# Have you ever met vapid people who watch reality shows who were dismissive of sci fi?



## CmdrShepN7 (Oct 3, 2020)

Do those types of people exist? Or are they just a straw man for sci fi and fantasy fans? Have you ever met so called "normal people" who have made fun of the genre?


----------



## Foxbat (Oct 3, 2020)

CmdrShepN7 said:


> Have you ever met so called "normal people" who have made fun of the genre?


I’ve been ridiculed most of my adult life because of my reading habits. The first thing my workmates would ask when I brought out a new book to read at lunchtime was: ‘does it have a map?‘ 

However, those  same folk that ridiculed me all suddenly became fans when films like LOTR became the blockbusters we know today.  Even more so when GOT became so popular on TV. 

I like to think that folk like us are simply ahead of the pack


----------



## BAYLOR (Oct 3, 2020)

CmdrShepN7 said:


> Do those types of people exist? Or are they just a straw man for sci fi and fantasy fans? Have you ever met so called "normal people" who have made fun of the genre?



Ive met plenty of people what have expressed  disdain for Science fiction and fantasy , mostly in bookstores.


----------



## BAYLOR (Oct 3, 2020)

Foxbat said:


> I’ve been ridiculed most of my adult life because of my reading habits. The first thing my workmates would ask when I brought out a new book to read at lunchtime was: ‘does it have a map?‘
> 
> However, those  same folk that ridiculed me all suddenly became fans when films like LOTR became the blockbusters we know today.  Even more so when GOT became so popular on TV.
> 
> I like to think that folk like us are simply ahead of the pack



People who ridicule you for reading the things you love , are just plain foolish and narrow-minded . They miss alot of things by being the way that they are.


----------



## JJewel (Oct 3, 2020)

Does it matter?

My wife loves all shows involving ...
1. The housewives of ...
2. buying another home somewhere again
3. Come eat with me
4. Anything to do with serial killers
5. Katie Price my life on the screen
6. Anything involving vertically challenged people (can I say Dwarf without offending?) in relationships and their kids
7. and any other show along those lines 
But will often tell me that my appreciation of NCIS / Suits  etc is bad judgement on my part, just less politely.
Each to their own really, 
My son used to watch Geordie Shores when he was a teenager and we both used to shake our heads at that.

I have a friend at work who paints as a hobby and several of the younger staff who have gaming parties (no alcohol just boardgames?) and collect pokemon / magic style card games sneered at him as if having a talent like that was a bit of a joke, compared to Magic the Gathering and so forth.

Bottom line, its a big world and we can all afford to be different, and if you sneer at someone for liking something you dont then really you just ridicule yourself.

Long winded ... sorry ... But just last week I was in the local town and a group of kids were acting like idiots and one of them was thrown into bargain books, another shouted, You **** go read a book and they all laughed? ...


----------



## Jo Zebedee (Oct 3, 2020)

Hee. I had a funny conversation with 2 women who didn’t know of my awesome geek credentials who told me, straight-faced, that there were even some weird people in the word who pretended they were in a dungeon and played games together. i assured them most gamers are quite normal


----------



## JJewel (Oct 3, 2020)

Jo Zebedee said:


> Hee. I had a funny conversation with 2 women who didn’t know of my awesome geek credentials who told me, straight-faced, that there were even some weird people in the word who pretended they were in a dungeon and played games together. i assured them most gamers are quite normal


Not convinced on that, I used to think they were but they are a breed apart, we have about 100 of them in my company and the few of us who are in other departments (20 or so) always feel like we are in the twilight zone.

Although these are not RPG`ers, these are card gamers...


----------



## Foxbat (Oct 3, 2020)

JJewel said:


> Not convinced on that, I used to think they were but they are a breed apart, we have about 100 of them in my company and the few of us who are in other departments (20 or so) always feel like we are in the twilight zone.
> 
> Although these are not RPG`ers, these are card gamers...


Dagnabbit! A younger incarnation of myself would have loved to have met a bunch of board and card gamers. I’ve always preferred these to computer games but could never find opponents. Obviously, I was working in the wrong  industry


----------



## Droflet (Oct 3, 2020)

Yes. I've had that. A mate of mine said he didn't like sci fi. What, I said, you didn't like Star Wars? Well yes, but that's different. I put on Star Trek 2 TWoK, and during the scene where Enterprise was ambushed he gabbed my arm and asked, Did they get their shields up? Hmm, nuff said. 
Others have expressed their thoughts (if they think) on sci fi even after I tell them I write sci fi books. Oh, well, wadda going to do?


----------



## Venusian Broon (Oct 3, 2020)

CmdrShepN7 said:


> Do those types of people exist? Or are they just a straw man for sci fi and fantasy fans? Have you ever met so called "normal people" who have made fun of the genre?


I've never met any of these people. Ever in my life. Also I'm pretty sure I've never met the opposite: people who will only read Fantasy or SF and absolutely nothing else. 

I may have met people who have only read 3 books in their lives, but really, they don't boast about it.

At least not to a serious looking 6 foot Scot built like a prop (that might go for those with a secret disdain for SF/F/H)


----------



## JJewel (Oct 3, 2020)

@Foxbat Software is where to be, we have 100 developers and they all spend part of the day casting Naruto style spells at each other over their desks and in corridors. 

Since we have been on lockdown they have all been using zoom on their works laptops to game online together.


