Why We Love Sci-Fi & Fantasy: Part 2

A few weeks ago, I started this post series about the attraction of science fiction and fantasy in popular culture.  The first reason I addressed was the ability for science fiction and fantasy to be all-encompassing; they are easily able to address multiple issues within a single piece of work, hence they are able to reach a broader audience with a wide range of interests.  You can read all of Part 1 here if you missed it.

Many of you left comments on Part 1 when I asked you why you thought science fiction and fantasy were so adored, even by those who don't necessarily call themselves geeks or nerds.  Today, for my 10th post of this blog, I'd like to discuss another reason found in many of these comments: escapism.

'Nuff said.

To be honest, I do not plan to discuss the escapist nature of science fiction and fantasy in great length.  There are hundreds of books, essays, and articles written on this topic, many of which you can just google.  Of course, I'd highly recommend J.R.R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" and C.S. Lewis's "On Science Fiction," which both succinctly yet accurately address escapism in these two genres.  I firmly believe their ideas on this topic are still valid today, no matter how old-fashioned some of their other ones may be.

Essentially, what you need to know about the escapist nature of science fiction and fantasy is this: some people think these books are no more than scribbles on pages to help divert your attention from real-world issues, and other people think these books are helpful specifically because they show you the real world from a new perspective.  My thoughts?  The latter couldn't be more correct.

Sure, there are many of us who do take guilty pleasure in picking up a less-than-Pulitzer-Prize-winning romantic fantasy romp just for the fun of it.  There are also those of us who felt like we could live "normal" lives only within the science fiction worlds we discovered.  However, many of us recognize the implicit nature of science fiction and fantasy to take us outside of ourselves, outside of our limited viewpoints, to illuminate the issues, hypocrisies, and ideas in the world around us that we are not otherwise aware of or may not otherwise have been open to hearing.  Because of this, we are terrified at the concept of an Orwellian-inspired government that uses Newspeak to convince its citizens of its ideas regardless of morality (or are we there already?).  We cheer for Sam and Optimus Prime in their fight to save humanity, because they have shown us that we humans have immeasurable value.  We also ache to see the love and acceptance Harry finds with Ron and Hermoine radiated into our suffering, spiteful Muggle world.  This is why escapism is not just a quick little vacation for our minds; if anything, escapism engages our minds to think even more deeply about our everyday routines, and how the larger forces at work behind those routines may ultimately be driving us towards a life of slavery or a life of freedom.

As these genres start to become more popular and therefore more widely accepted (and more often than not, their fans seen as intuitive instead of "geeky"), people formerly opposed to science fiction and fantasy on the grounds of unreal escapism seem to be questioning their assumptions.  Maybe these "escapist" books really do hold more value than previously suspected.   Maybe there's a real-life, applicable reason four out of the five top-grossing films of all time are science fiction or fantasy.

Maybe science fiction and fantasy can help us escape and then come back to change the world.

Geek Art Discovery #1

I'm going to apologize/warn right off the bat that this post is not about why we love science fiction and fantasy, even though I said I'd respond to your comments and inform you of my own opinion on the matter.  I do promise I'll get to that post soon; however, as soon as I checked out an Etsy site my long-time friend told me about, I felt compelled to share the knowledge of this geeky art collection.

The shop is called Line Draw, and it's run by Mike Joos.  He has no information about his Napoleon Dynamite-esque art or why he draws on his Etsy profile, but he links to his blog which says that he draws "original geeky illustrations."  This, my friends, is an understatement.  Mike draws anything from Darth Vader riding an AT-AT like a horse to superheroes riding bikes with tires made from their very own logos.  Here are some of my personal favorites after I browsed his store:

Apparently Boba Fett forgot where he parked the Slave I.

LOLz.

Somehow I think Dobby would disagree
with Gollum's choice to abandon his master.

Aww... peace on Earth.  And other places.

Original, indeed.  I'd probably also coin some of Mike's work as off-the-wall, like his unicorn series where he turns comic book or movie characters into unicorns (let me tell you, the Hulkicorn is a fellow).  Also, he has prints of unicorns wearing oxygen tanks, swimming in the ocean with various creatures like the Loch Ness monster, a narwhal, and a mermaid.  There are also unicorns dressed as superheroes, if you want more unicorn options.

Mike also has some other pieces that non-geeks will appreciate, like prints of different dog breeds and "I love my state" pieces that strategically place states' outlines within a heart shape.  You could probably buy your mom a dog piece, your dad the state piece, your sister the cat on roller skates print, and an utterly geeked-out print for yourself.  Everyone wins!

Visit Mike's Line Draw store here and spread the word about his original geek illustrations!

Avatars and hobbits and Transformers - oh, my!

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?

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?