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My friend and I were debating as to whether or not Science Fiction is a type of Fantasy. We came to a consensus that the two genres overlap (like Star Wars is Science Fiction Fantasy) but we were not able to really define Fantasy and Scifi and how they're different. Anyone want to add their two cents?
My favorite definition, from Rod Serling: "Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible."
_________________ Realize every dark cloud is a smoke screen meant to blind us from the truth, and the truth is whether we see them or not - the sun and moon are still there and always there is light.
"Tuomir, you're made of win" -ranger "Tumor is just plain retarted. Tuomir is cooler than that" -jackmrnorris94 "Tuomir has proven his brilliance in this scenario" -The Airman
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:34 pm Posts: 2408 Location: Right behind you. Don't look.
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Tuomir wrote:
Just call them all speculative fiction and be done with it.
I was saying how I generally don't like Fantasy but I generally like Scifi. To me there's a clear difference.
_________________ Realize every dark cloud is a smoke screen meant to blind us from the truth, and the truth is whether we see them or not - the sun and moon are still there and always there is light.
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:34 pm Posts: 2408 Location: Right behind you. Don't look.
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Bjorn wrote:
If it ain't fact, it's fiction. If it ain't fact, then it's a fantasy.
So Lord of the Rings is science fiction? Alice in Wonderland is science fiction?
_________________ Realize every dark cloud is a smoke screen meant to blind us from the truth, and the truth is whether we see them or not - the sun and moon are still there and always there is light.
Alice in Wonderland was supposedly a critique of mathematics. xD
_________________ "Man your own LASCANNON! Man your... battlestations! We'll have you dead pretty soon!" - Commander Kilgannon of the Heaven's Fence System (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp_Now6WDRc)
Stealing strait from Wiki as i don't want to dig through my college notes but:
Science fiction is: An alternate or futuristic world in which exists Technology or science yet to be discovered. (This includes laser guns in the wild wild west. etc) Elements of Science fiction: - A time Line in the future, in alternative timelines, or in a historical past that contradicts known facts of history or archeological record - A partial Setting or scene in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean Earth. -Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots -Futuristic technology such as Ray guns, Teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. -Scientific Principles that are new or contradict accepted laws of nature (Worm holes, etc) -New and different Political or social systems -Paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation -Other universes or dimensions and travel between them
The Vast Majority of science fiction that we see on TV or in movies consist of above traits, and push the problems of modern society (or the viewed problems of modern society) to the extremes.
Difference between Science fiction and fantasy, to me is that science fiction is based on the technology and in some ways trying to explain it. (overly explaining it tips towards "Technical Science Fiction" or "Hard Science fiction") While Fantasy uses Magic, and the unexplained to build their own storyline and basis.
Best show to look at for what is science fiction in my view would be Star Trek. They Tried to explain any technology they used to a degree over the shows run. along with that, nearly every episode consisted of a "What if" taking some element of current society and pushing it to the extreme (the black/white white/black people was a famous one for racial profiling and segregation)
As for Star Wars, the original 3 movies would be Considered a Fantasy movie based in a futuristic world mostly due to the "Force" being completely unexplained and magical at that time... then the latest 3 movies tried to explain the force, which would push it back into the Science fiction genre.
/end rant
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Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:40 pm Posts: 135 Location: The Land of Shamrocks, Leprechauns and Lucky Charms!
I disagree with the idea that they are the same. I also disagree that Science Fiction is a sub-genre of Fantasy. I wouldn't call A Scanner Darkly fantasy for example. Science Fiction needs some form of realistic grounding to be accredited to the genre. Hence Science Fiction. Fantasy is exactly the opposite. It's the eschewing of reality and all of its fundamental laws and expectations for anything the imagination can fathom, hence The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland or Harry Potter.
There are overlaps as there are with most genres and you will certainly find instances where a particular work combines the two - Star Wars for example - but otherwise they're as separate as Horror and Thriller. A lot of similarities, sure, but fundamentally different nonetheless.
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:17 am Posts: 792 Location: Helsinki, Finland
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Nonebutone wrote:
Difference between Science fiction and fantasy, to me is that science fiction is based on the technology and in some ways trying to explain it. (overly explaining it tips towards "Technical Science Fiction" or "Hard Science fiction") While Fantasy uses Magic, and the unexplained to build their own storyline and basis.
Add The Earthsea Trilogy and The Name of the Wind on your to-read list. Magical worlds, too, can be detailed and explained in an in-world logic, just like in what you call Science Fiction.
So yeah, just bunch it all in Speculative Fiction.
"Tuomir, you're made of win" -ranger "Tumor is just plain retarted. Tuomir is cooler than that" -jackmrnorris94 "Tuomir has proven his brilliance in this scenario" -The Airman
"Use the force, Harry." - Gandalf the Grey of Star Trek Enterprise.
_________________ "Man your own LASCANNON! Man your... battlestations! We'll have you dead pretty soon!" - Commander Kilgannon of the Heaven's Fence System (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp_Now6WDRc)
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 9:28 pm Posts: 2394 Location: Somewhere in Texas
See, science fiction includes more than Warhammer 40K and Avatar. You have books like The Time Machine and Rendezvous with Rama with movies like Planet of the Apes and Gattaca. Titles like that who don't conform to the archetypes of fantasy; dragons, wizards, knights. The classics are what we should look to when drawing any comparisons to begin with and you'll see that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings in a completely different universe than Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series.
So it's not fair to lump science fiction in with fantasy when science fiction tends to be more speculative and intellectual in its pursuits, though that's not the only reason.
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