What Sci-Fi clichés do you resent?

[Battlemage!]

I hate the computer hacker stereotypes, as well as the nerdy-looking scientists.

Seriously, when's the last time you saw Hollywood portray a scientist who looked normal? Instead they're always socially retarded dweebs.

 

[UsableThought]

Seriously, when's the last time you saw Hollywood portray a scientist who looked normal? Instead they're always socially retarded dweebs.

I wonder if the "brainiac/nerd" stereotype wasn't more a product of the 1950s, at least in the U.S.?

At any rate the role of scientist like any other role (politician, lawyer, soldier, cop, housewife, etc.) can be caricatured or ridiculed; but also portrayed as sympathetic and/or admirable with humanizing character flaws; especially true when they are the protagonist or play a strong supporting role:

http://static7.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_medium/11118/111184078/5438929-9511668863-640_s.jpg

Also for more non-nerdy women movie scientists in particular, see: http://www.ranker.com/list/best-female-scientists-in-film/anncasano

 

[dkotschessaa]

It would be great to see a story about a mathematician that wasn't half insane, delusional, or manic depressive.

 

[gleem]

It would be great to see a story about a mathematician that wasn't half insane, delusional, or manic depressive.

Probably only mathematicians (and physicists) would want to watch it. Small audience.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Probably only mathematicians (and physicists) would want to watch it. Small audience.

I mean, they could be charming, exciting, and dashing (like me) but do they have to be completely whackadoodle?

I'm going to film myself inverting a 10x10 matrix and send it to some film students. We'll see!

-Dave K

 

[BL4CKB0X97]

The chosen one. I love an antihero.

 

[Battlemage!]

It would be great to see a story about a mathematician that wasn't half insane, delusional, or manic depressive.

Well, what about an engineer? Primer had a bunch of regular looking scientists.

Yeah they wore ties the whole movie, but that was more about being professionals than engineers/scientists.

 

[gleem]

@dkotschessaa Does this fit your needs. Three African American women who save the US space program.

 

[rkolter]

It would be great to see a story about a mathematician that wasn't half insane, delusional, or manic depressive.

This topic is about science fiction. Sane, lucid, emotionally stable mathematicians are fantasy creatures.

 

[john101]

I find it annoying that I notice in TNG that most of the time people turn left when exiting a room.

 

[dkotschessaa]

This topic is about science fiction. Sane, lucid, emotionally stable mathematicians are fantasy creatures.

Some are at least 2 out of 3...

 

[Battlemage!]

Some are at least 2 out of 3...

I have one at my school who is all three, plus he's smooth with ladies.

 

[dkotschessaa]

I have one at my school who is all three, plus he's smooth with ladies.

Some people can only be explained by reincarnation.

 

[Bandersnatch]

I have one at my school who is all three, plus he's smooth with ladies.

Surely, he must be a closeted physicist.

 

[SciFiWriterGuy]

Honestly, the biggest sci-fi cliche that I absolutely hate is the notion that everything in a sci-fi story has to be sci-fi. Hydrospanners, laser drills, plasma-based can openers...no, okay?? The hammer, screwdriver, nail, and, yes, can opener will continue to be effective in the future. Humans have made a lot of tools - and a lot of improvement on those tools - but we've never outgrown the humble hammer. Why? Because we always have something we need to smack with a hammer. We always will. A screwdriver's batteries never run out mainly because it doesn't have any. Old solutions can still be the best solutions. Honestly, the over-teching of the world is a huge thorn in my hide when it comes to most sci-fi out there.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Honestly, the biggest sci-fi cliche that I absolutely hate is the notion that everything in a sci-fi story has to be sci-fi. Hydrospanners, laser drills, plasma-based can openers...no, okay?? The hammer, screwdriver, nail, and, yes, can opener will continue to be effective in the future. Humans have made a lot of tools - and a lot of improvement on those tools - but we've never outgrown the humble hammer. Why? Because we always have something we need to smack with a hammer. We always will. A screwdriver's batteries never run out mainly because it doesn't have any. Old solutions can still be the best solutions. Honestly, the over-teching of the world is a huge thorn in my hide when it comes to most sci-fi out there.

Great point! I might include video phones in this. Every single conversation. Why?

 

[SciFiWriterGuy]

Great point! I might include video phones in this. Every single conversation. Why?

Yes, exactly! With a normal phone, you can hand-signal someone in the room to create a pretext to get you off a never-ending call. That's a little hard to do when the other person can see you.

 

[Battlemage!]

Surely, he must be a closeted physicist.

It's funny you say that. His specialty is partial differential equations, in his class he spent an inordinate amount of time explaining the physics of every piece of math he taught, and he is fond of saying the only department in the entire school that isn't a mess is the physics department.

 

[john101]

I find it annoying that I notice in TNG that most of the time people turn left when exiting a room.

I think I know why that bothers me. They are on a set. The camera is downstage and they exit the door (stage left) on the set and tend to walk towards the rear of the stage which means turning left outside the door. It breaks the scene for me and reminds me momentarily it's just a scene. iow that moment upstages the whole thing. I think that's what I find annoying.

