Spike ,'Sleeper'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
I don't like to refer to it as genre, because there are all sorts of genres, and it confuses me.
Me, too, Cindy.
I do like the term "speculative fiction." That seems to encompass what I think of when I think "sci-fi." Which, of course, is more than just sci-fi in my own little brain.
While I'm not opposed to the term "speculative fiction," I don't see how it's any narrower than "genre," really. All fiction is speculative, that's why it's fiction.
It's the same reason DH despises the term "character actor"--all parts are characters and actors are portraying them.
You need some term for "person who isn't usually the hero" -- people like Denholm Elliott or Helen Broderick that you're always pleased to see but who are never the star.
That's what I tell him, Betsy--but he just says that it's just a way of saying "ugly actor."
Cindy, heh, it actually took me a second to figure out what you meant. Which proves the point! Anyway, yes, I find that confusing, too.
Jessica, I think the issue isn't that genre is too general a description, exactly, it's that it's not a description at all. It just means "type" not a particular type. So when something is described as a "genre show," my first reaction is, "Okay... which genre is it?" And then it takes me a second to realize what they mean.
It's like using "music" to only mean "punk rock." And I think I've typed "genre" enough now that it's lost all meaning. Genre genre genre.
So when something is described as a "genre show," my first reaction is, "Okay... which genre is it?" And then it takes me a second to realize what they mean.Exactly, and I know plenty of people outside of fandom (and some within) that will use "genre" for material from another genre.
Possibly something from the Ringwald oevre.
Sorry. Nervous Buffy-tic. Hopefully Teppy will see that, and laugh.
Genre genre genre.
My soon-to-be-boss is named Jonra. It amuses me.
I think the issue isn't that genre is too general a description, exactly, it's that it's not a description at all. It just means "type" not a particular type. So when something is described as a "genre show," my first reaction is, "Okay... which genre is it?" And then it takes me a second to realize what they mean.
It is a description the moment the people using it (by producing or consuming) agree on what it means. I don't usually come down anti-prescriptivist, but I've never heard anyone use "genre show" to mean anything other than sff. So, when someone uses it, that's what I assume it means.
Oh, it may be dumb at the root, but I've never had a problem decoding it.
I was working off of "It has to be respectful to SF fans but welcoming to casual viewers." That sounded like it meant something more specific than "it should be good." CaBil, can you clarify?
Ergh, spiraled a little more than I thought it would.
It shouldn't spit all over sci-fi conventions, treat its fans as a given or change the world rules at the drop of hat.
But neither should it require encyclopediac knowledge of the genre and/or series, rely on sci-fi tech sayings to drive its plot or rely on impenterable character motivations...