Where Next For Sci-Fi Fans?
DallasNews.com has an interesting article about the fact that both Star Wars and Star Trek are coming to a conclusion of sorts this month. Now the premise is somewhat flawed by the fact that future Star Wars projects are already in the works and no one really believes that Star Trek is gone for good. Still it does raise an interesting question. Where next?
There’s still other genre films and television series out there for science fiction fans to enjoy and in book form both science fiction and fantasy remain well represented. But Star Wars and Star Trek represented a common element which all genre fans can relate to. Whether they like them or loathe them, every one has seen Star Wars and Star Trek.
Other series were longer running (Doctor Who for example), had equally passionate followings (Firefly perhaps), or achieved that mainstream crossover (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but none have achieved all of those things.
The article goes on to speculate that since Star Wars was the ultimate in movies and Star Trek the ultimate in television, the next big thing would come in online gaming (MMORPGs presumably). I think that is a fatally flawed argument.
MMORPGs do not represent storytelling, they represent game play which is a fundamentally different thing. What people look for in books, tv or film, they will not find in an MMORPG (and vice versa). Gaming requires active participation to work. The reality is that most people are looking for something more passive. For all the fuss about online games in the last few years, only a tiny percentage of people with web access are playing those games.
Even inside fandom itself where people are generally more inclined to interact about their hobbies, the majority of people are more inclined to read than to participate. We are used to seeing pictures of people in costumes paraded whenever science fiction fans are mentioned. But if you go to a convention, the majority of people even there aren’t wearing a costume. It’s the exception, not the rule.
No, by definition, the next big thing has to be something that can appeal to the wide mass of fans (and a cross-section of the general public) not exclude most of them. So what will it be?
Honestly I have no idea. Star Wars has essentially molded the look and feel of science fiction films ever since. Star Trek had a similar effect on television series. Nothing on screen today is attempting to radically depart from that. It’s not that there’s nothing of interest, but there’s nothing that feels like a great wave cresting.
So… Where Next?
Source: DallasNews.com (free registration required)
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..
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