the clone culture's need to be true to their basic clone nature, to stick together, to form a community that protected itself from the mad, bad world around them.

anyway: this is a very enjoyable book, a fast-paced adventure, and it certainly got me thinking in different directions beyond what i first expected.