Science Fiction Myth Busting.

I think one of the hardest parts about trying to get someone interested in a new genre is that everyone always has so many preconceptions of what that genre is. I’m constantly recommending science fiction to people (as you may have noticed) whether it’s my friends, family, or random people I’ve been seated next to at a bar. I’ve found that a lot of people have the same reservations. This article: 10 myths about science fiction and why they matter does a good job of analyzing and confronting these types of things. There was one thing on the list that really got me thinking.

3) If it's really good, it's not science fiction

You still see this one a lot in book reviews and movie/TV write-ups a lot. It's not just a matter of genre snobbery, but of clinging to the idea that science fiction is a particular type of narrative, with one-dimensional characters and Lucasian dialogue. This attitude is summed up by Kingsley Amis' handy poem: "SF's no good! They bellow 'til we're deaf. But this is good. Well, then, it's not SF!"

Why this matters: Not so much because of the thing where certain outstanding works get mis-classified as being "not science fiction" — that's just a minor annoyance — but more because this attitude, perversely, leads to people creating absolutely terrible science fiction, with the understanding that we don't expect or deserve anything better.

I actually had this conversation with someone recently. I had been thinking about the idea that if a science fiction story is particularly entertaining, well-written, and accepted by the mainstream then it somehow ceases to be considered science fiction by that mainstream. Take Jurassic Park for example. It’s a massive success that pretty much everyone loves. However, if you asked someone whether or not it was science fiction the answer might surprise you. It surprised me, anyway. Most people don’t seem to consider it science fiction because it’s a blockbuster movie. Now, I hate to burst anyone’s bubbles, but the science in Jurassic Park is fictional. Fictional science. Science fiction. It’s a major part of the plot, guys.

I like the “why it matters” that gets brought up as well. It fits nicely in with my previous piece talking about the Sad Puppies. They have preconceived notions about what science fiction is. Because they have this dedication to the old school, which is filled with plenty of entertaining stories but also plenty of problematic sexism, racism, etc. Since that’s what they think science fiction is and should be they continue to produce this type of writing. Science fiction as a genre is always evolving though. It needs to since it’s the genre concerned with the future. Letting science fiction become stagnant is no good for the genre!

So long as people hang onto these myths and preconceived notions about what it means to be science fiction they’ll be doing more harm than good.