SF?? Weird responses...

Elckerlyc

Elckerlyc

"Philosophy will clip an angel's wings."
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A long time acquaintance of mine (from church) made a social call the other day.
We talked for awhile about this or that (spiritual and not spiritual) in good spirit. At a certain point I said, "I'm a great fan of SF."
He looked at me astonished, nearly shocked. "You do... You do know that's all fiction, right?"

Have you had any such reactions regarding SF&F?
 
Elckerlyc said:
A long time acquaintance of mine (from church) made a social call the other day.
We talked for awhile about this or that (spiritual and not spiritual) in good spirit. At a certain point I said, "I'm a great fan of SF."
He looked at me astonished, nearly shocked. "You do... You do know that's all fiction, right?"

Have you had any such reactions regarding SF&F?
Click to expand...
Well yeah... standard response. Along with, "Who do you cosplay as?" and "Can you speak Klingon then?".
 
Elckerlyc said:
A long time acquaintance of mine (from church) made a social call the other day.
We talked for awhile about this or that (spiritual and not spiritual) in good spirit. At a certain point I said, "I'm a great fan of SF."
He looked at me astonished, nearly shocked. "You do... You do know that's all fiction, right?"
Click to expand...
That's sort of a standard reaction in my experience in that the people in my church tend to emphasize the reading of scripture over everything else.
Many even as far as to go all Fahrenheit 451 on me.
A good friend of mine was a mostly scripture and biographic, historic, or books for learning purpose type of person--although he did confess to reading the Anne of Green Gables series. And some of those Horn-blower somewhat fictionalized tales.

I don't have a problem with these people and their preferences: what bothers me is when they seem to fail to understand that fiction is fiction and want to save me from the evil influence that that writing will have on my life. I usually end up asking them that question, "you do know that that is fiction: right?"

As to the question asked of you: I think it is appropriate in the sense that they are doing a reality check with you. Now if they follow that by saying that it is unholy to read fiction--that's a different thing.

NOTE:
Adminsies,
If you remove this post I think I can understand why, though It is in no way meant to be in a bad spirit.
Just following the OP in the mention of church friends reaction to reading SF
Now don't start one about when you tell them you write SF.
 
I came across this a few times myself too from some within my same faith as well as from other denominations. I would ask those trying to 'correct' me if they ever read CS Lewis? They would tell me that they did, and my response would be, 'Well?'. Most of the time that would stop them. Few of them would then accuse me of 'creating a false universe' that I was controlling with my own words. I would tell them that if they believed a made-up story meant for entertainment only was real, then they would be easily fooled by a real lie and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the truth and the lie. Needless to say, that never went over very well.
 
I guess I have avoided any sort of conversation about SF with the faithful. Or much else. I imagine the idea of hopeful futures through technology is - off putting?

But I really don't discuss any of my interests with anyone who I'm not already aware is into the same People are so shut down about what other people like or do it is simply not worthwhile putting a taint on your acquaintanceships.
 
I, too, try to keep my taste for Sci-Fi out of general conversation. Anyone specifically referencing sci-fi, rather than just referencing certain popular properties, like Star Wars, is liable to be sneered at, in my experience. It's for the same reason I don't really tell anyone about what I'm writing (or even that I am). I find that polite nod and smile they give you when you say 'I'm writing SF' to be rather soul destroying.
 
It's strange to read that folk take against fiction. Fair play to anyone keeping up writing with that reaction. I've never heard anything bad said against fiction of any kind as a pursuit, and it's surprising to hear. Plenty I've met give out because they don't like the particular story. The idea that someone would dislike stories simply because they are stories is alien. Keep up the good work, disliking fiction is like disliking time or gravity -pointless and bonkers;)
 
mosaix said:
I was once asked “So you believe in aliens then?”

Which opens up another large can of worms.
Click to expand...
A long time ago on another SF forum (can't remember for sure which, but I think it was Tormented Space, a Farscape site) we got a questionnaire from a student who wished to reseach an assumed connection between SF-fans and Alien believers. He clearly thought there was, so he then received a thorough education on the subject by the forum members.
 
About my first post.
I mentioned the fact he was from church because I suspected that his reaction was based on his beliefs. But having said that, I have never within my denomination encountered or experienced any hostile attitude towards SF. Certainly not against fiction in general. Villeneuve's Dune got a very positive review in 'our' newspaper, so did the LOTR movies back then. So, more a personal reply than anything else, I suspect; I ought not waste my time with obscure stories.
Problem is, I forgot to ask what he meant! I was so amazed I just answered any literature was fiction.
There is some disdain or pity by folks who really have no notion what SF is, apart from 'silly superficial stories about aliens.' My own siblings take that stance. When you try to explain they simply are not interested and don't even listen.
 
The science answer would be to point out things that we have now which were first written about in science fiction before they became actual and real. Satellites, mobile phones, space stations, and of course the time machine.

Those all used to be fiction too.
 
Bick said:
Not personally. As Harlan Ellison once observed, the two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
Click to expand...

Albert Einstein said some similar. " Only two things are infinite , The universe and human stupidity , and I'm not sure about the former". :)
 
Danny McG said:
I get this a lot from my sisters.
"Science Fiction? No thanks, fiction is a waste of time, I prefer to live in the real world!"
Then they shush you because they're watching their favourite soap on the telly.
Click to expand...
Yes people think you are odd if you take an interest in sci fi yet it is perfectly ok to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the lives of soap opera characters, or the overly staged actions of reality tv actors.
 
Without trying to be reductive, but i always felt that soap opera is essentially gossip and that's it's appeal.

When i was younger i'd get a little bit of flack from others, but sooner or later they'd always siddle up to me and confess "actually, i quite like...".
 
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