I do vehemently believe we live in an age where fantasy is more popular than science fiction. First and foremost, I believe that while science fiction can be seen as a "glimpse" of our future (an apocalyptic world overrun by technology), fantasy is pure imagination and magic. While many will woefully agree that there never was a Middle Earth inhabited by Hobbits, it is an escape to think of a world that is so different than the one we live in now. I see science fiction as a situation that could be real -- maybe our world will be like the battlegrounds of War of the Worlds or maybe technology will develop beyond its current capabilities like The Matrix.
Additionally, I believe that science fiction is geared toward men more so than girls. Fantasy tends to focus more on emotions than science fiction. Harry Potter appealed to both girls and boys because it had both thrilling action and profound love. Star Wars doesn't hold my interest for long because it doesn't have the things that I am interested in.
Furthermore, fantasy, and mythical creatures like Bigfoot, are more fun to speculate about. I believe that audience finds it intriguing to debate over whether the Yeti or Bigfoot exist. I do not believe science fiction has that appeal, because most of it is set in the future.
Thus, I believe we live in an age of fantasy, rather than an age of science fiction. To me, fantasy has so much more to offer its audience, and perhaps that is why it dominates over science fiction.
Nice post! I appreciated you bringing up the fact that science fiction appears to be geared more towards men. Like you said, we as females are inherently emotional creature (at least the majority of us are) and fantasy plays highly into our emotions and our imaginations, which I like to think kind of go hand in hand. What is going on in our imagination is usually tied to what we are feeling, or how we connect with the world around us. The fact is fantasy is a lot more fun, like you said, and is not "bogged" down in technical jargon like a lot of science fiction reads.
ReplyDeleteGood ideas! I never thought of the whole female vs male part of science fiction. Now that you mention it, weomen are a bit more emotional and we tend to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters. While men just look at the action now how the character is feeling. Harry Potter has it all, I grew up with that book, all the girls in my family read it because we loved to read. The boys just liked the movies because they didn't have to read about all the emotional stuff. Yes, fantasy is fun in a world with so much stress and anxiety about living, theres always a place to escape to in fantast. Great post!
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