As I was getting ready for work last week, I was trying to think of reasons why science fiction and fantasy are genres that must be studied in school because in general they aren't. *disdainful boos and hisses ensue* Unfortunately, most of my students view these genres as either just "fun" or evil (yes, I sometimes lament the state of humanity for this reason in particular), so I consistently want to find ways to convince them otherwise. Also, one of my future career ideas is to get my Master's in science fiction studies and then end up being a literature teacher focusing only on science fiction and fantasy. I gotta start somewhere.
Apparently, my mind wanted to start with movies - the top five all-time worldwide box office hits, to be precise. In case you aren't familiar with them, you can view them here:
IMDb: All-Time Worldwide Box Office
Notice a trend at all?
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| It's like Disney's Pocahontas... IN THE FUTURE. |
Disregarding
Titanic,
four out of the top five all-time worldwide box office hits are either science fiction or fantasy stories.
Avatar reigns at the top of the list with a $2 billion lead, which I don't see being stolen from it anytime soon, unless of course the proceeds from the upcoming 3D version of
Titanic will count towards the general
Titanic fund.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two took in $1.3 billion, and then
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is in a close fourth at $1.1 billion. And the fifth movie on this list is one of my personal favorites,
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (also around $1.1 billion). (The top 6-10 films match the top five films' statistics: four out of these five are fantasy and science fiction too!)
If science fiction and fantasy are supposedly unworthy of being studied in school, then why are they so successful in our culture? I'm not saying that all popular culture needs to be taught in school as "literary" or "legitimate" merely because its successful. However, it's obvious that there's something in these science fiction and fantasy stories that connects to the general public in an incredibly powerful way that has yet to be challenged by conventional genres like dramas, comedies, and romances.
Before I delve further into this topic, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Why do you
you think that science fiction and fantasy are worth studying and understanding? What do you think they contribute to our world that other genres cannot do?
