Time to get my rant on – Giant Freakin Robot released a scifi essay that misses the point about ‘what’s wrong with science fiction.’ I guess it’s to be expected – science fiction is in a troubled state – you’d have to be blind not to see it. What bothers me is that GFR projects a ‘mission accomplished’ via a low-information, low-effort essay. Hello?? You’ve spent years contributing to the problem – you don’t get off that easy.
How has GFR and other sites contributed to the problem? Easy. GFR and its parent company Walk Big have a stated focus: “what matters most and driven by a passion for what’s on the next horizon.” Except, what’s next on the horizon and what matters most always seems to be hot takes, culture wars and outrage bait. Big clicks, not big ideas. This isn’t about calling them out, I’m simply using them to validate that famous quote: “He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help.”
Rant On
You haven’t helped – you just stood there and pointed at the problem. You’re the Noam Chomsky of science fiction – articulating the rage, but never actually helping. Good for you, thanks – go sit in the corner and we’ll call you when we’re ready.
This is why I’m bumped about this article. They start out by saying something like: “Modern science fiction, television, and movies have leaned too heavily into the angst and despair of modern society while forgetting that when done right, the genre can act as a guiding light for our future. It’s possible to both reflect today’s socio-political climate while having some fun at the same time.”
Okay, cool – when have you boosted the scifi projects that actually do that? If anything, sites like GFR (and Scified, Syfy, Io9, and Screenrant …) talk about what everyone else is talking about, which is another way of saying ‘this is what everyone’s being marketed right now.’ Where’s the risk-taking, reputation-staking ‘defense of the new?’ Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see you doing that.
So then GFR concludes the article with a statement that skips off the point like an earth-grazing meteor off the atmosphere:
There’s a reason modern science fiction series struggle to keep going or catch on in the first place: They refuse to shoot for the moon and defy gravity. There are no risks, no sense of adventure, and worse, there’s no hope or optimism that someday things will get better. Reflecting on our darkness is all good; one of my favorite shows, Battlestar Galactica, did that exceptionally well, but it’s not enough, and we all deserve more.
Um, no.
Sorry, folks but you’re missing the point. Scifi isn’t just a genre, it’s a community, both must cooperate to succeed. Sites like GRF failed to honor those known-but-unspoken rules and made plenty of money doing it. You haven’t talked about ‘what’s next,’ you’ve talked about ‘what’s marketed. You haven’t raised the bar, you’ve lowered the discourse. You’re the CNN of sci-fi news – which is great if that’s what you’re going for. But you can’t pretend that your intentions are noble. They aren’t.
Rant Off
Another thing science fiction does – that you aren’t seeing – is that it discusses everything we’re afraid to talk about. Scifi says what we can’t get away with saying any other way – it’s the ‘court jester’ of literature. That delicate balance of imagination and candor takes maturity and courage.
Scifi is the place where human souls go to escape the algorithms, think about what they aren’t supposed to, feel their feels without judgement. You aren’t displaying either when the balance of your dialogue is ‘lunchroom chatter.’ If I wanted that, I’d be reading USA Today. Don’t give me the USA Today equivalent of science fiction.
Changing science fiction, elevating scifi? That’s work. If you want to change things for scifi, you can’t just be a part of the problem or a part of the scenery. You must be prepared to do the non-sexy, non-revenue-generating labor of building up science fiction. Plenty of scifi takes risks and brings a sense of adventure – my scifi, for one, and projects like The Creator and Passengers. You have to defend the new, and be prepared to take risks.
How to Fix It
I would offer GFR and other sites a simple solution to the problem – stop telling us what to do, and start doing it yourself. Scifi should take risks? Cool, take some risks. Defend something new, stake your reputation on an idea, stand up for SOMETHING. As of now, you’re the Internet equivalent of those ‘join the conversation’ signs in the Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial and we’re all too old and too ugly to fall for it.
You should pay attention when Giant Freakin Robot posts a scifi essay – it’s everything you shouldn’t do with science fiction. Sad thing is: the answer’s right in front of them, but until they can get out of their own way, they’ll never get there. I guess that’s our job and so I’m using this moment of rant to remind, to inspire, all of the true fans of science fiction. Our job? Escape the algorithms, think about what we aren’t supposed to, and feel our feels without judgement. Then we need to help others do the same.
