It should come as no surprise that I am a big proponent of all things writing in science fiction: stories, novels, editing, publishing, whatever. But perhaps it will come as a surprise to people that I have virtually no patience with science fiction media. And it's only gotten worse as I've gotten older.
I watch almost no science fiction television or movies. I can't remember the last outright science fiction movie I've watched* although I see a fair amount of fantasy-tinged movies (i.e., The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). I can't stand superhero movies, Star Wars, Star Trek (although I lurve the original tv series cause it gives me warm, fuzzy nostalgia feelings of hanging out with my brother...and drinking games in college), have no interest in ever seeing CLOVERFIELD, I AM LEGEND, and so on.
And as for television, aside from LOST, FUTURAMA, and Twin Peaks (and I'll admit to being a Buffy fan when it was on), I don't think I watch any science fiction television.
I've watched a few episodes of Firefly (and I'll most likely never see Serenity), but I couldn't get into it. I caught a few episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica and thought, "wow, that's really well made," but was never motivated to watch more than three or four episodes total. I've never seen an episode of Dr. Who. Any doctor. I know. I've never watched Heroes (and I don't want to; no link for you!). I've watched about two episodes of The X-Files. And there's a lot more, I'm sure.
The problem is, people assume since I'm fanatically interested in the fiction that I feel the same way about the media stuff, and I don't. People want to talk to me about these shows, and I have nothing to offer. I almost feel left out, but in some ways I don't care enough to seek it out and stay on it, making sure I watch a show week in and week out.
The thing is, when I was a kid, I couldn't get enough: Space: 1999, V, The Bionic Man, The Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers (Erin Gray, *rowr*), Mork and Mindy, Land of the Lost (all the Sid & Marty Croft stuff was pretty freaky), and reruns of Lost in Space, Star Trek, Wild Wild West (proto-steampunk), The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, My Favorite Martian, and there was a great local double-feature of sci fi (I can't call those campy movies like The Green Slime anything but sci fi, but occasionally they'd show something like Silent Running or Logan's Run) on Saturday after the cartoons. I just lived and breathed it.
But now, I don't like it. Or at least, I don't feel compelled to watch it. The stuff I've managed to catch looks well made, but it doesn't stick to me. Should I be concerned? Is there something I'm missing?
* To be completely honest, I did recently see DAYWATCH, which I thought was brilliant. Again, that's probably more fantasy than science fiction; certainly urban fantasy if nothing else. But other than that...I can't remember. Probably the Matrix movies, which got more disappointing with each one.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Science Fiction Media
Posted by John Klima at 1/29/2008 12:53:00 PM
Labels: movies, science fiction, television
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10 comments:
I'm actually a little surprised when editors and others widely read in SF do like SF TV shows. Written SF has left its pulp roots far behind (except for the sake of irony or inversion) and seems to aggressively push towards new ideas and concepts. This it totally lacking in SF media, which seems to revel in the pulpiness.
If the new Terminator TV show were written as a short story, where would it get published? Nowhere.
If we take into consideratoin the stuff you wacthed when you were akid,you've actually watched more of it than I have. I've never wacthed Dr. Who either. I never wacthed Firefly when it was on.
You'd think I'd type better, not being a tv watcher.
@ Luke, that's interesting, since I think there's a lot of pulpy, poppy genre fiction (maybe not just in science fiction) right now. Writers like David Wellington and Charlie Huston are definitely pulp noir, and while they write about zombies and vampires, there's definitely a science fiction edge to what they do. A. Lee Martinez writes that way, too. I would argue that anything considered cyberpunk has pulpy roots as well as steampunk stuff. I'm sure there are other, more purely science fiction writers and novels that are recent that are pulpy.
I can't speak to the new Terminator show since I've not seen and have no interest in seeing it. I won't agree that SF media revels in its pulpiness, because that implies that there's SOME sort of story there and I think a lot of SF media has no story at its root, just pretty people and explosions.
@silk-noir I don't think we can take into consideration what I watched as a kid. I still watch a lot of television (I'd guess at least five hours a day), and because of Netflix I'm watching anywhere from 70 - 100 movies a year (without it I would watch maybe 10), so why is it I no longer choose to watch SF media?
The biggest culprit is that my spouse doesn't care for science fiction at all*; so we'd never watch it together. We don't get a lot of time together, so I'm not about to reduce it by watching science fiction. But we both watch LOST, in fact she got me into it, so if something was well done, or at least entertaining, we'd watch it.
There are so many people in the field who religiously watch SF television and movies and I sometimes wonder if there's something wrong with me or something I'm missing.
* She did totally love ST:NG and insisted that I watch it with her when I had no interest in doing so. I ended enjoying it, but I would have never watched it without the outside impetus.
That's true. I was thinking of "pulpy" in the negative sense of laser blasters, bug-eyed monsters, and buxom babes. But you're right that there are pulpy elements in recent books like Charlie Huston (maybe Richard Morgan's Thirteen too).
I guess a good test would be, after reading and enjoying one of those books, if you'd like a faithful movie rendition-- then you'd see if it was the content or the media?
@ Luke, yeah that's a great concept there. Although I'm sure like me, many book adaptations have disappointed...so I suspect it's the medium. Though I'd totally go see a movie adaptation of a Charlie Huston book.
You know, I'd almost publish an anthology of bug-eyed monster and buxom babe stories... I think that'd be kind of hot.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for that anthology call. ;) That would be a too-easy satire, tough to do seriously.
I liked the recent SF film SUNSHINE.
I'm afraid I've never seen a full episode of Buffy. And I didn't watch the X Files regularly. I liked that show "Now and Again" that was on for five minutes a few years ago with Dennis Haysbert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_and_Again) but that's been it since the old Dr. Who (the old being in the 80s when I started watching it.)
So maybe my impression that everyone watches SF media is skewed in some way? Maybe it's just that the conversations of people expecting me to be into SF media stick out in my head and all the conversations where it doesn't come up at all just coalesce into normal everyday life and I don't see them? :)
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