I will admit that I skipped about 5 pages worth of response, so someone
might have already mention something along these lines, but here is what I
have too say.
K, I so wanted to tear into Prachett for his statements. I really did. Then
I read up and realized, that not only Doctor Who, but a number of other shows/books/
comics fall under an area that has not been defined. So, while I am going to
say that one of my favorite author's is wrong in his statement, I am also saying
it is due too the current way we look at these genres.
First we will define fantasy(according to wiki),
Fantasy : Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting.
Second, Science Fiction. (Again this is the wiki definition)
Science fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation).
You would think that, between those two definitions, you would be able too do whatever
you wanted too with any idea. Apparently not. We seem to have a problem when the elf is
shooting a gun, or the scientist is using an arcane symbol to make his centrifuge work.
Is Shadowrun(Tabletop, not the Vista game) fantasy, or Sci/fi? Is Ad&d(I am talking about
time frame and the arquebus) Sci/fi or fantasy.
Entertainment is supposed to be just that. Something to amuse yourself with. Not
too be taken seriously. If you want to start complaining about some series just
doing whatever worked, let talk Star Trek. How many times did someone say, "Oh, I
wrote my thesis on this very problem at Star Fleet Academy"(Apparently the same
person wrote a thesis a number of times.) Then we have Star Wars. Sorry, a
fantastic "mystical" force is fine. We don't need microbes or whatever the...(not
even going too mention that word) were. Did we need a reason for the dead(Trioxin)
for the dead to come back and start eating people? Don't even get me started
on the Palladium Megaverse(guns, magic, cybernetics, drugs, dragons, and pretty
much everything you can think of).
If there is going to be this much of a problem, then there needs to be a new area
for these to fall under. Call it the "Makestuffupwhenneededit" genre, or call it the
Science Fantasy genre. That is if you have to apply any term too it. Then again,
you could just slap the big old FICTION label on it an call it a day. After all,
fiction does mean(Yet another wiki quote), "A literary work whose content is produced
by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact"
Night folks.
