So what is the culture war? Unless you have been hiding under a rock you will have noticed that people aren’t very nice to each other any more and even the choice of coffee in the morning can be a polarising act. In science fiction the battleground seems mostly to have been around the representation […]
So what is the culture war? Unless you have been hiding under a rock you will have noticed that people aren’t very nice to each other any more and even the choice of coffee in the morning can be a polarising act. In science fiction the battleground seems mostly to have been around the representation of women and minorities. The battleground has been a combination of the trade media and social media but in recent times creatives more and more are choosing sides. Representation is a tricky thing, is it presentation, number of people involved, impact or audience. Should mainstream target the straight white male or be more broad? As if things were ever that simple.
As I chatted to Gareth this morning, I don’t talk SF in the fishing world it doesn’t work and people tend to think you are wierd. They are just different worlds, is that right? I have in recent years found straddling the two worlds a challenge but I am not going to judge many groups of fishers that think I am way too nerdy, at least they understand and respect the fact that nerd or not – I get them.
Science fiction as a culture has over a long time embraced and broadened it’s reach and been the home of dissenting voices on all sides. That is it’s strength. That there is a battle to control the narrative is not new. What is new however is that in the past this was done by regulatory bodies and angry fans. Creatives did their own thing. Now that they are in and many are all in, it is impossible to escape the real world as there is almost no SF untouched by politics.
Even the last two popcorn movies I watched – Pacific Rim and Tomb Raider, fun as they were carried constant undercurrents.
Whatever the outcome, it’s hard to see anything other than a victory for the social justice movement.
Will the next underground “edgy” movement in SF be in exploring ideas. That is where the “edgy” rebel crowd is on Youtube. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s time for SF to think hard about whether we are about reflecting society as it is or imaging society as it could be.