"Done well enough for the genre."

In science fiction, sometimes it seems that so long as it's science fiction at all, the fans will love it - briefly; therefore the publishers will put it in print - briefly; therefore the writer is likely to settle for doing much less than his best. The mediocre and the excellent are praised alike by afficionados, and ignored alike by outsiders.

- Ursula K. LeGuin, A Citizen of Mondath

In response to Laurie's guest posting regarding suspension of disbelief, I'd like to suggest that when she comments that The Immortals was "done well enough for the genre", she may have put her finger on the real problem without noticing.

One of the great problems that has plagued fantasy and science fiction over the years is that the desire of fans for content has often resulted in the acceptance of lower quality.  For a long time, in many ways it was a self-fulfilling prophecy - science fiction and fantasy were ghettoized by the mainstream, and as such it was taken as a given that as long as a story had enough rocket ships and aliens, or castles and elves, that was all that was necessary.  After all, it wasn't like they were legitimate stories, you know, actual stories about real life - why would they have to be well-written?

I think that things have improved over time, and that both science fiction and fantasy have matured, but sadly I suspect that it's easier to get backing for a bad special effects movie than a bad dramatic film, and there's obviously a large market for recycled assembly-line genre novels.  When Laurie asks what people expect when watching a fantasy movie, she suggests entertainment, amusement and escape - it says a lot that quality wasn't the first thing that came to mind.

- Sid

Suspension of Disbelief.

(Contributed by Laurie Smith)

Recently I saw three movies, all very different but all with an element of fantasy. (Okay, so only one might be classified as science fiction.) These movies got me wondering:  what constitutes an acceptable level of fantasy in a movie? Too little, and it is a documentary or a reality show. Too much and the audience members shake their heads and think “Whoa. What the heck was that?”

The three movies I had the dubious pleasure of watching were:

1. The Immortals. Bleak and brutal, but done well enough for the genre.

2. Sssssss. Yes, I’m serious. That was the title. It was about a mad scientist who turned his lab assistants into snakes. I didn’t even watch the whole thing it was so ridiculous, and my rating for this unfortunate blot on the cinematographic landscape is: Booo. Hisssssssss.

3. Stonehenge Apocalypse. The closest one to actual science fiction, it was also the most enjoyable (damned by faint praise).

What do people expect when watching a fantasy movie? Entertainment? Amusement? Escape? Science fiction movies that include all three of these values seem to do well. Adding some elements of truth and plausibility give the viewer something to relate to, so they can truly imagine a world where....

A few points of verisimilitude provide an anchor for the viewer. What about a movie like District 9, where there is enough day-to-day detail of an improbable situation provided where the viewer can feel almost uncomfortable with the realism? Hey, if you haven’t seen that movie yet, don’t rent it and then go out for a large dish of prawns, you may lose your appetite.

So the rhetorical question is – what is the optimal distance from reality that a movie needs for the audience to be both willing to suspend their disbelief and be entertained enough to provide a success at the box office?

- Laurie

Bazinga.

Leonard:  Once you open the box it loses its value.

Penny:  Yeah yeah, my mom gave me the same lecture about my virginity…I gotta tell you, it was a lot more fun takin' it out and playin' with it.

The Transporter Malfunction, The Big Bang Theory

In spite of my previous post, there is a show that I do watch frequently, but it's not exactly science fiction. The Big Bang Theory is a remarkably faithful representation of the ups and downs of geek life, and it's loaded with in-jokes that require a fair degree of geekdom on the part of the audience for full appreciation.

This season, they're reached for an apotheosis of geek cred by first having Leonard Nimoy provide the voice for a Spock doll in a dream sequence, and then with the upcoming appearance of physicist Stephen Hawking.  However, I'm sad to say that they've dropped a notch in their credibility level with me as a result of the Nimoy/Spock episode, The Transporter Malfunction. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, Leonard and Sheldon are Caltech physicist roommates who live across the hall from a would-be actress (and full time waitress) named Penny, who has an on-again/off again relationship with Leonard.*  Leonard and Sheldon, along with their friends Howard and Rajesh, represent the zenith of socially challenged action figure and comic book collecting Star Trek versus Star Wars gamer otaku geekdom - living the dream, as it were.

In The Transporter Malfunction, Sheldon complains that Penny eats too much of their take-out food without chipping in.  Penny responds by buying gifts for Sheldon and Leonard with part of a residual cheque that she has received for some commercial work.  The gifts?  To quote Sheldon:  "A vintage mint-in-box 1975 Mego Star Trek Transporter  - with real transporter action.  Hot darn!!" Well, actually, two of them, one each for Leonard and Sheldon.  

Okay, what? I'm sorry, but a vintage mint-in-the-box anything isn't cheap (trust me, I keep an eye on the Major Matt Mason market on eBay.)  How big a cheque did Penny get, anyway?
 

Just out of curiousity, I went online to see what the 1975 Mego Transporter sells for, only to discover that show creator Chuck Lorre's research department had not fully done its job.  As it turns out, what Penny purchased were not really Mego toys as such, but the United Kingdom Palitoy Star Trek Transporter Room (Cat. No 22803, if you must know), which was never released in North America. In fact, the Palitoy logo on the box is very visible in any number of shots. **

Obviously the research team needs to hire some new geeks, because this is exactly the sort of trivia that Sheldon would have on the tip of his tongue. Feel shame, people, it took me less than a minute on Google™ to get that info. And I'm only a major geek, although if you ask me, posts like this really should count toward leveling up.

Oh, and estimated price for a Star Trek Transporter Room, depending on condition, about $300+ each.  Wow, that's a lot of Chinese food.

- Sid

* Well, actually, that kind of diminishes their credibility a bit too - the only way that a Level 80 geek is likely to connect with a beautiful blonde is in the process of buying a lap dance from her.

**  Sigh - okay, I'll throw them a bone here, Mego retained copyright on the Transporter Room toy, but I bet that Desilu Productions retained copyright on the Star Trek name as well, that's not the point.