SF again

Back here I got some comments on my diatribe which I didn't notice or comment on - Hi Jon & Paul.

Thing is, for me, the reasons stated in the comments as to why these things might not be regarded as SF are exactly the point.

To me SF and Fantasy are vehicles for highlighting the important issues because otherwise they are nothing. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a commentary on Cold War paranoia without the creators being attacked for being anti-American; the kids film Explorers covers similar themes ("We don't kill aliens because we haven't met any yet"); Torchwood: Children of Earth is a direct criticism of government, and blindly following orders. Bladerunner is about the consequences of Man playing god.

Social comment and Character.

The pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction was created, all those years ago, specifically to get away from SF being about robots and space battles, to make it about character.

SF, like Fantasy, is a setting not a genre.

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What's on the turntable? "Can you hear me?" by Renaissance from "Novella"

It's not SF if it's good.

Regular readers will know that I get annoyed by ignorant snobs who think SF and Fantasy are intrinsically bad.

What's worse are those who try to redefine something as "not SF" if it is somehow good. My tally is currently as follows:

• "Battlestar Galactica" is not SF because it is a socio-religious-political drama about people.
• Ursula Le Guin's "Left-hand of Darkness" is not SF because it's a superb commentary on life and prejudice.
• The literary author of the novel about a future Earth where pollution has destroyed the environment - but it's not SF because she doesn't write SF. (And how dare you suggest such a thing.)
• There is move to redefine the late great J. G. Ballard as "not an SF writer" because he was great; now that he is also "late" they think they can get away with it because he's not around to argue.

Wouldn't surprise me if there was a move to claim that Torchwood: Children of Earth is not SF, purely because it was phenomenal.

Of course there are great writers like Iain Banks who enjoy telling their literary audience how much they also enjoy writing SF. I hope it makes them squirm.

(Another annoyance are people who, due to their ignorance, cannot tell the difference between SF and Fantasy. Referring to SF as Fantasy is not too bad, obviously it is "fantastical", but I mean the ones who call Fantasy, SF. Like a rather silly woman in Broadcast magazine this week.)

I've not been feeling well this weekend. Hence the rant.

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What's on the turntable? Nuffink