In 1962, author Philip K. Dick wrote a novel called The Man in the High Castle. In the alternate 1962 of the novel, the Axis powers won the Second World War, and subsequently divided the United States — with the Japanese-controlled Pacific States of America in the west, the German-controlled United States of America in the east, and a strip of a neutral zone between.
I’ve read the book, and to paraphrase my own review on Goodreads, I think it’s about 2/3rds of a good novel, and 1/3rd Dick patting himself on the back for being so clever. Still, those 2/3rds are worth reading, and it’s no wonder that the novel won the Hugo award in 1963.
And being such a classic novel, it’s no wonder that Amazon decided to adapt it into a TV series for their streaming service. The first season went up in late-November in 2015, the second season in mid-December of last year, and Amazon announced in early January that it would be renewed for a third season.
You may be wondering what the point of all this is. Don’t worry, I’m getting there.
Part of the advertising for the series is Resistance Radio, a set of three streaming, looped “radio channels” from the show’s fictional world that play both music banned by the Japanese/Nazi governments, as well as bits from DJs discussing events and life in the occupied former-USA, and encouraging their listeners to continue fighting back against the fascist governments. Amazon even set up a sponsored hastag on Twitter, #ResistanceRadio
Well, apparently a number of Trump supporters heard about Resistance Radio, and (as io9 put it) either didn’t bother to go to the website to learn what it was about, or learned that Amazon was putting out some anti-Nazi stuff and concluded it must somehow be a dig at Trump. And they took to Twitter to vent their frustration, sending #ResistanceRadio up the trending chart.
Either way, it doesn’t paint Trump-supporters in the best light. But it is amusing for those who aren’t fans of Trump. And it makes me wonder how they’d respond to reading Norman Spinrad’s The Iron Dream.
Update: Oh, wow. This made the recommended list. I honestly don't know what to say. Thanks just doesn't cover it.
I've only been a member here for few months, and you can probably count the number of diaries I've written on one hand. I guess it's mostly due to dumb luck - a mix of being a geek and a progressive, and stumbling on to this story before anyone else. And probably a fair amount of WTF with this story in general.
