what is so funny about science fiction anyway?
so there we were last Friday at the church to pay respect to Joe Nolan at
his funeral mass, and the priest was recounting his life. How he had many
and varied interests such as postal history, maritime history, youth
hostelling and even, pause to swallow snigger, science fiction, at which he
and the congregation tittered! The bastards, and this from a man in a frock!
Well all tittered except our row which was made up of the Monico Group. It was, as Jim
Mallory would say, a table nine moment (from the Wedding Singer, where all
the geeks, nerds and weirdoes were stuck in the corner at table nine). Indeed Jim later refined it as a pew nine moment, there were quite a few of us there.
On a serious note, why is it that Science Fiction can be so popular in the
mainstream through books and movies but still be looked down on by those who
enjoy it without using that title?
I'm reminded of an incident that a friend of mine had at an SF con
(eastercon?) at the Adelphi hotel in Liverpool a few years back. He was
sitting with a few friends having a coffee in the reception area and though
looking like the archetypal fanboys in being fat, bearded and badged (including the women) were
not exceptionally noticeable and weren't even discussing SF at the time. A
man came up and started slagging them off with the usual "science fiction,
haha, beam me up Scotty, nan-noo nan-noo" etc, etc. Nothing unusual about that you
might think except that he was dressed in a full cowboy outfit complete with
six-guns as he was attending a Wild west appreciation event on in the hotel
at the same time. Of course the man could see no incongruity in the
situation at all.
I think I'll go and watch some Firefly now, either that or killl a chav
his funeral mass, and the priest was recounting his life. How he had many
and varied interests such as postal history, maritime history, youth
hostelling and even, pause to swallow snigger, science fiction, at which he
and the congregation tittered! The bastards, and this from a man in a frock!
Well all tittered except our row which was made up of the Monico Group. It was, as Jim
Mallory would say, a table nine moment (from the Wedding Singer, where all
the geeks, nerds and weirdoes were stuck in the corner at table nine). Indeed Jim later refined it as a pew nine moment, there were quite a few of us there.
On a serious note, why is it that Science Fiction can be so popular in the
mainstream through books and movies but still be looked down on by those who
enjoy it without using that title?
I'm reminded of an incident that a friend of mine had at an SF con
(eastercon?) at the Adelphi hotel in Liverpool a few years back. He was
sitting with a few friends having a coffee in the reception area and though
looking like the archetypal fanboys in being fat, bearded and badged (including the women) were
not exceptionally noticeable and weren't even discussing SF at the time. A
man came up and started slagging them off with the usual "science fiction,
haha, beam me up Scotty, nan-noo nan-noo" etc, etc. Nothing unusual about that you
might think except that he was dressed in a full cowboy outfit complete with
six-guns as he was attending a Wild west appreciation event on in the hotel
at the same time. Of course the man could see no incongruity in the
situation at all.
I think I'll go and watch some Firefly now, either that or killl a chav