Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Moment When Science Fiction Split off From Competence Porn

The Moment When Science Fiction Split off From Competence Porn "Science fiction used to be almost synonymous with 'competence porn,' stories about smart people who solve challenges by knowing what they're doing. But lately when it comes to movies and TV, it seems like Americans love competence porn, and they love science fiction... they just don't love them together. What happened?"

I completely agree with the examples in this article. E.g.,

"Nothing exposes the shift from competence porn to "heroes out of their depth" as sharply as a comparison of Ridley Scott's Prometheus to the original Alien. In Alien, Ripley doesn't survive because she's a nice person — she survives because she's the one person who is good at her job and keeps reminding the others about things like quarantine and safety procedures. In Prometheus, absolutely nobody is good at his or her job."

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