----------



## Foxbat (Oct 3, 2020)

Venusian Broon said:


> I may have met people who have only read 3 books in their lives, but really, they don't boast about it.
> 
> At least not to a serious looking 6 foot Scot built like a prop (that might go for those with a secret disdain for SF/F/H)


I’ve met people who have  boasted about not reading a book in their life but, oddly enough, they’ve all been bigger than me (not difficult) so I’ve never really taken them to task on the matter....


----------



## Venusian Broon (Oct 3, 2020)

Foxbat said:


> I’ve met people who have  boasted about not reading a book in their life but, oddly enough, they’ve all been bigger than me (not difficult) so I’ve never really taken them to task on the matter....


 

I think I drift through life with lots of people not being honest to my face, but everything appears peachy and normal to me! 

Big white man's privilege I suppose.


----------



## Astro Pen (Oct 3, 2020)

In my experience_ most _people think about as deep as mist on a window.
The TV ratings tables pretty much back that up.
The related question for me is- 
How did magic sword kingdoms, spells and unicorns end up eclipsing Asimovian sci-fi as the go to bookshelf fillers in science student dorms?*

*_I haven't visited any student bed sits for 15 years now so that may have changed . Youngsters here can update me._


----------



## Droflet (Oct 3, 2020)

We have youngsters on here? Do we hunt them down, now?


----------



## Guttersnipe (Oct 22, 2020)

I know some reality TV show fans who are apathetic towards most sci-fi, unless it contains a lot of drama or comedy. I'm sure there are such people out there, though.


----------



## nixie (Oct 22, 2020)

Where do I start, I've had female colleagues at work bring me books to educate me on the proper reading habits for girls. I've converted two of them, sort of, they'll read Hobb and one or two others.
There was also an assistant in Waterstones who asked me if I was shopping for my partner when I went in for either an Abercrombie or an Erikson book. After his initial embarrassment he now saves signed copies of authors he knows I like.

I also don't understand why when in bookshop stood with an armful of fantasy do assistants recommend chic lit and the latest celebrity autobiography.


----------



## Vladd67 (Oct 22, 2020)

I have known people who knew the family histories of the residents of fictional streets going back years but thought I was odd for knowing the broad plot details of sci fi, mind you I was also thought odd for sitting there at lunch time at work with a book of logic problems, or reading a popular science book, or history book. I was also thought a little strange spending my weekends running round a field in funny clothes shooting a musket. Still takes all sorts.


----------



## Biskit (Oct 22, 2020)

Vladd67 said:


> I was also thought a little strange spending my weekends running round a field in funny clothes shooting a musket.


I think it spooked my mother when we turned up on her doorstep still in 17th C gear after we got rained out at a bash a few miles away. She didn't quite say "get in quick before the neighbours see."
You'd have thought she would be used to me after so many decades...


----------



## kythe (Oct 22, 2020)

My ex-husband believed women are only geeks if they want to impress men.  This is an interesting philosophy that I think reveals more about him than about women in general.  Unfortunately, I did not realize this about him until after we were married.

Now that he is not in my life, I don't have to feel self conscious about what I read or do.  I now play D&D and also paint related miniatures.

I have had coworkers who are dismissive of sci-fi and fantasy because they "don't understand" it.


----------



## JJewel (Oct 23, 2020)

Sounds like a lucky escape for you.


----------



## Narkalui (Oct 24, 2020)

My Mum was actually the one who initially got me interested in science fiction. However when it comes to fantasy she is of the rather snobbish opinion that anything other than Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is simply not worth reading*.

My Dad is of the same mind when it comes to fantasy, but when it comes to science fiction he only likes Arthur C Clarke and the first Dune book.

When it comes to "normal" people, I've not actually encountered any hostility or contempt since school

*Bizarrely this also includes all of Christopher Tolkien's work


----------



## Danny McG (Oct 24, 2020)

Vladd67 said:


> . I was also thought a little strange spending my weekends running round a field in funny clothes shooting a musket


On your own was this, hmmm?


----------



## Rodders (Oct 24, 2020)

Not so much now, but when I was younger, I would get a lot of playful micky taking of my love for the genre, but then people would approach me later with the comment, "actually, I quite like... (insert sci-fi series here)".

My best friend says he's read about five books in his life. He is the brightest person I know.

I don't find people dismissive of the genre at all. I meet many people that don't like science fiction, but I think it's lost the image of being just for kids.


----------



## Vladd67 (Oct 24, 2020)

Danny McG said:


> On your own was this, hmmm?


No there were a couple of hundred fellow weirdo’s with me. I know there is at least one fellow sufferer on this forum, not sure if they were a Knotter or Equis.


----------



## Biskit (Oct 24, 2020)

Vladd67 said:


> No there were a couple of hundred fellow weirdo’s with me. I know there is at least one fellow sufferer on this forum, not sure if they were a Knotter or Equis.


Equis.  
There's probably others.


----------



## Toby Frost (Oct 24, 2020)

kythe said:


> My ex-husband believed women are only geeks if they want to impress men.



I think this is quite commonly thought (by some men). I remember in the 1990s, there were several female sports presenters who were said to like sport for exactly the same reason. Gate-keeping, I suppose.


----------



## Vladd67 (Oct 24, 2020)

Biskit said:


> Equis.
> There's probably others.


Well @Montero springs to mind.


----------

