this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
30 points (100.0% liked)
Cool Guides
4665 readers
24 users here now
Rules for Posting Guides on Our Community
1. Defining a Guide Guides are comprehensive reference materials, how-tos, or comparison tables. A guide must be well-organized both in content and layout. Information should be easily accessible without unnecessary navigation. Guides can include flowcharts, step-by-step instructions, or visual references that compare different elements side by side.
2. Infographic Guidelines Infographics are permitted if they are educational and informative. They should aim to convey complex information visually and clearly. However, infographics that primarily serve as visual essays without structured guidance will be subject to removal.
3. Grey Area Moderators may use discretion when deciding to remove posts. If in doubt, message us or use downvotes for content you find inappropriate.
4. Source Attribution If you know the original source of a guide, share it in the comments to credit the creators.
5. Diverse Content To keep our community engaging, avoid saturating the feed with similar topics. Excessive posts on a single topic may be moderated to maintain diversity.
6. Verify in Comments Always check the comments for additional insights or corrections. Moderators rely on community expertise for accuracy.
Community Guidelines
-
Direct Image Links Only Only direct links to .png, .jpg, and .jpeg image formats are permitted.
-
Educational Infographics Only Infographics must aim to educate and inform with structured content. Purely narrative or non-informative infographics may be removed.
-
Serious Guides Only Nonserious or comedy-based guides will be removed.
-
No Harmful Content Guides promoting dangerous or harmful activities/materials will be removed. This includes content intended to cause harm to others.
By following these rules, we can maintain a diverse and informative community. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the moderators. Thank you for contributing responsibly!
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Both. Maybe leaning a little bit more on sci-fi since they try to explain many things with science like kryptonite. But definitely also fantasy for X-Men, mutants have superpowers because the DNA does ... things.
I dislike the common definition of sci-fi as science-flavored fantasy. It's just not a useful distinction to me vs plain 'fantasy'. What I love the most about sci-fi is the exploration of what it means to be human by projecting the implications of drastically improved technology. All a matter of taste, of course.
I'm curious, though: why should a kryptonite explanation be any more sciency than mutant DNA? I see one as an entirely unexplained magic rock, and the other as an extension of the scientific triumph of understanding genetics (plus hilariously and deliberately misunderstanding evolution). X-Men is very nearly sci-fi to me; if mutants were a human creation it would be.
I wanted to say that it's hard to define exactly what is or isn't sci-fi. Really I'm just a sci-fi enjoyer and am not qualified to say what is or isn't sci-fi :D
Kryptonite for me is clearly a magic rock but in the movie it is in the realm of their science. Also there was a movie where the existence of superman led to a lot of questioning on its implications in defense politics so it could fit some part of your definition I guess?
So like superman is science-based and X-Men is also you're right and it does clearly ask what it means to be human when there are augmented humans now. So clearly more sci-fi than superman.
But films can be both sci-fi and fantasy. It feels like a sliding rule depending on the amount the universe is based on hardcore science. On the DNA subject, Gattaca is not fantasy but X-Men is.
To me it feels similar to the debate about "hard magic" universes like Eragon (where every spell has a physical toll on the user, or other book series where the magic is really detailed in-universe and only mastered by experts who have to study their whole life for even a basic spell) and "soft magic" like Harry Potter where everyone can cast crucifixion spells at the speed of an automatic rifle (I'm slightly exaggerating).
Absolutely, genres are muddy bullshit. That's what makes debates like these so fun.
Looking at things from the perspective of the characters is interesting, but I struggle to imagine how kryptonite would be 'science' even in-universe. I guess 'technology' is really what I mean, and kryptonite is a natural element. That's how I see it. There is some engineering around kryptonite-based anti-superman weapons, but that's ultimately ancillary to the philosophical meat of the series.
With Superman being a lens on geoplolitics, it's simply the fact that he's a natural being and not a human engineering accomplishment that makes it solidly not sci-fi to me. Many if not most great works examine the human condition to some extent no matter the genre.
With this technology lens, would Dune still be considered sci-fi? They have different technology sure but in many ways worse than what we have now (except for space travel), they don't have computers and rely on hand to hand combat, their spies cannot hide mics so they hide in walls for days!
It's another hyper militarized universe like what the Cold War has brought but with religion and drugs :^)
Perhaps not, interesting example. It's more of a political drama overall, though it's been ages since I read it.
The space travel is just a drop-in for different countries, really. The examination of humanity doesn't extend specifically from the implications of advanced technology; I feel like it could be pretty easily re-framed into a mideval drama about a fief rich in (magical?) opium poppies.