Genre and Judginess

If you know me, you know that some of my favorite shows have definite sci-fi elements: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Lost. Some of my favorite books are by Stephen King, or feature hobbits and elves.  Some of my favorite movies occur in a galaxy far, far away. This frequently causes me to be embarrassed when I talk about my faves with new people. (I imagine that while they are nodding and smiling they are thinking “You love Lord of the Rings and Buffy the Vampire Slayer? What a nerd you must be!”)

In the United States, there is a stigma associated with science fiction and fantasy programming that [I hear] doesn’t exist in other countries. And it’s kind of a shame because some of the best literature out there fits squarely into those categories. People who reject books, films, or television shows because they have a strong association with nerd culture are really missing out – I know, because I used to be one of them. My Critical Elements of Literature may not jibe with yours, but I hope they at least share an absence of genre restrictions. To me, that’s just a question about taste, not about merit.

There’s a difference between suspension of disbelief and inconsistency in literature, regardless of the genre or venue. Buffy’s universe has vampires (among other demons), Lost’s has the smoke monster (among other mysteries), and Firefly’s has space ships (but not aliens). All of this is perfectly acceptable to me, as long as the rules don’t change partway through. Or if they do change, the shift should come with an explanation that jibes with its home universe. [Side note: this brings me to a whole separate segment about when the rules inexplicably do change in some of the best programs, why this may be, and why it makes me crazy. More on this later.]

So the moral of this post is: don’t judge a piece of programming by its genre. It is fiction after all; who cares if it couldn’t actually happen in the real world?   If that’s what you want out of television, then perhaps reality tv or documentaries are more your style (these are also sometimes great).  But the wonderful thing about fiction is that it gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves “what if the world was this way?” A little suspension of disbelief goes a long way toward making the whole experience more enjoyable. That is why most of my favorite lit shows have some sci-fi, fantasy or otherwise “unrealistic” elements to them. I don’t care what genre category a show falls into – I just care whether it is good.