The Moment When Science Fiction Split off From Competence Porn

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The Moment When Science Fiction Split off From Competence Porn


But at some point, including scientists as heroes became a bit of a taboo in science fiction, with the notable exception of Walter Bishop in Fringe. (And in the U.K., Doctor Who is a holdout.) We're only allowed to explore new science or strange ideas if our hero is an "everyman" who has no clue what's going on.

Case in point: when ABC turned Robert J. Sawyer's novel Flashforward into a TV series, the heroes were changed from a team of physicists to a group of FBI agents.

The Moment When Science Fiction Split off From Competence Porn

Nothing exposes the shift from competence porn to "heroes out of their depth" as sharply as a comparison of Ridley Scott's Prometheus to the original Alien. In Alien, Ripley doesn't survive because she's a nice person — she survives because she's the one person who is good at her job and keeps reminding the others about things like quarantine and safety procedures. In Prometheus, absolutely nobody is good at his or her job — just watch this training video.
 
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