[ExI] emotional deficits in sci-fi

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com>:

> I have been reading sci-fi for nearly 70 years (first book Farmer in the
> Sky).  I have finally noticed something:
>
> The characters in the books are on the other end of the scale from
> hypersensitivity.  They are dullards.
>

I think a lot depends upon the authors who write the stories. Some are  
bright Asperger's folks who write about the science, technology, and  
adventure really well, but then fall back on tropes and archetypes for  
the characters and relationships. A very rare few get it right  
emotionally. Some of the most emotionally intelligent and believable  
science fiction stories are the Blade Runner movies loosely based on  
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Phillip K. Dick. For a  
science fiction writer, Phillip K. Dick was actually very good in most  
of his stories at the emotional aspects of character development and  
relationships.

Incidentally, if science fiction books are seeming emotionally flat  
these days, you should check out some of the science fiction films  
that are out there. As much a fan I am of Phillip K. Dick, the  
combination of Dick and Ridley Scott is pure magic. I highly recommend  
both "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner 2049" for their emotional  
content. Sensitive people will cry at either movie.

> When contact is made with aliens or alien technology or artifacts, there is
> some surprise, but very soon it's all matter of fact - highly interested,
> still, but not afraid.
>
> Fear is our strongest emotion and it is tailor made for reacting to aliens
> - which means strong fear and strong suspicions and so on.

> When did you ever read of a character fainting?  Having a panic attack?
> Running away?  Or any other sign of great fear?

Well that pretty much describes much of the plot of the Alien movie  
Dan O'Bannon and directed by, you guessed it, Ridley Scott.

> Apparently nearly all of the characters are heroes of some sort who just
> don't show fear.  They do say it sometimes.  But don't act that way.
> People in intense fear make mistakes, are clumsy, make poor decisions.


Your complaint that heroes don't exhibit enough fear is a criticism  
not just of science fiction, but of all of literature. It is because  
courage is the defining hallmark of heroes and antiheroes throughout  
literature. In science fiction, there is also the added character  
trait and motivation of curiosity. So no, most science fiction heroes  
will not soil themselves when seeing an alien for the first time,  
instead, the average science fiction hero will be intent on trying to  
get ahold of the alien's technology or capture one for study or  
something similar.

There is a subgenre of science fiction called survival-horror that  
seems to be better represented in cinema than in print. In these  
stories, the majority of the characters panic, and die because of it,  
while the few survivors keep their heads and become the de facto  
heroes because of it. Often times the hero survives their first  
encounter with the aliens or other unknown threat by sheer luck, but  
learns enough from the experience to keep from panicking the next  
encounter.

> In other words:  the main problem with scifi is that it is unrealistic!

Some good realistic science fiction survival-horror movies are "Europa  
Report" and "Pandorum". While more survival than horror, the books and  
TV series, "the Expanse", is also very realistic, in my opinion.

Stuart LaForge