Science Fiction: A Cinematic Black Sheep Or Diamond In The Rough?

Science Fiction movies get a bad rap these days. Let's face it, for every good sci-fi film there are about 20 bad ones. But let's be serious, isn't that the same with any genre? I mean honestly, wouldn't the ratio be the same for say, romantic comedies, family films, or horror?

But for some reason when people ask you what kind of movies you like, people cringe when you say science fiction. Why is this? And please don't say "sci-fi is for nerds," because honestly, we are all nerds in our own way. Whether it's lining up to catch the latest Star Wars in theaters, spending rediculous amounts of money to see Taylor Swift, or even making sure that you are decked out from head to toe in your favorite sports team's clothes we all are a little bit nerdy.

But why does the sci fi genre tend to make people turn up their nose?

I think it's because good sci-fi poses questions that might make people uncomfortable. This is different from most genres because a lot of movies make statements or observations about us. But sci-fi successfully poses questions about us, some that we often are not willing to try to answer because those answers may scare us.

I'll provide a few examples:

Children of Men (2005)--What would happen if a generation did not have to worry about the next?

Wall-E (2008)--What would we (or more importantly the world) look like if a corporation got so big and powerful that it became our world?

Brazil (1985)--What if the government became a beauracracy that used fear as its means for controlling its citizens?

Blade Runner (1982)--What if we had the power to build life?

People don't always have quick and easy answers to these questions, which I think bothers a lot of people. Some could write off these things as "never being able to happen." Not only do I beg for you to look at the question I said Brazil posed but I think we should also define sci-fi as a whole. I think also what turns people off of sci-fi is the fact that actual rules for a film to qualify as sci-fi is for it to actually be grounded in a world like our own. Everything in a sci-fi film has an explanation grounded in real life--as far-fetched as these rules may sometimes be. It doesn't necessarily have to take place in the future--though most sci-fi does--but I think what may turn people off is that these visions of reality are a bit too close for comfort for them.

People often say that sci-fi is just weird, but i think that those people are just close-minded. Yes it can be strange, but it can also be intellectually--and sometimes philosophically--stimulating.