Science fiction slowly dying?

Question

I remember in the 90's plenty of space and science fiction movies and tv series coming out all of the time. People seemed very interested in space and the unknown. Now a days it seems people are becoming far less interested in space and science fiction and more into reality shows!!!!

Answer 1

I think science fiction isn't progressing as fast as science is - it's getting harder for authors to stay ahead of technology.

And, today's person is more likely to accept that there are creatures and beings on other planets, and that other planets exist around other stars (we didn't have proof in the 50's and 60's, but now we do...)

And, entertainment is on a big cycle. You'll get a lot of cop shows, then that goes away, then a lot of doctor shows, and that passes also. Maybe we're just in a lull for sci fi.

A pity...

Answer 2

Sci-fi has taken a different emphasis in the last couple of decades. When I was a kid, sci-fi was an exploration of how ordinary people might act in extraordinary circumstances, with the emphasis on the "people" part. As such, it was a vehicle for social commentary and philosophy.

Somewhere along the way, it transformed so that the emphasis was on the "extraordinary circumstances," and the "people" part became sort of an afterthought. Sci-fi became all about the toys and shiny lights and special effects. Personally, I don't see how anyone over 14 can remain interested in that for very long.

Every once in a while, you'll still see new sci-fi that subscribes to the "old-school" philosophy of writing human drama. The new Battlestar Galactica is one shining example of that. That show _purposely_ de-emphasizes the technnology so that it won't distract people from the human story, and the result is an award-winning series. Maybe (I hope!) this will start a new trend.

Answer 3

Science fiction movies and tv shows have bigger budgets than most shows.

A science fiction book you might find interesting is "Fourth Planet from the Sun" (or perhaps the title is "fourth rock from the sun.") It's a collection of short stories about Mars, arranged in chronological order. It begins with a Ray Bradbury story from the early 1950's and ends with a story written in 2004 or so.

The editor's idea was to show how sci fi writing about Mars changed over the years, and how those changes reflect the changes in our society. In some of the later stories, the space explorers feel pressure to discover something spectacular, feeling the threat of funding cuts and waning public interest.

I think your comment about reality shows is, unfortunately, right on the money. It's not just sci fi programs that are going away, but ALL programs that actually require some good writing!

Answer 4

Seems to me there's a lot of recent SciFi movies out. Look at this list:
Transformers
The Fountain
Eragon
A Scanner Darkly
X-Men Series
V for Vendetta
Aeon Flux
The Brothers Grimm
Fantastic Four
War of the Worlds
Star Wars Series
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
I, Robot
Paycheck
The Matrix Series
Terminator Series
Signs
Minority Report
Spider Man Series
Alien Series
Predator Series

Answer 5

It may be that todays sci fi needs to be aimed at a younger market.
I'd like to see Space Family Stone and Podkayne of Mars turned into a tv mini series or maybe present it in cartoon form.
Bring the genius of Robert A Heinlein to the next generation.
His juvenile novels are a great read. Sure they need modernising, but that can be done without destroying the central story line. The did really well with Star Ship Troopers.

Answer 6

Science fiction movies aren't uniformly bad. They just seem so. Special effect heavy TV science fiction like the various star treks are big budget shows playing to relatively small audiences even if they have good writing.. Thats called Bad economics.

TV: Its simply business: you put on the show that attracts the most viewers and costs the least to produce. Game shows are cheap: hence that bald dude with all the briefcase toting babes. Reality shows are cheap: hence a show about competitive dieting and another that features ball room dancing. The champion has to be American idol: it draws viewers like flies and offers a lousy million bucks as well as a healthy dose of media exposure =fame. A single star trek next generation cost about twice that amount per episode and garnered a pitiful fraction of the audience.

Actors are another part of the cost equation. They develop high opinions of themselves and demand absurd amounts of money. Reality shows can recruit fame hungry amateurs for nothing except a modest chance of a reward, and the public eats it up.

Now do the math: expensive to produce SF, with expensive actors, special effects, writers, and very few viewers, hence low returns on your investment

or

Reality shows: almost no actors. Free talent, a very low special effects/set cost and a paltry prize. Very little writing necessary, and absurdly high viewership.

Theres nothing cosmic or profoundly philosophic about the decline. Its just good business.

Answer 7

The Space Shuttle killed young peoples interest in space travel. The Hubble Space Telescope on the other hand seems to have peaked the interest in young people in deep space and interstellar phenomenon.
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During the 60s young people were into space travel in a big way but after the Apollo missions there was a real possibility, believe it or not, that the United States would not have a manned space program at all. Nixon killed off the Saturn V and any dreams of a lunar base, and trips to Mars.
He knew the Apollo program would always be associated with JFK and LBJ who he despised. He offered NASA the space shuttle or oblivion and they naturally took the Space Shuttle but knew the 5.5 billion that Nixon was going to budget for it was not nearly enough and developing it along with the military only made it larger and more costly.
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Richard Nixon killed our space program and with it the dreams of young people.

Answer 8

Heinlein is dead. Asimov is dead. Andre Norton is dead. Lots of great or fun-to-read sci-fi storywriters have died. And now and then yet another one goes through Death's Event Horizon, never to be seen on Earth again.

It's true that a few new great ones have arisen, such as Lois McMaster Bujold and Megan Lindholm. But the extinction of old talent is outpacing the advent of new talent just now. That's because the mid-20th century say a surge in top SF storywriters, due largely to the efforts of John W. Campbell Jr.

Until the SF field has a new complete first string team, there's always Fantasy, which is my main thing to read nowadays.

Answer 9

Find out reading this book !!!!

"The Science in Science Fiction: 83 SF Predictions that Became Scientific Reality (Hardcover) "

Answer 10

Yeah most people aren't very intelligent and care barely handle the present. Although I never liked much science fiction either, I like the real science that's happening now.