It's a Great Big Sexual Tomorrow
An interview with M. Christian by Sage Vivant
Sage Vivant: What exactly is The Bachelor Machine?
M. Christian: It's a collection of my science fiction erotica, about nineteen stories in all, with a very nice introduction by Cecilia Tan. It just came out from Green Candy Press.
SV: But what does it mean? What is a bachelor machine?
MC: Do you know no one's ever asked me that before? The title comes from a painting by Marcel Duchamp, which I used for a story in the book that was first published in an anthology I edited called Eros Ex Machina a while ago. The story is about the similarities between people's erotic and technological fetishes. To put it another way, sex with machines. It just seemed so perfect: classical, interesting without being too nasty, yet managing to say a lot: "Bachelor," with the connotation of being involved only with himself, and machine when paired with bachelor to imply a device taking the place of, or being preferred over a partner.
SV: Do you see this as the way sex is going? That we're all going to be dating robots?
MC: Who knows? Science fiction too often gets stuck with being a crystal ball, but writers are writers, not seers. Sure, I love to speculate on where sex is going, what's around the corner, but I'm not a font of wisdom, just a guy who likes to tell stories.
SV: Come on, the stories in this book definitely show you've been thinking about the future of sex. Here's your chance to confess what you've been thinking about. Don't worry; we won't fault you if your crystal ball is a bit foggy.
MC: Challenge accepted. Let's see ... well, one mistake I think a lot of people make when they think about where sex is going is to forget how far it's come. It's only been a few years since both the Pill and Viagra were introduced, everyone and his Aunt Maude started using the Internet and e-mail, gay rights have gone mainstream, and condoms became a matter of life or death (and not just to prevent 'accidents'). I often look around at the world and wonder what someone from only twenty or thirty years ago would think of our sex lives. Even the whole idea of what sex is has changed. Hell, we even saw an American president who defended himself by saying what he did wasn't 'sex.' Who knows what might happen in only a few more years?
SV: That's kind of frightening when you think of it. You're right that all of this just happened so recently. It seems like the world is getting turned around every day.
MC: But does it have to be scary? The Pill was a wonderful invention — for all kinds of reasons. Viagra gave hope to thousands and men with erectile problems, the Internet makes it possible for people to connect with each other who otherwise would have thought they were the "only ones" who like a certain kind of sex. Change happens, but usually it's in response to some need. We often don't want to face that, but it's the truth.
SV: Are you saying that we have stuff like porno spam because we want it?
MC: In some ways, yes. Sex sells, we all know that — we smut writers know it best of all. Now, people don't want relentless spam in their mail boxes but there's obviously a reason for there being so much of it. I read somewhere recently that sexual matters still comprise the largest topic for Internet searches, with money and even celebrities running a distant second and third, respectively. Sex always seems to lead — or be right behind — any technological or social innovation. You could say we think with our brains, but our brains are ruled by sex.
SV: Crystal ball time again. What kind of gizmos and gadgets do you see around the bend?
MC: Like I said, I'm just a guy who likes to tell stories. Though I'm a major science geek, I can't really say what the geniuses are up to. But, looking around, I often think that we are very close to several serious innovations. The first one is a fusing of what are right now several isolated technologies. We've got digital cameras, cell phones, computers, and all of that but they are all separate. Very soon I think they're going to be tied together into one simple machine, perhaps built into a pair of glasses. When that happens, things are going to really change. We'd be able to record what we see and hear no matter where we are, we'd be able to work anywhere, see any image, hear any music, talk to anyone no matter where we are physically without having a ton of hardware. You could also change what you saw, even in the real world. For instance, setting up a program that would display information fixed to a point, but only for certain people, which is called Augmented Reality, by the way. Let's say you have a secret club or group. Only members could see certain symbols, loaded into their shades to display at certain places, or at certain times, invisible to anyone else. For sex, this means you could post your interests or orientation for other people of similar preferences to see — again hidden to anyone else. Then there's neuroscience and the approaching ability to modify our minds.
SV: Okay that's scary. Changing out minds in what way?
MC: Let me rephrase that: 'New ways to modify our minds,' because we've been altering our consciousness long before the '60s — remember alcohol? Wine? Beer? But now we're starting to approach a time when neuropharmacology will allow us not only to more effectively treat illnesses like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, addiction and so forth but also aid memory, cognition, creativity — and give you an orgasm whenever you want.
SV: An orgasm pill? But what will happen to good old-fashioned sex?
MC: Whenever someone brings that up, I always think of radio. Antique technology, right? We hardly think about it. But when radio first became popular, people said it was the end of books, because why read when someone could read for you? It was feared to be the end of live music, because why go to a concert when you could have a performance piped into your home? Now we know that radio is just another technology, another way of experiencing the world. It was the same with the printing press, television, the Internet, and so on. Sure, maybe orgasm producers will someday be an additive in cola but after a point, the novelty will wear off and technology will find its own level. Think of Viagra — we have hard-on in a pill but you don't see guys walking around with 24-hour erections do you? Nope, they save it for when they need it. Same with orgasm pills. Besides, think of the possibilities rather than the nightmares: joy for people who can't come, an orgasm in flavors depending on the pills you take (mild, spicy, extra-spicy, WOWIE!), orgasms tied to sensations we can only dream of, like simply touching finger tips. Endless possibilities.
SV: This is all pretty ... well, 'wild' doesn't even come close to it. Is this the kind of stuff you've put in The Bachelor Machine?
MC: Some, certainly. I have artificial life, virtual reality, body sharing, implants, memory alteration, aliens, cyborgs, and all that, but like I said. I wrote these stories not so much to predict as to talk about what we are, what makes us tick: love, jealousy, hope, excitement, disappointment and of course lust. Sure I used a lot of science fiction, but I always began with a story about people and just used futuristic trappings to amplify the basic ideas of what sex is, or could be.
SV: Do you think there'll be a point where we won't have sex? That we'll become so different so as not to need it?
MC: Well, not to sound like that certain ex-president but the answer to that question depends on what you mean by 'sex.' The biological definition I've always heard is that it's how organic life mixes its genetic material. If that's the case, then there are people who have babies without sex — it's called artificial insemination. We're there right now. If you mean giving and receiving orgasmic pleasure without physical contact, then we're just about there right now. Hell, a cell phone set to vibrate and shoved down your underwear is exactly that. Again, we're there right now and, you know what? It's not scary; it's a good thing. Organic life, technology, society, the human mind — all of it needs to evolve, because if it doesn't, it stagnates and dies. It's also why I wrote the stories in The Bachelor Machine. For me, mixing science fiction and erotica was a way to stretch who I am as a writer, to try new things and new approaches to writing about life and sex. Hopefully, people will embrace both my view of the future and this latest direction in my writing.
Sage Vivant is the founder of
Custom Erotica Source.
M. Christian's latest book is The Bachelor Machine, a collection of erotic science fiction stories. More info at www.mchristian.com.
