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Is Utopian Fiction making a comeback?
lordgyor
Member Posts: 2,820 Arc User
in Ten Forward
Is Utopian Fiction making a comeback?
First all these Star Trek Series and the Orville, and now I hear the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 3: Face the Music is being made with an expected release of August 21, 2020.
And yes B&T counts as Utopian fiction.
Are people just that sick of Dystopia movies and TV?
First all these Star Trek Series and the Orville, and now I hear the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 3: Face the Music is being made with an expected release of August 21, 2020.
And yes B&T counts as Utopian fiction.
Are people just that sick of Dystopia movies and TV?
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-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
I've been tired of dystopias and grimdark for 20 years so I for one salute the return of utopain fiction.
And before someone gets on my case, people can have all the dystopias they want but I don't see why that seemed to mean that we couldn't also have utopian fiction along side it. Like, you want to be a depressed ***** be my guest, but dammit let me keep my dreams and hope.
I mean its a dark utopia, but to a transhumanist, BDSM loving capitalist its more of a Utopia then Star Trek's Earth.
> lordgyor wrote: »
>
> Is Utopian Fiction making a comeback?
>
> First all these Star Trek Series and the Orville, and now I hear the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 3: Face the Music is being made with an expected release of August 21, 2020.
>
> And yes B&T counts as Utopian fiction.
>
> Are people just that sick of Dystopia movies and TV?
>
>
>
>
> I've been tired of dystopias and grimdark for 20 years so I for one salute the return of utopain fiction.
>
> And before someone gets on my case, people can have all the dystopias they want but I don't see why that seemed to mean that we couldn't also have utopian fiction along side it. Like, you want to be a depressed ***** be my guest, but dammit let me keep my dreams and hope.
I think a lot of people are tired of zombie infested, backstabbing Dystopia, there is a hungry for hope and optimism.
Long answer: Noooooooooooooooo
Star Trek has always had a small fanbase compared to other science fiction settings. The Orville also has a small fanbase compared to other settings.
The majority of viewers watch science fiction to see "super cool" weapons blow up "super cool" science fiction staples; starships and monsters. This is why Star Trek: Discovery has added more destruction and death to it's plots so it can appeal to a wider audience.
Utopian Science Fiction is considered "boring" by the masses. It is often cited as a reason people dislike Star Trek. "Humans overcoming the need to murder, deceive and steal from one another on a widespread cultural level is completely unbelievable".
> lordgyor wrote: »
>
> Is Utopian Fiction making a comeback?
>
>
>
> Short answer: No
>
> Long answer: Noooooooooooooooo
>
> Star Trek has always had a small fanbase compared to other science fiction settings. The Orville also has a small fanbase compared to other settings.
>
> The majority of viewers watch science fiction to see "super cool" weapons blow up "super cool" science fiction staples; starships and monsters. This is why Star Trek: Discovery has added more destruction and death to it's plots so it can appeal to a wider audience.
>
> Utopian Science Fiction is considered "boring" by the masses. It is often cited as a reason people dislike Star Trek. "Humans overcoming the need to murder, deceive and steal from one another on a widespread cultural level is completely unbelievable".
Really, that is why CBS is making such a huge investiment in Star Trek. How many Sci Fi series are bigger then Star Trek? Star Wars and maybe Marvel, that is it. How many Sci Fi IPs have have 9 series by the end of 2019 (I don't even this Law and Order has that many TV series), with at least 4 more coming afterward, 13 movies, Action figures, dozens and dozen of novel and comic books, piles of actions figure, uniforms, conventions, how many documentaries is it now?
And I hear that the Orville is popular too.
Thus far I've seen nothing Utopian about Discovery. It's the Darkness within the Dystopia, if you ask me. I still think it should just be called Outer Spaceship Fights in Space with Space Guns.
I'm hoping that we're coming to the end of the Desructionist Moral Supremacy hogwash in fiction.
TOS was not utopian. ENT was not utopian. DS9 was not utopian. VGR was not utopian. DSC is not utopian. TNG was not utopian.
The Federation in all of those shows had an undercurrent and a overcurrent of corruption and self serving. The Federation is post-scarcity but it has never been utopian.
DSC is certainly not a dystopia.
Norway and Yeager dammit... I still want my Typhoon and Jupiter though.
JJ Trek The Kelvin Timeline is just Trek and it's fully canon... get over it. But I still prefer TAR.
#TASforSTO
'...I can tell you that we're not in the military and that we intend no harm to the whales.' Kirk: The Voyage Home
'Starfleet is not a military organisation. Its purpose is exploration.' Picard: Peak Performance
'This is clearly a military operation. Is that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers!' Scotty: Into Darkness
'...The Federation. Starfleet. We're not a military agency.' Scotty: Beyond
'I'm not a soldier anymore. I'm an engineer.' Miles O'Brien: Empok Nor
'...Starfleet could use you... It's a peacekeeping and humanitarian armada...' Admiral Pike: Star Trek
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Trek has television shows, but it's fanbase is not that big. Some of the more common criticisms of Trek are: "humans are inherently terrible; this makes Trek boring and unrealistic" (Star Trek:Discovery makes sure to show you how awful humans are, while blowing stuff up) and "the universe lacks verisimilitude; rules change arbitrarily between episodes" (a trend ST:D firmly continues, unfortunately).
Is there money to be made with Trek? Sure. Just like with many science fiction settings. Does that mean that Utopian Fiction is making a comeback? No. Especially from what we've seen from ST:D and from what we've heard from other Trek spinoffs in the works.
If CBS is throwing money at the Trek IP, does that mean it has a "large" fanbase? No. Especially since Star Trek:Discovery has not been trending on social media for weeks. They need to decapitate more Klingon babies. That got people talking.
Which means what, exactly? There are fewer books, movies and merchandise for the Orville than there is for Trek. By your metrics, shouldn't that mean the Orville is, by default, less popular than Lost in Space? Lost in Space had a movie AND it's getting a new show AND it has novels AND it has merchandise. Clearly, Lost in Space is more popular than the Orville.
I totally hear ya there!
Though with that, I must question how a new Bill and Ted would work. O_o The originals are pretty much a snapshot of that era.
And knowing is half the battle!
21 'til I die!
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/05/the-dismal-frontier
— Sabaton, "Great War"
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DAMN STRAIGHT!
I myself am SICK of 'dark and gritty', that's all I been seeing for the near past 2 decades.
And people wonder why I like TOS, why I like Orville....I wanna see some OPTIMISM.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
CBS announces a half-dozen new Trek shows, even dusting off Sir Patrick Stewart to pick up the next round of Trek. Yet, Star Trek is not trending on social media. Star Trek:Discovery is ramping up to a conclusion. Plots are being tied up and started again multiple times per episode. There is so much action, drama and stuff packed into the last 5 episodes of ST:D to pop a space whale... but, outside of it's small audience, no one is talking about Star Trek.
Trek has to share space with several creative works. Many of them are consistent with their lore and setting, which is why Trek is so harshly criticized. Trek has an audience. People watch it. It's just a small part of the science fiction genre.