In 2012 seven of the top ten grossing box–office films were works of speculative fiction, five of which fall squarely under the genre of science fiction. Of these seven, three were popular novel adaptations and the other four—including the #1 and #2 spots—were based on SF comic books. In the literary world, the post–apocalyptic science fiction trilogy The Hunger Games was only beaten to the 2012 #1 best selling spot by the phenomenally popular Fifty Shades erotic romance series.
This amounts to over US$7billion of speculative fiction entertainment consumed in 2012, and doesn’t even include DVD and Blu–Ray sales. The massive viewerships of TV shows like Doctor Who and Game of Thrones are worth a mention too, and all point towards a paradigm shift of speculative fiction from niche to mainstream.
The significance of science fiction
Science fiction is the most popular speculative fiction genre. High–tech gizmos; space travel; medical science; cyberisiation; exotic physics; human evolution; are all common themes explored by these futurists. What’s not to love about spaceships, giant robots, and fiddling with the structure of reality, right?
But how does this impact on real life? I don’t think it’s a stretch to wonder whether many of today’s innovations in technology weren’t first imagined in popular science fiction; tablet computers have finally arrived, computer voice commands and gesture based interfaces have made their way into our homes and our pockets, and advances in quantum locking mean we’re getting closer to those hoverboards from Back To The Future. Science fiction is awesome.
But it’s better than that. It goes deeper than that, especially in literature. Science fiction writers are the prophets and moralists of our age, asking the big “what if?” questions. These writers (or at least, the good ones) look at the world and imagine what it would be like for society and the individual when x is ignored, if y ever happens, or should z become commonplace.
SF has never really aimed to tell us when we might reach other planets, or develop new technologies, or meet aliens. SF speculates about why we might want to do these things, and how their consequences might affect our lives and our planet.
John Clute, Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (1995)
In short, science fiction asks us to examine where we’re headed as a society. It excites us with possibilities and cautions us with consequences. Behind character, plot and hijinx, there’s always a theme. It could be political, social, or humanitarian, but it’s always there, pushing us to think; to re examine our own values.
A golden age of science
I believe we're entering a new golden age of science. Advances in materials and construction have lead to incredible scientific instruments now in use today. Computer technology and data sharing is facilitating international collaborative projects that even the layman at home can contribute towards. Respected scientists are becoming media icons and role-models for the young, advocating science education and inspiring a TV obsessed public to consume scientific knowledge as highly polished edutainment.
Hoverboards aside, it’s impossible to quantify the extent to which science fiction has driven the direction of R&D in certain fields of science and technology. But I’d wager more than a few thirty–somethings working at MIT, Stanford, and CERN, grew up with a love of Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Tron. So more power to the science fiction writer, I say. And to their readers, and the hollywood love affair with aliens, spaceships and giant robots. And the five–to–ten year olds who want to be Tony Stark when they grow up. Good luck to them.
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