why do people like or hate the scifi genre?
POSTED BY: crystalkei
UPDATED: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 10:44
VIEWED: 12278
PAGE 1 of 3
I was raised on TNG and we've always had Star Wars in our home. My Q is why do some people shy away from the genre?
I have a couple of friends, very middle of the road people. They listen to a mix station on the radio, watch reality tv and whatever happens to be popular and basically have no exciting interests. They are very boring, but we like them anyways. We tease that they live under a rock because whenever anything outside of the realm of popular culture comes up they have no idea what we are talking about. Such as, yesterday i found a ticket stub in my coat...here's the converstaion
me: ahh, look, it's a ticket stub from when you took me on a date
my husband: what did we see?
me: children of men, oooh, i love clive owen
boring friend 1: what movie is that?
my husband: it's a futuristic movie about how the world is ruled by the elite and terrorists and no one can have babies
me: very politcal and alfonso cuaron-y, but good, great explosions
boring friend 2: we must have missed that one
me after they walk away: they are so boring
sorry, back to the point, why do you think people are turned on or off by scifi?
Jayne Cobb, the Dick Casablancas of Firefly
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I think people who like sci-fi are dissatisfied with the mainstream. Another thing attractive about the genre is getting to see "what ifs" or "what might someday be". The second point is also the strongest reason why people shy away from sci-fi. Many "normal" people have no interest in things that aren't reality based. The idea of space travel or characters with super human abilites seems ridiculous to these folk. Generally speaking it is easier to grasp ideas that stick closer to home than something completely foreign.
_________________________________________________
We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I am a huge fan of escaping reality whether it be books, tv, or film. I suppose some scifi has become mainstream such as Lost or Heroes. So, how do I get boring friends to want to get into it? or is it beyond hope?
Jayne Cobb, the Dick Casablancas of Firefly
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
To me, science fiction - at least, those stories that are worth reading or watching - says something about human potential, either for great achievement (Star Trek) or self-destruction and ruin (Mad Max). Themes of individuality, security vs. personal freedom, faith, etc.; all these are things that resonate. And it's always fun to see characters that we can relate to in these extraordinary situations, going to fantastic places and having thrilling adventures.
But I also think that sci-fi's reputation for being silly, cheesy, and nonsensical isn't entirely undeserved. There's just as much crappy sci-fi as there is good. That goes double for FX-heavy movies that cram lots of action and explosions, leaving barely enough - if any - breathing room for plot or character. (I cringe everytime I see an ad for yet another giant-mutant-bug movie mathathon on Sci-Fi channel.) It's easy to understand why it's a turn-off.
Also, the fandom can be pretty obsessive - and exclusive. I myself am guilty of rolling my eyes at friends when they say they're just not into Trek. "What - you don't have the complete works of Robert Heinlen committed to memory? What are you, communist?"
I have long ceased trying to "convert" people into sci-fi fans. Except "Firefly." Haven't given up on that yet.
"Mwah ha ha ha...mine is an evil laugh. Now die."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Some people label it as immature, Kid stuff. Also because of it's relationship with pulp fiction they fail tot considerate real literature. In my view, they just don't grok.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I think a lot of people find it to be too much work, the setting isn't earth like, they have to actually pay attention to learn what the rules are for this new world....
so instead of being open to something new they just go ahead and label it as 'childish' and they go back to game shows, reality TV, or whatever else is mindless and unchallenging....
People (IMO) who love Sci-fi usually feel out of place amount the social climbers and ordinary people, they already feel like aliens among the crowds of sheep (okay, that is unnecessarily mean, but I'm guessing I'm talking only to Sci-fi fans here! LOL)... so they want to read stories which speak to their own isolation, or more off-beat view of the world.....
JMPO of course
http://community.livejournal.com/wga_supporters/3089.html
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
I think a lot of people find it to be too much work, the setting isn't earth like, they have to actually pay attention to learn what the rules are for this new world....
so instead of being open to something new they just go ahead and label it as 'childish' and they go back to game shows, reality TV, or whatever else is mindless and unchallenging....
People (IMO) who love Sci-fi usually feel out of place amount the social climbers and ordinary people, they already feel like aliens among the crowds of sheep (okay, that is unnecessarily mean, but I'm guessing I'm talking only to Sci-fi fans here! LOL)... so they want to read stories which speak to their own isolation, or more off-beat view of the world.....
