I’m over at SF Signal again today, participating in another “Mind Meld.” This question was “Despite science fiction’s popularity, and success, on film and TV, why does it still have the stigma of being a ‘geek’ genre?”
Check it out here and tell us what you think – http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/006285.html
Very nice article!
Man, Carl sure was wordy. :p
That was a good article though.
I don’t have the energy to type out a response to it, though.
Guess that means he put a little more thought into it than I did.. lol
I thought about telling him he was in the comment section, not the ‘write story’ section.
SF addicts always seem to have had this unfair image.
I can see a few factors…
Setting-
Some sci-fi/fantasy takes place in settings that are simply too far removed from reality for the masses to identify with. When a person can’t identify with something, their most common response is to make fun of it.
Conventions-
Film footage from ComicCon and other conventions always make the TV news. Seeing adults dressed up in wild costumes and running around with lightsabers does not help our image. I have been to many such conventions, and they are great fun, but taken out of context and sensationalized (as TV tends to do), it gives a bad impression.
People don’t have a problem with Neo dressed up in a black trenchcoat, but when they see a guy wondering a convention dressed like Neo, they think its funny.
Low End-
A bad sci-fi/fantasy TV show or movie tends to be laughibly bad, whereas even a bad sitcom gets some respect.