The slipperiness of genre

[prusik]

The Strange Horizons review of Children of Men make s point that I've wanted to make for a while now. I haven't because I still haven't seen the movie. The point is in the postscript. It's not really about the movie as much as it is about the reaction to the movie (and the book). i.e., we get the canard that it's good and it's serious, so it can't be SF. (No one ever puts it so baldly but that's effectively what they're saying. See the SH review for examples.) One of the reasons why I haven't seen the movie or read the book is because I remember PD James playing the "it's not science fiction" card on an NPR interview when the book first came out. (Of course, I can't find it now so I'm wondering if I've made this up. Perhaps PD James actually embraces the SF-ness of her scenario.)

I hadn't commented on this because I haven't read the book or seen the movie. For all I know, it really isn't science fiction. However, I've decided whether it is or isn't is irrelevant to my argument. What bugs me is that the main argument against Children of Men being SF is its quality. Maybe it really isn't SF, but that it's well written or that it's a terrific movie doesn't actually argue that it isn't (regardless of what people think).

Oh yeah, while I'm here, the deadline for the Escape Pod 300 Word Flash Contest is tomorrow. Best of luck to everyone who enters!

Comments

[orogeny.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Children of Men yet, but thank you for posting this. Because I recently rented The Lake House, and I can't for the life of me figure out why that's not SFF. Not that it's quite the same argument, but it's really a time travel story.

If I get into Stonecoast, one of things I want to attack is this "good versus SFF" kind of thing. It's annoying, isn't it?

[prusik.livejournal.com]

It really is annoying. At least at Stonecoast, you'll have Jim Kelly on your side.

[garunya.livejournal.com]

I tend not to pay much attention to the mainstream media, so I missed the whole thing about Chlidren of Men not being SF. I went to see it because it was SF, and I was not disappointed.

Some people are too worried about the "stigma" of SF, yet want to make it anyway. This somewhat baffles me.

This even happened with Battlestar Galactica, which I'll never get my mind around.