I don’t have any problem with fiction built on a fantastic premise. I get really irritated when shows that are supposed to be about the real world have that episode with a psychic or a faith healer or somebody claiming to be Santa, ect, and anyone who doesn’t believe it is patronized and belittled. And of course by the end of the episode the writers have trumped up evidence that makes the truth of the claims irrefutable, because even though the message of the episode is that belief in something we can’t prove enriches our lives, the writers know they still have to furnish proof to sell that line of horseshit. Usually when this happens in a show like Grey’s Anatomy I don’t ever watch it again. House, M.D. has flirted with this line a few times, but ultimately pulled back from pandering to the believers. I have sort of forgiven, but not forgotten, that the writers of Numb3rs put a toe over this line by throwing in a suspiciously timed coincidence at the last minute. South Park did an episode that thoroughly debunked bullshit claims, and even they too couldn’t resist throwing in a last-minute unexplained incident. They weren’t parodying the cliche, they were simply aping it. Yet, South Park remains one of the few shows out there willing to call bullshit on this stuff.
I, too, am greatly disappointed with the turn Scooby Doo has taken. It was once the only show on television in which the skeptic was always right. And, yes, they changed that for reasons of parody. But they diminished the franchise by doing so. The similar fate of the rest of the Hannah Barberra properties, however, is largely well deserved and quite entertaining. I just hate to see Scooby sell out. Now where will the kids learn about calling bullshit on people?
That’s an excellent point, but I see a lot of urban fantasy where supernatural abilities are kept hidden from “normal” people. The demons or psychic powers are demonstrably real if you know where to look for them, but the average Joe is blissfully or willfully ignorant of such things.
Even in traditional fantasy you sometimes have characters that disbelieve in magic, and they are often portrayed as stubborn or obtuse.
I enjoy this kind of fiction just fine, but it doesn’t exactly bolster the skeptical point of view.
The fantasy I like best is rigorous, along the lines of the fantasy that Campbell ran in Unknown in the '40s, written by de Camp, Heinlein, and even L. Ron Hubbard. They came up with a fantasy premise, and then worked it out.
I definitely agree with Larry Borgia about it increasing my skepticism. If the supernatural folks are really hidden, then the author’s range of action is severely limited. They can’t have a wand fight out in the open, for instance. So much of fantasy shows worldview changing experiences, and then the world goes on just as before. Ghostbusters is one really bad example. Men in Black at least paid attention to the problem.
I’m a hard-core SF reader and I’d be more amused than ticked off. Like the atheist friend of mine who shelves his Bible in the fiction part of his library, it’s as if the bookstore considers the New Age stuff no more real than Bradbury or Clarke.
Now if they’re objecting the change in the signal-to-noise ratio . . .
My main problem with the supernatural elements of Medium is the tie to the real-life DuBois. I seriously worry that some credulous person is out there thinking these stories are some kind of docu-drama.
The thing I like about Medium is similar to the comment attributed to Orson Scott Card, above. I have often wondered myself about the real-world ramifications of a genuine supernatural power. “So if I could fly, would they let me? Would I get arrested when I landed? What about colder/thinner air when I get way up there? Would I be like a bird, having to eat my own body-wait everyday just to generate the energy?” (has there ever been a thread discussing this? Might be a fun topic…)
Medium personalizes all those questions, “How does my power affect my spouse? My kids? Can I use it to get a job? What if I can’t perform when it’s critical? Will people understand? Will the fear me? Hate me? Worship me? Revile me?” I think they’ve done a great job exploring some of those themes. I just wish the real Ms. DuBois didn’t benefit from it.
Add me to those complimenting Larry Borgia on an excellent observation. I’d never thought about it like that, but it makes sense.
For my part, I’m a hard skeptic and strong atheist (ain’t no supernatural nothin’, nohow), and I enjoy stories about magic and psychic powers and fanciful critters and whatever else. The thing is, though, it has to be a good story. And in my opinion, many supernaturally oriented shows fail because they are more concerned with pandering to their audience’s biases than with constructing a solid narrative.
Something like Touched by an Angel would be an example of this phenomenon at its worst: the show wants to reassure people that there are powers in the world looking out for them, that they don’t need to fear random chaos and the whims of fate, that there’s a plan, that everything will work out, blah blah blah. That’s bullshit storytelling, and it has nothing to do with the fact that it’s about angels and New-Age-Christian mythmaking. It could be about guardian ferrets and it’d be equally as stupid.
(And yes, I reject this blatant audience pandering in non-supernatural genres too, which is why, for example, there are so few romantic comedies that work for me. Any time the storytelling takes a back seat to tonguing the audience’s happy gland, I check out.)
So I’m a big fan of Buffy, despite the rampant demonology and magicmaking; and Tolkien; and the first couple of seasons of the X-Files; and lots of other things that, were they presented as fact, would make me roll my eyes. But they’re not fact: they’re fiction. And the stories kick ass. So me = satisfied consumer of same.
Concerning things like psychics, dragons, aliens, etc., I don’t believe in any of that stuff. But a lot of the time when I read or watch TV or whatever I want to get away from the real world. Really, how much farther away could you get? The whole point is that it’s not real, but it sure is fun.
Full-out atheist and lover of speculative fiction here. The religion never took, in spite of my parents’ best efforts, but from the first time I got my hands on a copy of The Hobbit, I’ve been hooked. Never saw any conflict with SF & fantasy and a lack of belief in deities. Most of the people I’ve run across who did have a problem with SF and fantasy seemed to be the wacko edge of the religious spectrum. Nearly all the atheists and agnostics I know are hard-core geeks. Hmm, I wonder if there is something in that?