But is it really science fiction?

            The first thing I noticed in reading everyone’s suggestion posts about examples of science fiction was that very few people seemed to feel truly familiar with the genre. Many of us noted that we were unsure of what to choose until we took a closer look at the definition of science fiction and how some of our favorite books, TV shows, and movies might fit this definition. I’m curious as to the wider reputation of science fiction that may keep us from defining things we like as science fiction. A good indicator of the possible impacts of the reputation of science fiction is Anna’s discussion of the categorization of the film, Her, not as a film of science fiction but as a romance or drama. Along with its reputation, I want to know why we tend to define science fiction by its extremes. When I think about science fiction, for example, I believe I think of the stereotypical aliens, robots, and alternate worlds with crazy names. With this perception I would consider the genre very niche and cult driven. I think there is definitely some sort of synergistic relationship here between the public’s understanding of science fiction and its reputation as a genre outside of the mainstream culture.

            In looking at the examples of science fiction for this week, I found that the three pieces I chose didn’t seem to fall into Benford’s definition of science fiction, more specifically on his emphasis of the alien. Benford argues that the alien should be completely unrecognizable and therefore be seen as an experience of a sense of wonder that can never be understood. Many of the pieces I looked at though were anchored by characters and worlds with very human characteristics that made them familiar and naturally incorporated into our present definitions of the world and reality.

            The best example of this is in my initial reaction to the film, Her. Upon watching the trailer I immediately thought that Samantha should not be characterized as an operating system but instead as an actual person that just happened to only appear as a voice. While this could be a reflection of my own inability to grapple with a reality so different from mine, I think it is more likely that this thought stems from how human Samantha seems. In my mind she is very far from the alien that Benford would argue should be present in science fiction. The movie, Short Circuit, is a similar case, where the robot is given many human characteristics. Most salient of these characteristics are the robot’s ability to learn like a child and its understanding of its own mortality. The robot seems to develop as any other human would (through learning as a child does as he or she grows) and then comes to term with what it means to be existent for only a finite period of time. Finally, in the City of Ember, the characters themselves are human and therefore certainly not alien. What could be alien in this novel is the setting in which the action takes place. Instead, though, the concept of an underground world with similar social structures to that of our own is not foreign enough to be considered alien by Benford’s standards.

            Do the examples of science fiction I chose actually represent pieces of true science fiction if they are in such contrast to Benford’s standards? Is true science fiction of the kind Benford discusses really a niche market and I have just selected the more mainstream, polluted forms of the genre?