r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Alextral • 2d ago

I really hate this

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Fantasy and science fiction being cramped in the same section, which is already so small :(

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u/BrocoLee 2d ago

Couldn't you say the same about some peak SciFi space operas like The Culture saga? Hell, even the foundation trilogy is mostly magical prediction powers disguised as a science AND later it even has psychic powers! Yet it's a cornerstone of SF.

Honestly, the "star wars is fantasy" trope is just a troll argument at this point, and pretty played out.

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u/alang 2d ago

It really isn’t a troll argument. It is just a different definition of “science fiction” than the one you use, which seems to be largely intuitive.

Foundation actually spends time trying to justify and explain its science. The Culture certainly does. And both take the premise of this science and tries to extrapolate what a culture could look like that uses that science.

Star Wars says “what if magic and princesses but in space?”

Star Trek at least used to pretend to justify the cultural basis technologies (especially the limited ship speed/effectively unlimited communications speed, the replicators/post scarcity science, etc) and pretty much turned into science fantasy when it stopped being about things like “what does morality look like in a post-scarcity culture” and “what does it mean to be ‘human’ in a multi-species Federation” and started looking at “what can we make be the giant threat that is going to magically blow up the galaxy today and how can we make there be ONE UBERMENCH that can stop it!!?!!1!elevendy!”

Really, it is possible for people to disagree with your definitions without being trolls.

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u/Bardmedicine 2d ago

I mean Star Wars literally was just a fantasy remake set in space.

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u/alang 2d ago

As I said, 'what if magic and princesses but in space'.