The Anti-Sci-Fi (the genre) Mindset

[GKarsEye]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Oh yeah? Why? Bad response?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Uch, you wouldn't want to have been there.

Movies have often been the source of friction with the fairer sex. I'm kind of a movie snob, and lately can't stand watching movies I know I'll hate. No, this isn't being close minded. I know, for example, that I'd hate Freddy Got Fingered, Bounce, or the Majestic, even though I haven't seen them.

"Oh, but it's just a movie," they say. Sure, when I'm the one driving, parking, paying the money, and have to shut rude people up in the theater, it's just a movie to them.

The last awful movie I got dragged to was Scary Movie 2. Holy jeesus was that awful. It was so awful, I was actually insulted. My gf (former, of course) could not understand why I actually got angry.

I've had gfs ask, "Alright, what do you consider a good movie?" I tried to show one The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: that didn't go over too well. Another refused to watch the Godfather.

I have yet to meet a chick under 35 who likes Eastwood. Most can't even tolerate "old movies." Yet they drool over Freddie Prinze Jr. The mind boggles.

Girls are stupid.

Maybe I need to find a way to meet different women.

My most hated genre is romantic comedies. They aren't romantic, and they aren't funny. "Oh, but isn't it cute how they met by accident?" No, it's stupid! Yich.

And no, I don't like When Harry Met Sally, either. (People always say I would like that one even if I don't like RCs. They are wrong.)

The only RCs I like are Woody Allen movies, because they're actually funny, and I'm hopelessly in love with Dianne Keaton.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[Kribu]

Sounds like you've had some tough luck, GKE.

Of course, The Godfather movies - all three of them, yes I actually liked the third one - are firmly among my top movies...

...and I like Clint Eastwood.

Heh, I actually went to see Space Cowboys because of Eastwood!

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"Isn't the universe an amazing place? I wouldn't live anywhere else." - G'Kar, B5: Rangers
Kribu's Lounge | kribu@ranger.b5lr.com

 

[A_M_Swallow]

I watched a hypnotist once. He described people as having either Star Trek minds or Coronation St minds. He preferred Star Trek minds as they were more inventive. From this thread it appears that the two mind types have difficulty even watching the same films.

Note : Coronation Street is a working class soap opera that has been running on British TV for about 40 years.

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Andrew Swallow

 

[Quagmire]

Two quick responses to use:

1. You're not very smart, are you?

2. You are an idiot.

The spaces indication time left between each word. It also helps to say the words slowly.

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"Crying isn't gonna get your dog back. Unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can sit here eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell like dog food or you can go out there and find your dog."-Homer in The Canine Mutiny

 

[En'til'zha]

People are dwelling too much on whether SF is more *real* than other TV shows. It doesn't matter whether or not it is possible, it isn't supposed to be a prediction of the future, it's just a story like any other.

The success of SF is based on the fact that it isn't realistic. It changes our perspective on things and shows us them from another angle. This freedom gives them much more scope to show our society. All you have to do is open yourself up to it. When watching B5 (or any SF show) you are asked to take certain things for granted, even if they are improbable. You have to take for granted that Hyperspace exists, that alien civilisations exist and that their are telepaths. If you accept this then you can 'believe' the story. These thing don't make the story, they just act as a vehicle to forward it.

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"Watch the Shadows, they move when you're not looking..."

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

Whenever I start to think of alien make-up and costumes as geeky and wonder why serious actors would choose sci-fi over something else when sci-fi often gets a bad rap, I remind myself of the following...

There are a lot of Broadway stage plays that require lots of elaborate make-up and costumes, there are a lot of them that have fantastic non-realistic concepts and characters (such as Phantom of the Opera--there's not really a deformed guy living under the Paris Opera House is there?), there are a lot of stage plays and ice shows based on animated movies, and while sci-fi movies rarely seem to get big awards outside of the special effects categories, there have been several award-winning war movies that are basically dress-up-and-play-soldier movies.

When reminding myself this, sci-fi doesn't seem as geeky or goofy or alternative. It's simply a different form of story telling. There's probably more unrealistic concepts and more costume and make-up changes in a live production of Cats (when it was still around), Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, or the Lion King than in any given episode of Babylon 5.

Sci-fi may be a little flashier and a little more of an acquired tastes than most other forms of TV and film, but it's still an important part of culture and shouldn't be knocked by people who don't understand it.

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An Old Egyptian Blessing: May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places that you must walk.

Thoughts & prayers to soldiers fighting overseas and to their families.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have this exact same discussion with my "friends", usually at least two at a time, nearly every week. They know that I like Star Trek (I also like B5, Farscape, and many other shows, but they all group it under "Star Trek" and not "SciFi"), and they constantly find a way to get me worked up about it. What happens is they start saying something like "I like those old Star Treks better than the new ones, like that one with the space station and the one on the ship that's lost, you know what I mean?" and I say "you'll have to be a bit more specific than that". The conversation continues on, and usually winds up that they start saying stuff like "all sci fi is crap, especially Star Trek, because it's not realistic, even though I've only watched it once or twice." And I argue the exact things as you, En'til'zha:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>
People are dwelling too much on whether SF is more *real* than other TV shows. It doesn't matter whether or not it is possible, it isn't supposed to be a prediction of the future, it's just a story like any other.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What eventually happened was I've just decided to do this:

Idiot friend: You know that new Star Trek, what is it? The one with the ship, and they're lost somewhere or other? I think I might watch it when it comes on.

The Martian (me): Good. Then maybe you'll be able to see that SciFi isn't crap after all.

Idiot friend: But it is though! They can't even be bothered to get the science of it right.

The Martian: F**k off.

The Martian then walks away, never to speak to him again. Until the Martian needs help with his Geography homework, that is.

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Struggling writer with a very long streak of bad luck.

Could it be because I'm from Mars?

[This message has been edited by Martian Male (edited December 30, 2001).]

 

[gkarfan]

Considering how screwed-up the world is these days with the terrorist-thing, I'd rather see something that isn't "real" (Science-Fiction). Forget stupid comedies in the movie-theater!

Tammy

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"We're in here! Can anyone hear us?"
"I hear you." [giggle, laugh]
"In here!"
"We are here." [giggle, laugh]
-- Londo and G'Kar in Babylon 5:"Convictions"

Tammy's Station
http://community.webtv.net/gkarfan/TammysStation

 

[SwiftBiscuit]

Due to serious Brain Fade (TM) on the part of this forum moderator this thread has been allowed to flourish in the wrong forum.

Belatedly moving to Non-B5 books, TV Shows & films

I blame the parents. Nothing is ever my fault

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"You know I? I rather like this GOD fellow. He's very theatrical you know, a pestilence here, a plague there... Omnipotence, Got to get me some of that, Hmmm?" - Stewie (Family Guy)