I'm not a movie fan and that especially includes science fiction movies.
Sat, 21. August 2021
Space Fantasy
If you were to ask me “why is that so?”, I would respond that, in my opinion, much of it is poor science and much of it is also poor fiction. However, I acknowledge that I am very much in a minority in this regard.
My interest in astronomy has its roots in my primary school years and pre-dates any of the science fiction which I began reading in my late teens. Yes, I do admit that my much younger self did get some considerable pleasure from science fiction books. In retrospect, it was probably science fiction tv and movies which destroyed it for me.
I’ve generally drawn a distinction between fiction in books as opposed to tv/movies. With books, your mind is encouraged to imagine strange realities, to paint your own picture. On a tv screen I always thought the attempts to portray supposedly exotic story lines were a let down. I suppose an example of this is that apart from daleks, “aliens” always look like humans in costumes.
Sacred books are another example. Read the book and many might believe the wizardry as non-fictional reality but you only have to watch a biblical movie to come to the harsh reality that the bible is pure science fiction!
I just don’t watch it. I do read some fiction from time to time – but there always needs to be a close resemblance to reality, else my eyes start rolling.
Science fiction manipulates people’s opinions about reality. It's a generalisation of course but the fantasy that they like becomes intertwined and confused with the actual truth which they don’t care to understand.
An example is when I mention that I have scepticism about the very common public conception that the galaxy is teeming with advanced civilisations. The derisive responses I get seem to have been moulded by the events portrayed in Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and the likes. Arguing is futile but the only honest truth is that despite our searches, we haven’t discovered any evidence yet.
If I try explaining to someone how bogglingly distant the nearest stars are and how long it would take to even get to the closest star, I get regaled with various proposed methods of unproven high speed propulsion that we will "soon" develop; or teleporting; or cryogenic travel; or other stuff they’ve watched in science fiction movies. In fiction, it’s easy to travel at warp speed and beam me down. They’ve seen it on a screen so it will happen one day but I remain sceptical about inter-stellar travel. Each to there own….
The words “science fiction” never sat well with me. I think that “space fantasy” is a much more genuine description.
What is good tv? Carl Sagan’s 80s series of "Cosmos". This was THE best tv series “that is, or ever was or ever will be”.
(I adapted this article from comments I made on my astronomy blog site at: https://cosmicfocus.wordpress.com/2021/08/18/messier-71/