Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: frustrated

Untapped Potential in SF

This article talks about untapped potential in SF.

Untapped?  I've been banging it like a rented drum since I could hold a pencil.  So have lots of other writers I know.  So have my favorite shows.  There's a reason most of my favorites run high in diversity, and why I've taken to dicing up ensemble casts to make a good mix.  It's how I want to see the future.  Plus I have an increasing tendency to look at the cast first when considering a new show.  All white male?  Back on the shelf it goes.  Some female, multicultural, disabled, etc. representation?  Flip it over and read the back.  The higher the mix, the more likely I am to buy it.

Steampunk?  It's not just for white blokes anymore.  Superheroes?  Explosion in a paint factory.  Far-future SF?  All my diversity, let me show you it!

I also used material created by and for people of color to entice prison inmates to read poetry and fiction -- to show them that people like themselves could be writers, heroes, could have a future.  It's one of the most subversive things I've done, and it worked.

But every time somebody says "untapped" or the like, they are dismissing  decades worth of awesome accomplishments by all us folks who have been make this stuff.
Tags: ethnic studies, networking, reading, science fiction
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  • 11 comments
rhodielady_47

rhodielady_47

November 22 2014, 06:50:47 UTC 6 years ago

I so wish Hollywood would get over its insistence on treating science fiction as nothing more than "stardust" westerns.
I agree with you that there needs to be more diversity but Hollywood is all about sex appeal. It can't seem have actors or actresses that aren't physically attractive or having some other positive appeal. The idea that someone could lack both physical attractiveness AND just be an average person seems to be something it just can't work with.
:^\
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

November 22 2014, 07:27:33 UTC 6 years ago

>> I so wish Hollywood would get over its insistence on treating science fiction as nothing more than "stardust" westerns. <<

I wish that too.

>> I agree with you that there needs to be more diversity but Hollywood is all about sex appeal. It can't seem have actors or actresses that aren't physically attractive or having some other positive appeal. The idea that someone could lack both physical attractiveness AND just be an average person seems to be something it just can't work with. <<

... which leaves 99.9% of the human race unrepresented except as they can fantasized "Wouldn't it be nice if I looked like that." But mostly it just makes people feel unhappy and inadequate. Or in my case, bored and annoyed and itching to shut off the tube and go write. When all the characters look like Popular People and you hate pop, there's very little traction there.

This is exactly why I made The Blueshift Troupers with not only ethnic diversity, but also paying attention to how jumpgates might alter humans and what kind of disabilities could crop up on different planets. I want to show that folks have a future.
rhodielady_47

Re: Yes...

rhodielady_47

November 23 2014, 03:12:54 UTC 6 years ago

Speaking of disabilities, it's been done to death that humanity's normal range of skills/senses can be found lacking by alien races but what happens when humanity's abilities turn out to be far greater than an alien race finds comfortable--what happens then?
:^)
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

November 23 2014, 03:58:08 UTC 6 years ago

It's more common for species senses to diverge than overlap. A human's color vision is much better than a dog's, but the dog has better smell. A human cannot echolocate like a dolphin does, but has a far more refined sense of touch and more manipulatory organs. Sometimes people feel inadequate over what they can't do. Sometimes they feel smug over what they can. It's more fun if you just compensate for each other's differences. But look at how humans deal with each other, and that's likely how they'll respond with other species. Some cooperate and some act like jerks.

But hey, feel free to prompt for this at any relevant prompt call.
rhodielady_47

Re: Yes...

rhodielady_47

November 23 2014, 04:10:23 UTC 6 years ago

I've often wondered what would happen if we came across a species we felt comfortable with that had a complementary range of talents to our own.
Sort of like Piper's "Little Fuzzy".
:^}
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

November 23 2014, 04:15:28 UTC 6 years ago

I've always enjoyed Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth for that reason.

For my own version, well, see the hiveships in The Blueshift Troupers. They are much happier and healthier with a crew than alone. They're people, but they're not humanoid at all, so they have a very different range of strengths and weaknesses. Oh, and I've done fuzzy aliens in The Godship Wanderers, if you'd like to explore that relationship further.
rhodielady_47

Re: Yes...

rhodielady_47

November 23 2014, 04:20:03 UTC 6 years ago

Sounds interesting. Would you give me a link to it?
:^)
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

November 23 2014, 04:36:34 UTC 6 years ago

See the Serial Poetry page for The Godship Wanderers. The two poems written so far are "Estrellado" and "Gathering Family."
rhodielady_47

Re: Yes...

rhodielady_47

November 23 2014, 06:45:26 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks!
:^)