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Science fiction or not? The Adjustment Bureau
I had another of those, "oh no they didn't say a sci-fi thing isn't sci-fi, did they?!" moments yesterday on the train. And it's sad, because the movie (The Adjustment Bureau) looks interesting, it's based on a Philip K. Dick story, and... well, frankly, I wanted to see it. But now, not so much. Here's the quote from EW, with preliminary stuff to make it make more sense...
...their relationship is star-crossed, since the titular bureau, a shadowy collective of fedora-sporting agents acting as the arbiters of fate, is trying to keep them apart. Whew. And while it's based very loosely on a Philip K. Dick short story, Nolfi insists the film isn't really science fiction. "Sci-fi to me conjures up lasers and spaceships and time travel," he says. "This movie is told very realistically."
Okay, here are my objections.
1. You're insulting your audience. Realism isn't something that only happens in non sci-fi movies. If what you mean is "I want this to appeal to a broad-based audience," well, that's not the way to put it and congrats, because you just lost a lot of the people who enjoy movies with well-done science fiction. Additionally, sci-fi movies do well... usually when they're GOOD (or have an awesomely bankable star, or both). So can I assume that the director doesn't think his movie is very good?
2. Philip K. Dick was a very famous writer of science fiction. He wasn't a genre-bending or genre-straddling author. To base something on anything he wrote and then say it's not science fiction is just plain wrong. Given the plot sketch provided, you could maybe try to get away with calling it magic realism, but... no. It's still science fiction.
3. Science fiction - real science fiction - isn't just about lasers (which are commonplace in our society anyway), spaceships (which we sort of have, though not commonplace), and time travel. Science fiction is the fiction of ideas that (usually) are based in reality, but unbound by current technological limitations. It's a fiction of exploration. Educate yourself before making yourself look like an ass.
4. If your quote is this pretentious, probably your movie is too. And that's unfortunate, because before I read this article I wanted to see it. I like movies. All kinds, including drama, comedies, mysteries, action movies, documentaries... oh, and sci-fi. Guess I'm not the target audience for this one.
...their relationship is star-crossed, since the titular bureau, a shadowy collective of fedora-sporting agents acting as the arbiters of fate, is trying to keep them apart. Whew. And while it's based very loosely on a Philip K. Dick short story, Nolfi insists the film isn't really science fiction. "Sci-fi to me conjures up lasers and spaceships and time travel," he says. "This movie is told very realistically."
Okay, here are my objections.
1. You're insulting your audience. Realism isn't something that only happens in non sci-fi movies. If what you mean is "I want this to appeal to a broad-based audience," well, that's not the way to put it and congrats, because you just lost a lot of the people who enjoy movies with well-done science fiction. Additionally, sci-fi movies do well... usually when they're GOOD (or have an awesomely bankable star, or both). So can I assume that the director doesn't think his movie is very good?
2. Philip K. Dick was a very famous writer of science fiction. He wasn't a genre-bending or genre-straddling author. To base something on anything he wrote and then say it's not science fiction is just plain wrong. Given the plot sketch provided, you could maybe try to get away with calling it magic realism, but... no. It's still science fiction.
3. Science fiction - real science fiction - isn't just about lasers (which are commonplace in our society anyway), spaceships (which we sort of have, though not commonplace), and time travel. Science fiction is the fiction of ideas that (usually) are based in reality, but unbound by current technological limitations. It's a fiction of exploration. Educate yourself before making yourself look like an ass.
4. If your quote is this pretentious, probably your movie is too. And that's unfortunate, because before I read this article I wanted to see it. I like movies. All kinds, including drama, comedies, mysteries, action movies, documentaries... oh, and sci-fi. Guess I'm not the target audience for this one.
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