# Old scifi tropes that have fallen out of use **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115 "2012-02-27T04:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/21 "2012-02-27T13:00:53Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Advanced alien civilizations inhabiting planets in our solar system. Old scifi abounded with Martians, Venusians, Plutonians, etc. Sure, modern scifi will still sometimes give us exotic creatures in the atmosphere of Jupiter or some such but no Martian Princesses now. Mass Effect, which came out only a few years ago, had Mars as a colony world of an advanced race that died out 50,000 years ago, and Charon as a giant interstellar travel relay encased in ice. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/22 "2012-02-27T13:43:16Z")
The scientist in the short-sleeved white lab coat and the reflector on his head. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/23 "2012-02-27T13:48:01Z")
Giant insects. The backyard rocket ship. John Varley played with it **Red Thunder** a couple of years ago, but he was deliberately trying to recreate 1940s SF. The issue is that something that may be passe in the written literature (e.g., robots) is still used in movies. Baird Searles once said that SF on TV and film is always 20 years behind the literature, and that good SF on TV and film is only ten years behind the literature. (This was before **Star Wars** , which was 40 years behind the literature). In addition, a writer might try to use the older tropes for nostalgic value (like Varley). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/24 "2012-02-27T13:53:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I still love the 1950s movie trope about all thing Atomic. No matter what happens - good, bad, incredible - it’s all because something or other is “atomic”. > > Lampshaded amusingly in _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_. Genetic is the new Atomic. Quite literally, in the case of the Spider-Man movies. Genetic and Atomic technologies represent(ed) for each generation the same thing - big, scary Science that promised/threatened to completely change the world into the Future. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/25 "2012-02-27T13:56:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Giant insects. … giant insects were also used in Tad William’s _Otherland_. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/26 "2012-02-27T15:34:18Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > giant insects were also used in Tad William’s _Otherland_. and they, also, feature prominently in Fallout, though they are not used to the humorous effect that the jarred brains are. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/27 "2012-02-27T16:01:42Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “Housewives and secretaries in space”; the idea that In The Future women will be stuck in the same roles they were supposed to be in the 50s. Seldom see that these days either. Or planets entirely populated by starlets dressed as 1950s cocktail waitresses at the Copa. “Kiss?” What is “Kiss?” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/28 "2012-02-27T16:07:59Z")
The idea that non-military personnel will dress identically, namely in bodysuits and capes. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/29 "2012-02-27T16:57:41Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Or planets entirely populated by starlets dressed as 1950s cocktail waitresses at the Copa. “Kiss?” What is “Kiss?” “On our planet we know nothing about these strange creatures called…men. So why do I feel so strange when I look upon this Earth-Man?” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/30 "2012-02-27T17:17:18Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > “On our planet we know nothing about these strange creatures called…men. So why do I feel so strange when I look upon this Earth-Man?” Or, as Zsa Zsa called them in _Queen of Outer Space_, Erzmen. “Breeng me ze Erzmen, dahling.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/31 "2012-02-27T17:33:01Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Genetic is the new Atomic. Quite literally, in the case of the Spider-Man movies. Genetic and Atomic technologies represent(ed) for each generation the same thing - big, scary Science that promised/threatened to completely change the world into the Future. And quantum is the new genetic. There’s nothing modern SF won’t try to explain away with the judicious application of quantum mechanics. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/32 "2012-02-27T17:34:46Z")
Some of these don’t seem like science fiction tropes so much as reflections of the era the stories were written in. Women being secretaries or housewives in space being a prime example I think. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/33 "2012-02-27T17:37:41Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The scientist in the short-sleeved white lab coat and the reflector on his head. Who co-starred with a hot daughter who fell down a lot. As for moving things away, the original Flash Gordon had Mongo cruising into the solar system, while the recent series had them reach it by some inter-dimensional gateway, no no rockets spitting sparks, alas. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/34 "2012-02-27T18:11:31Z")
Skippy/Rusty/Bobby, the 10-year-old freckle-faced kid who acts as genius gee-whiz sidekick to Our Hero. Sometimes the girlfriend’s kid brother, but often just an unexplained kid who is allowed to hang out and amuse the crew while on long outer-space missions. Wesley Crusher may have been the last gasp of this trope, but at least he was a teenager and his mother was there to keep an eye on things, rendering it more annoying than outright creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/35 "2012-02-27T18:14:46Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Skippy/Rusty/Bobby, the 10-year-old freckle-faced kid who acts as genius gee-whiz sidekick to Our Hero. Sometimes the girlfriend’s kid brother, but often just an unexplained kid who is allowed to hang out and amuse the crew while on long outer-space missions. > > Wesley Crusher may have been the last gasp of this trope, but at least he was a teenager and his mother was there to keep an eye on things, rendering it more annoying than outright creepy. The cabin boy, the cabin boy the dirty little nipper… ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/36 "2012-02-27T18:22:44Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Skippy/Rusty/Bobby, the 10-year-old freckle-faced kid who acts as genius gee-whiz sidekick to Our Hero. Sometimes the girlfriend’s kid brother, but often just an unexplained kid who is allowed to hang out and amuse the crew while on long outer-space missions. > > Wesley Crusher may have been the last gasp of this trope, but at least he was a teenager and his mother was there to keep an eye on things, rendering it more annoying than outright creepy. Wasn’t there one in Real Steel? – which was old sci-fi redone, to be fair. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/37 "2012-02-27T18:46:49Z")
You don’t get many space ships with white walls, only broken up by panels of flashing LEDs these days (not counting Moon, anyway). Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I saw an alien space ship with an overactive dry ice machine either. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/38 "2012-02-27T19:05:54Z")
Over-population as a plot device seems to have run its course. It was big back in the seventies after the Club of Rome book. But the most recent works I can think of that used it were George R.R. Martin’s _Tuf Voyaging_ in 1986 and David Brin’s _Earth_ in 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/39 "2012-02-27T19:37:44Z")
The superhero MMORPG, City of Heroes, lets you create brain-in-a-jar characters. And one of the “signature” supervillains in the game, “The Clockwork King”, is a brain-in-a-jar mounted on a robotic body. And not sci-fi related, but a country singer named James Bonamy had an amusing little song called “Brain In a Jar”, but that was about how he keeps his brain in a jar in the closet, because he stopped using it once he discovered girls as a teenager… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115/40 "2012-02-27T19:52:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Who co-starred with a hot daughter who fell down a lot. And tended to scream at the back of her hand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-scifi-tropes-that-have-fallen-out-of-use/614115.md?page=3)