So, sci-fi, then.

Yeah, it's good shit. And for my first overtly pretentious know-it-all post I'm going to talk about it. I live for the stuff.

Basically I think it's the greatest, most imaginative (and most overlooked) genre as far as films, games, books and even music is concerned.

Now to back up such a breathtakingly arrogant statement.

Most people tend to view sci-fi of all kinds with an air of...if not contempt then as something not to be taken seriously, particularly in Britain. We have "lite" sci-fi shows like Doctor Who that while enjoyable play on the prejudice of it as something absurd and immature. It's not helped by series producer Russell T. Davies, who, apart from not being able to write for shit, fails to try and overcome this and merely adds copious amounts of gay innuendo. Which is far worse in spin-off Torchwood. There are exceptions - episodes written by Stephen Moffat in particular are often clever and sometimes downright frightening, and I'm glad he's taking over the reins of the show from Davies. If you don't believe me compare the episodes "The Shakespeare Code" with "Blink" and you'll see what I mean.

So you have the camp, lighthearted approach of Doctor Who as the yardstick for British sci-fi, and I think that's what shapes the popular attitude to the words "science-fiction". Compare this with Battlestar Galactica, which is frankly the best television I have ever watched. Its success as a series isn't based on rayguns or colourful aliens - let's face it, that's what comes to mind for most people - but the fact that it's a dark, gritty character drama that happens to be set in space and has that as its backdrop. Not a dodgy-eared humanoid alien in sight, just a race of murderous cyborgs that are responsible for the deaths of 20 million human beings. So much the better, because convincing aliens portrayed on screen are a rarity. I hesitate to use the word "realistic" but it's believable and naturalistic and that's what matters, really. It's deep, it's dark and it has some epic space battles that really do kick the shit out of anything that's come before.

Backing up words with deeds...



Much of my argument stems from the fact that with sci-fi the imagination really is the only limit. This can lead to bad things and good. Any other fiction has to be set right here on Earth, has to be set within this or a previous timeframe and is limited as such. With sci-fi you can explore anything and everything - genetics, bioengineering, cybernetics, space-flight, artificial intelligence, contact with an extraterrestrial race, and all the implications that come with these things.

It might seem to be a little hard to apply this to music, but I point at David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix etc who have all covered sci-fi themes in their music at some point. Most people who know me know that my favourite band is Muse and are a little bemused at my obsession. Well, I'm kind of sick of the "standard" themes most rock bands seem to limit themselves to covering - girls, drugs, relationships, suicide etc etc etc - and Muse have songs about genetically engineered puppies, nuclear war, government conspiracies, dystopian futures, oppression, alien contact and the end of the world, which is to me a lot more interesting, although it gets progressively more absurd and hard to take seriously in their last album, Black Holes and Revelations. In Origin of Symmetry and Absolution, their two best albums, however, you get songs that cover this kind of thing in a much more sombre (ok maybe not the right word when applied to songs like Plug In Baby) tone while maintaining kickass guitar and piano solos.



I fuckin' love the space battle and radar on the big screen.

(Yeah, I was at that gig. No, I cannot resist mentioning that fact.)

This is becoming one long post and it is nearly half-one in the morning, so I'm going to cop out and put in another YouTube embed - this time "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" by Blue Oyster Cult. Prog rock + sci-fi = AWESOME



To be (possibly) continued.