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Psyfyman81
Phillip Leavenworth
United States, California, Paramount

Words: 423
Access: Public
Comments: 4

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SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

In my opinion, science fiction is about what can happen and/or what will happen. It usually features space, aliens, lasers, zero gravity and some amount of realistic scientific applications. I like science fiction not because it is cool and such, but because of its possibilities. Now, I have ceased watching stuff like Star Trek and Star Wars and I've gone on to watching stuff like Planetes, Firefly/Serenity and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Because they are in my opinion great realistic science fiction pieces. I never refer to science fiction as scifi because I take scifi as a offensive statement.

Fantasy on the other hand is in my opinion just a bunch of unreal things made possible. It usually features dragons, swords, iron and unbelieveable tales. I wouidn't say that I love fantasy, but I do admire it. I enjoy the types of fantasy that show you great spectacles, you know, like fantastical views of like whole cities in the sky that float up there because some kind of magic allows it to and you need a dragon to get up there, or something. I enjoy Lord of the Rings, Narnia and Harry Potter, but I wouldn't call myself a fan of fantasy.

Bottom line, these two genres help us stay open-minded and astonished. They help us play with the realities and the unrealities and help portray great messages of courage, morality and drama. The point is, is that people who don't like these things are either shielded by the "real" world and are more interested in seeing who'll win American Idol or Dancing with the stars. I believe that many people have closed and are closing their eyes on fantasy and science fiction and that is sad. I fear that one day these two genres will be as extinct as westerns are today and westerns aren't a bad genre either. I guess because all the pollution in the sky, we don't ever notice the sheer beauty of the heavens. And I guess people are too caught up in the mountains of bills to pay or the kids who get tossed into gang life. And there are only a handful of people now, who just choose to escape their lives and dream similar dreams that I have dreamed.

We need to look up at the stars and look to our imaginations and dream. Because dreams are possible, but not through trying hard, but through your belief in your dreams. We need to keep dreaming...

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Comments  
ThePenguin Comment by: ThePenguin Online- 2008-08-19 04:28
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SF&F are first and foremost about hope and faith. About how PEOPLE react with and to technology. I haven't yet met a real SF&F fan who isn't an optimist at heart, even when dealing with dystopias. Too many "realists" close their mids to SF&F BECAUSE it may just be more real, and truer, than all their facts and paradigms.

"SciFi" as opposed to SF is really about space opera and unrealistic scenarios. We used to use it to describe the juvenile versions of real SF stories, as a pejorative. Rather like mall goths thinking that the goth movement is about wearing black and a few tats or piercings.

BTW,I've been an SF&F fan for almost as long as I can remember.I was also into sports (soccer), kind of a jock and I was the best chess player in high school (very nerdish), part of the inner cliques (pop!) and part of the anti-establishment (anti-pop!) And SF&F was never an escape - it was just a way to explore.
gamer with pen Comment by: gamer with pen - 2008-08-06 14:02
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dude i love this. it fills me with hope and a sence of adventure!
sorry i abbreviate science fiction...
Psyfyman81 Comment by: Psyfyman81 - 2008-08-04 21:49
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I have pride in science fiction and since most people abbreviate science fiction as scifi, i changed mine to psy, like psychology.
FantasticFantasy Comment by: FantasticFantasy - 2008-08-04 19:00
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I absolutely believe that people have given up on fantasy and science fiction, because there are so many stereotypical ideas about both, that everyone thinks it's for "nerds".

It seems like people would rather live in the real world. To me- the real world sucks so, I turn to science fiction and fantasy to escape.

What happened to the days when people entertained each other by telling stories beneath the stars?
Like the indians, for instance.
I think by cramming them into small spaces like we have done, we lost out on the practice of spoken stories, many of which were VERY farfetched like Science fiction and fantasy stories.
And everything is so modernized now that people don't bother writing because they are too busy listening to their IPods or checking their email...

I liked this blog,
It really got me thinking. Sorry if I went off on a tangent, I'm bad to do that.
I sounded so serious though... THAT is weird. = ]

but one thing bothered me... If you take "sci-fi" as an offense, then why is your username "Psyfyman82"?
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