Now we could get techincal and talk about the different genres within sci-fi and what constitutes sci-fi.... but that sounds like far too much strain on my mind at the moment.
I agree with embers to a point that many people prefer the mindless and unchallenging. Sheeples today (in my short experiance) prefer something simple, stand alone episodal shows. It's really unfortunate.
Another thing I think that is apart of it is lack of imagination. A lot of folks lack imagination nowadays, and so they can't see beyond the box they live in. I live with people like this; I'm constatnly daydreaming, coming up with sketches and storylines and the like, and I love following well written sci-fi. But the rest of the family can't expand beyond what they know, and I've come to the conclusion that due to lack of their own imagination they really struggle with anything of the Science Fiction or Fantasy realm because they can't think on that certain angle and process it all.
The last think is Sci-fi has a bad rap. There's always the jabs about thirty year old men living in their mothers basements and going to Trekkie conventions. And I think it's really stunted the mainstreaming of Sci-fi because it's always been labeled for hopeless geeks. However, due to the current surge of sci-fi programming (Heroes, Bionic Woman even though it's dreadfully flawed, SCC, ect) it looks like Sci-fi just may push through. It's still a heard ticket to sell though, IMO.
Your Indian Pirate Lord,
Ash
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I agree with the "lack of imagination" theory. I grew up in a small town in in the prairies, where the mindset is fairly rigid. A lot of my classmates thought that hockey and football and extreme biking or stuff like that is exciting to them. And while I did watch some of the Grey Cup last night (home town team won after 18 years), for the most part I find all that stuff completely boring. And while I hesitate to slam them as simple minded, mainstream sheep, the proof is in the pudding. It's all mainstream stuff they list on their Facebook profiles. It's all FRIENDS and SEX IN THE CITY and FAMILY GUY boxsets on their shelves than FIREFLY or HEROES. I remember having a birthday at my place years ago as a kid and I put on one of the Indiana Jones movies. They were not interested in the least and even said that it was boring. Indiana Jones, BORING!!!
So I think it's more of a sociological environment kind of thing. The more rural you are, the more mainstream the general taste is, whereas in big cities, with so many different kinds of people and tastes, there's more opportunity to be exposed to various things, like sci-fi, anime, or indies.
**************************************************
"And it starts with a sentence that might last a lifetime, or it all might just go down in flames. If I let you know me, then why would you want me? Each day I don't is a shame. Each day I don't is a great shame."
Loudon Wainwright III - "Strange Weirdos" off the "Knocked Up" soundtrack
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Science Fiction and other Speculative Fictions are the hardest form of writing because you as a writer are the sole creator of your world, and you have to tell the readers exactly what they need to know and exactly when they need to know it. I bought a book by Orson Scott Card on how to write Speculative Fiction stories and he says that if you do not let the reader know enough they will grow bored and put the book down, but if you tell them too much they will think the author doesn't know what he or she is doing and put the book down. Why did I write that? Well I think Speculative Fiction may be a two way street, and it may be one of the most difficult stories to read because it requires a certain level of imagination. I think that everybody likes to think they have an imagination just as everybody likes to think they are intelligent, but I think we all know that not everybody is intelligent or imaginative, and a good litmus test to these might be the books a person reads. I am not saying that only smart people read Science Fiction, or that everybody who reads Science Fiction is smart, or that Science Fiction is the only medium for the inspired, but I do think that in a person’s library there should be a well rounded selection of books and among them should be some Science Fiction.
“A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Part of the problem may be it's imagine. Spaceships, lazers, aliens (rubber suited actors) and far fetched notions. On the surface your average flat head isn't really going to take the time to look for the allegory which is often prevalent in sci-fi.
Plus I fear that much of the damage may have been 50's sci-fi movies, and it pains me to say so as I adore 50's sci-fi, but sci-fi really boomed back then, and while there was some quality, there was also alot of dreadful, cheap nonsense, with poor acting and ridiculous plots, that sat fine with the young but adults just shyed away from, thinking it more a kids genre.
One other element may be that sci-fi has always considered itself as a genre first, a medium second. Instead of filmakers making a 'film' with sci-fi content, they would make a 'sci-fi' film. If you look at cinema, sci-fi has only occasionally been tackled with genuine maturity. Alien, Close Encounters, 2001, Andromeda Strain, Day The Earth Stood Still, to name but a few. Where as other genres, Westerns, Thrillers, Drama's are given far more concern and seriousness.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME