I’ve been a fan of science fiction for a long time, from since I was a kid. For me it’s never been an issue of whether or not I feel I’m well educated enough about a certain character or if I dress up to look like them. For me liking it is enough. Then again there is a difference between watching the news and weather on tv and following my favourite sci-fi series. Being a fan does include a bit more effort, but I don't think that in order to be a fan one must also be fanatic.
Looking at the genres of science fiction and fantasy there is a definite trend that focuses on the fans dressing up as characters from their favourite fiction piece. Talking about it as a trend is actually not accurate as this has been around for some time. With contemporary science fiction I would date this around the time the first instalment in the Star Wars saga was released in 1977. At least I remember seeing clips of the premiere with fans dressed up as some of the characters in the movie. I think that the market had a large role in shaping this tendency. The market works with the producing body to create trends that are meant to sell. With this in mind one starts to think if a fan has the ability to resist certain trends and the commercial exploitation of a creative work that comes with trends. What does it mean to a fan when the essence of his fandom becomes a trend?
One of my favourite science fiction products is the re-imagined version of Battlestar Galactica. With the original series done in the 70’s and 80’s the new release started out in 2003. I’ve often thought what it is that makes this a good show. Everything from music to acting and the plot just seem to work. So, instead of going through the plot I think in this case it is important to ask why this is good science fiction. To me good sci-fi needs to provide something that other genres might not deal with or a new viewpoint into a familiar subject. In other words: a sit-com that takes place in outer space is not enough. A while ago I found this post that discusses recent sci-fi movies in the context of popular science fiction cinema overall.
With sci-fi there is usually a central theme that the piece is built on. In BSG a core theme focuses on human-machine interaction and robotics (a classic theme in sci-fi) which through the show translates into a common discussion concerning otherness.
The show also uses transmedia storytelling similarly as with Jenkins' example of The Matrix. In this instance Youtube was used to broadcast webisodes and podcasts by the series’ creator Ronald D. Moore following each episode gave insight into each tv episode. Also two tv-movies were made and after the show ended a spin off was announced.
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