 

[SciFiWriterGuy]

I think I know why that bothers me. They are on a set.

Actually, it's a little-known Starfleet regulation that you always have to walk clockwise around the ship, which makes going to your next door neighbor in the other direction incredibly inefficient.

Really, though...it was just sloppy directing.

 

[Chris Miller]

I dislike time travel in SF. Especially into the past where a tiny act creates some drastic change.

 

[Battlemage!]

I dislike time travel in SF. Especially into the past where a tiny act creates some drastic change.

I really liked Primer :/ No drastic changes though.

 

[r8chard]

Late to the conversation

I'd say, off the top of my dueling heads, that my pet peeve is the failure of writers to convey the all too normal existence of stultifying boredom.

i.e. an cosmos-spanning alleged civilization, thousands of years old? Has nothing better to do with their time but travel umpteen parsecs to harass some dweeb kid?

A vast international conspiracy of powerful, wealthy personages, spanning centuries? Is deliberately frustrating your ambitions in life to be the best damn carpetcleaner in your neighborhood. And, wreck all your attempts to get laid on a regular basis. The bastards!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Laser guns

I really liked Primer :/ No drastic changes though.

I need to watch this again!

 

[RyanJones]

Why are so many starships built with submarine-like interiors, cramped and claustrophobic, with dim lighting and shadows everywhere? Sounds like a recipe for psychiatric problems on a long term voyage.

Love the old NCC 1701, with its huge hallways and bright primary colors. That's a happy ship.

 

[BWV]

Mining raw materials in space to send down into Earth's gravity well. Don't see how this would ever be economic vs. just digging deeper holes in the Earth. For that matter, its hard to see how the economics of any human space travel will ever be driven by anything other than tourism or aesthetics.

 

[gleem]

Packing so much energy into such small weapons. I need some of those batteries or energy cells, whatever.

 

[DrClaude]

Packing so much energy into such small weapons.

And how heavy they must be!

 

[Stephenk53]

Mining raw materials in space to send down into Earth's gravity well. Don't see how this would ever be economic vs. just digging deeper holes in the Earth. For that matter, its hard to see how the economics of any human space travel will ever be driven by anything other than tourism or aesthetics.

I think maybe eventually it might if the civilization ends up digging up so much Earth is basically resource-less. And maybe they create ships that can easily go from planet to an asteroid belt cheaply. And maybe they find another civilization that lacks some resources due to a war so humanity trades with them

 

[BWV]

I think maybe eventually it might if the civilization ends up digging up so much Earth is basically resource-less. And maybe they create ships that can easily go from planet to an asteroid belt cheaply. And maybe they find another civilization that lacks some resources due to a war so humanity trades with them

I don't think this would ever happen. Just think, for example, how much mineral wealth is in, say, Antarctica or the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. With robots one could mine asteroids, but also dig far deeper in the Earth than human miners could go. Given the energy requirements of getting material in and out of Earth's gravity well, it should always be less energy-intensive and therefore cheaper to just exploit more resources on Earth. We are nowhere near running out of minerals on Earth currently and have not even touched many areas of the planet that are currently uneconomical to mine

 

[GTOM]

I don't think this would ever happen. Just think, for example, how much mineral wealth is in, say, Antarctica or the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. With robots one could mine asteroids, but also dig far deeper in the Earth than human miners could go. Given the energy requirements of getting material in and out of Earth's gravity well, it should always be less energy-intensive and therefore cheaper to just exploit more resources on Earth. We are nowhere near running out of minerals on Earth currently and have not even touched many areas of the planet that are currently uneconomical to mine

Mining on Earth is damaging to environment. If one builds ships in asteroid belt, then get down the stuff to Earth is the easy part.

 

[Fig Neutron]

I find movies that say we are a young race to be annoying. We meet some powerful race that has the technology to do whatever it is that we need, but we're not ready for it. With the proposed number of civilizations I think it would be quite unlikely that we are always the newest.

I also think that the story line where an alien race invades Earth is over used. Why can't there be a friendly race of alien that comes to Earth? And, the attackers are always ten times stronger than us. Not every race can have laser guns (but we do seem to have an unlimited supply of bullets, until we really need them, of course).

 

[russ_watters]

I also think that the story line where an alien race invades Earth is over used. Why can't there be a friendly race of alien that comes to Earth?

Arrival:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_(film)

 

[Vanadium 50]

Why can't there be a friendly race of alien that comes to Earth?

Overlords, Childhood's End.
Vulcans, Star Trek
E.T, E.T. the Extraterrestrial
Unnamed aliens, Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Giant, The Iron Giant
Thomas Jerone Newton, The Man Who Fell To Earth
Superman, Superman

And that's just a few that I could come up off the top of my head.

Oh, and to add to my previous post, even Klingons have plumbers, I would argue that with their fondness for prune juice, they better!

 

[gleem]

Why can't there be a friendly race of alien that comes to Earth?

Starman

and Paul wasn't unfriendly.