Science Fiction Double Feature
While I'd love to comment on Priya's recent protest attempts, more pressing issues have my attention. Boston.com's Top 50 sci-fi shows, in particular. Or, more accurately, "Top 40 sci-fi shows with 10 other shows thrown in to make sci-fi seem inclusive and cool."It doesn't take a geek* to figure out some of the major problems with the list, though. I can think of a half-dozen shows that were left out (two of which are GLARINGLY OBVIOUS) and feel justified in taking issue with the inclusion of shows like Xena, MST:3K and Buffy in any real sci-fi list.
Categories are important, even if they are socially constructed. In fact, their constructed nature is one reason they matter. Without classification to help us describe the world, we lose the ability to converse about reality. And sure, sci-fi isn't the most crucial topic in the field of IR, but it is close to the hearts of many. Like public health and security, it has some boundaries.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is outside those boundaries. Stargate SG-1 is not.
This seems fairly self-evident to me, but the editors of the list disagree. I expect that a few readers of this blog will share my disappointment in the resulting list. And since misery loves company, feel free to suggest additions here.
A copy of Neuromancer for the person who can guess the shows that absolutely should have been there but weren't. If you already have Neuromancer (and any real sci-fi geek does), I'll award something else.
*I realize that a conversation I had on the bus last week is in direct opposition to this post. When I said I wasn't a sci-fi geek, I didn't mean I wasn't a sci-fi geek. Just that my geekiness (geekosity? geekhood?) does not reach the levels displayed by some people that we know. At best, my set membership is partial. My decision to ignore Star Wars clearly eliminates me from the "I'm the biggest geek" competition, so it doesn't matter that I know the definition and source of "grok" or that I spent seventh grade memorizing the Riverworld series. Hey, I went to public school. There wasn't a lot else to do.
It's possible that my avoidance of all things George Lucas is a self-protective measure designed to give me plausible deniability.
Via SEB.
posted by Elizabeth @ 4:03 PM
4 Comments:
If Buffy is going to be on the list, it shouldn't be at 27 (!!!!) below Stargate Atlantis (?), Logan's Run (?), etc.
ok i know this may be hard for tv list people to understand but there is a differance between sci-fi and fantasy. Sci-fi has to be based on some extention of existing science and have a basis in theory and fact. Fantasy involves mythical creatures. the two can mix but here is a hint if you are watching a dragon or battling vampires, then you are not likley to be sci-fi.
as for not on the list:
Farscape!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Red Dwarf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
along with the avengers theme, Nikita.
arghh, this is why i hate lists.
My thoughts as well--that's why, even though Buffy was a great show, it doesn't belong on a sci-fi list. And Dan's right, if they're going to include it then it should be higher than the middle of the pack.
Endgame, I should be frightened that at least three of our additions are the same, shouldn't I? Even if I'd rank LFN above Red Dwarf? (But below Farscape, even if they share the "hot guys in black leather" theme...and despite my general obsession with all things Section)
Yes, I can't believe they left out Red Dwarf (and, E would tell yous, I'm not even close to the outer limits of the sci-fi set so that means I'm commenting based on limited knowledge since I've--gasp--never actually watched LFN and we didn't get many American shows where I grew up) but we got Red Dwarf. Maybe it was their slagging off of the no. 1 show that put the listmakers off? ("Don't give me that Star Trek crap so early in the morning"). This could explain how the Man from U.N.C.L.E got in but not Red Dwarf.
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