Proper sf explores the edges of reality and then goes beyond.
Popular “sf” is old tropes and popular ideas rendered in terms of spaceships and robots.
The first is a real live alien. The second is cosplay.
Proper sf explores the edges of reality and then goes beyond.
Popular “sf” is old tropes and popular ideas rendered in terms of spaceships and robots.
The first is a real live alien. The second is cosplay.
They are 2 quite different things tho. Worlds apart. It’s good to acknowledge the difference.
And it’s good to acknowledge that #2 is what the populace prefers.
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Your point is merely semantic then.
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We already agreed that it’s a big difference.
2 completely different things that have the same name. Superficially similar but actually not.
What’s the issue?
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(Semantics really is the smallest possible point.)
I think that the real point here is legitimacy. Scifi has a big reputation. Popular scifi borrows legitimacy from that reputation.
Separate popular scifi from that reputation and it loses legitimacy.
World’s apart is a bit of a stretch when there are plenty of examples that are both popular and push the boundaries. In hindsight, EVERYTHING becomes banal. I challenge you to just try to speak modern English without quoting or referencing Shakespeare.
Also, the observation that the populous likes popular lowest common denominator kitsch isn’t exactly a unique or stunningly innovative insight. It’s ironically as banal and boringly repetitive as the genre you’re gatekeeping.