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parallax23I saw the movie Avatar last weekend and it reminded me of an homage to several of James Cameron's failed cinematic endeavors (Aliens of the Deep, Dark Angel, Terminator 3, etc). It was also the post-colonial white guilt story that an article I read pointed out. Cliche would be an understatement for the storyline, but I knew going in there it was all about the special effects. And the blue kitty-cat people from another planet.
Seriously, what I mostly thought about after seeing the movie was that the most famous movies are about aliens and monsters and mutants, but when you're that kid that says 'I'm writing a story about aliens' or the poor dork caught reading novels with weird space adventure covers, everyone and their brother thinks you're a freak. Tell someone you're writing about blue kitty-cat people whose home planet is being invaded by aliens and that it's a social commentary on colonialism and mercantilism and corporate greed, well, you'll be eating alone at lunch. A lot.
I don't understand the taboo of sci-fi/fantasy in society. Growing up, I was definitely not in an atmosphere conducive to writing sci-fi and fantasy, let alone reading it. There was always this stigma of 'normal people don't like that sort of thing' attached to my reading tastes, so I've often found it puzzling that a lot of cultural icons come from the speculative genre -- everyone knows who the X-Men are, the third highest grossing movie was about Batman, Superman is the epitome of truth, justice and the American way and all that crock. Heck, everyone is in love with Twilight and True Blood and stories about vampires! It doesn't quite make sense that the genre be taboo, does it? But I digress.
Speaking of sci-fi writing and James Cameron, I haven't updated my DA fics in a while because I'm having a bit of the ever dreaded writer's block. Last time I pushed out a chapter in spite of my blockage, it was Chapter 3 of Wake Me Up... and that remains the worst received chapter of all so far. It was strange, I had someone review all the chapters except that one! So, I've since decided it's better to wait for when my heart is in it to put out more chapters. Sorry to anyone who's reading and waiting for updates, I just want the story to be its best and pushing out chapters is not going to work for me or the stories.
Seriously, what I mostly thought about after seeing the movie was that the most famous movies are about aliens and monsters and mutants, but when you're that kid that says 'I'm writing a story about aliens' or the poor dork caught reading novels with weird space adventure covers, everyone and their brother thinks you're a freak. Tell someone you're writing about blue kitty-cat people whose home planet is being invaded by aliens and that it's a social commentary on colonialism and mercantilism and corporate greed, well, you'll be eating alone at lunch. A lot.
I don't understand the taboo of sci-fi/fantasy in society. Growing up, I was definitely not in an atmosphere conducive to writing sci-fi and fantasy, let alone reading it. There was always this stigma of 'normal people don't like that sort of thing' attached to my reading tastes, so I've often found it puzzling that a lot of cultural icons come from the speculative genre -- everyone knows who the X-Men are, the third highest grossing movie was about Batman, Superman is the epitome of truth, justice and the American way and all that crock. Heck, everyone is in love with Twilight and True Blood and stories about vampires! It doesn't quite make sense that the genre be taboo, does it? But I digress.
Speaking of sci-fi writing and James Cameron, I haven't updated my DA fics in a while because I'm having a bit of the ever dreaded writer's block. Last time I pushed out a chapter in spite of my blockage, it was Chapter 3 of Wake Me Up... and that remains the worst received chapter of all so far. It was strange, I had someone review all the chapters except that one! So, I've since decided it's better to wait for when my heart is in it to put out more chapters. Sorry to anyone who's reading and waiting for updates, I just want the story to be its best and pushing out chapters is not going to work for me or the stories.
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Date: 2010-02-01 05:59 pm (UTC)I'm more on the light-side of sci-fi/fantasy, but as a kid my relatives thought that I was odd for liking it and a few kids at school tried to make jokes at my expense. I actually started in the supernatural horror genre then started picking up books with the same theme. Fairytale re-tellings are some of my favorites.
I think it takes a lot of creativity to be in the speculative fiction genre. My mom wasn't completely crazy about it, but tolerates my eccentricity after all these years.
I miss the glory days of the WB when they would roll out a new sci-fi/fantasy/horror show. Honestly, they had a more interesting mix than the bigger networks. I'm sure the CW would make a bigger killing going back to that, considering that Supernatural and Smallville are their two biggest shows. My friends and I were discussing that sci-fi/fantasy viewers are also the most loyal demographic to a show, which we think too many people underestimate (and the fact that it's generally the smarter end of the spectrum that watches too!).