# Things That Bother Me in Science Fiction Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 24, 2023, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001 "2023-10-24T08:55:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 31
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/601 "2024-03-05T18:44:04Z")
I suppose the movie industry has figured out the various formulae for hitting particular market segments within most genres, and the fact they they keep pumping out severe suspension-of-belief sci fi flicks suggests that things that bother me can be perfectly acceptable entertainment for others. I watched _ **65** _ last night (all the way through!). Really championship trope grinding every moment of the feature, from beginning to end. I was transfixed in awe by the thought of how the production team thought about their jobs. They’re certainly not doing it for critical acclaim. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/602 "2024-03-05T19:00:17Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > This seems to be a frequent trope: it’s a dark, dirty, fallen world with gang rule everywhere… but somehow we still have antigravity, FTL travel, AI robots etc etc. Star wars being a typical example. This is somewhat amusing because at the time of release Star Wars was lauded for the technology having a used, lived in appearance. This was in sharp contrast to the typical science fiction movie depicting technology as bright, shiny, and new. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/603 "2024-03-05T19:06:57Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Who keeps the machinery running? In Genesis II, it was Pax, the organization attempting to rebuild the world. They were implied to be cleaning up old (damaged?) tunnels and stations. Of course, fixing a train in the station is easier than fixing a leak 2000 miles down a tunnel that’s buried hundreds of feet beneath the bottom of the Pacific. It would take days at service vehicle speeds just to get there. Still, i would have liked to see the series get made. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/604 "2024-03-05T19:21:34Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > the technician at Starfleet felt the need to comment how fortunate it was they whatever came back didn’t live long. But it wasn’t Rand’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/605 "2024-03-06T09:53:31Z")
The novelization of the Motion Picture explained that the T was for Tiberius which was his mothers first sex instructor. I thought that was a bit racy and surely Gene would have something to say about that. Then I realised that Gene had written it. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/606 "2024-03-06T09:57:22Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > “AC said: let there be light. And there was light…” _then DC joined:_ Let there be drums, there was drums Let there be guitar, there was guitar Oh, let there be rock! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/607 "2024-03-06T11:20:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > the Marvel guys that had their own world in the Himalayas or someplace with subhuman laborers. My memory is weak today but I recall others. The Inhumans > [@msmith537](#): > > Towards the beginning, the bridge gets a call that the last two passengers scheduled to beam up are delayed because one of them (Dr Bones) is refusing to teleport and going on about “being scattered into molecules” and whatnot. Kirk, Uhura, and whoever else is on the bridge gives each other knowing smiles like their old friend is up to his old tricks regarding the teleporters > > Except… > > Two people LITERALLY JUST DIED RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU FIVE MINUTES AGO USING THE TELEPORTER!! Apparently in a manner so horrific that the technician at Starfleet felt the need to comment how fortunate it was they whatever came back didn’t live long. People can drive past a horrific accident on the freeway yet think nothing of getting into a car just a short while later and might mock someone afraid to drive or get into a car. It’s very human, regarding risks run daily, to go into denial and think “it won’t happen to me”. A friend of mine had a theory that Star Fleet medical personnel were the most likely to have “transporter phobia” because they’re the folks who have to deal with the transporter accident results and thus have a different view of the risks involved. > [@msmith537](#): > > But you almost never see a non-Earth sci fi civilization that resembles a modern North American suburb. Oddly enough, you _did_ get that in _Guardians of the Galaxy III_ > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m not sure how different that is from needing the right batteries for your laser rifle; and those batteries, at least from our current knowledge base, would require a lot more tech to make than a bullet mold and some gunpowder. On the other hand, while you more or less can only use a bullet once (there is reloading, but that’s sort of re manufacturing the bullet) a battery can fire over and over then be recharged. Different circumstances might favor one over the other. For example, desert nomads might prefer laser rifles that don’t require heavy, bulky ammo and can be easily recharged with abundant solar power. Some people living far enough north to go some time without daylight in the winter who have a fixed base might favor bullets. I prefer it when whomever is writing the SF actually thinks about why things are the way they are rather than just adding random window dressing. > [@Horatius](#): > > Thus, you end up seeing Space Amish communities living in wooden houses, riding horse-drawn carriages, but using HHTL&S’s lasers for hunting. You actually see that with real-world Amish - apparently they’re quite open to using solar power even as they continue to have off-grid homes lit with kerosene and candles and use plowhorses. A clear case of socio-religious factors influencing a lot of tech choices. > [@Miller](#): > > That’s already a real-life situation. Millions of people live in homes that don’t have electricity, but they have cell phones. How? The village they live in pools their money, and buys a generator from the big city that anyone in the village can use. Or one enterprising villager buys a solar panel which they charge other people to use to charge their phones. Or, sure, the village pools their money for the solar panel. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/608 "2024-03-06T11:48:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > These twist plots in general are sometimes known as “[jar of Tang](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-m&sca_esv=b679d9581e4a3aee&sca_upv=1&channel=ts&sxsrf=ACQVn0_RrnSWz0jbjdvUyw4gcznnTdbRPg%3A1709641189108&q=%22jar+of+tang%22+story&oq=%22jar+of+tang%22+story&aqs=heirloom-srp)” stories: > > > An entire pointless story contrived so the author can cry “Fooled you!” For instance, the story takes place in a desert of coarse orange sand surrounded by an impenetrable vitrine barrier; surprise! our heroes are microbes in a jar of Tang powdered orange drink. > > Twists like that are especially common in old SF short stories. Hah! I hadn’t encountered that term before, but I’m not surprised that there is a term for that type of story. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > But they had more than their share of transporter malfunctions – episodes of not only the first series, but subsequent series. The aforementioned scene from the first _Star Trek_ movie, with the malfunction. (One notes that a version of this, played for comic value, appears in the first MAD Star TRek parody. And in the parody of the first movie) Also, of course, a transporter malfunction for comic effect in _Spaceballs_. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/609 "2024-03-06T11:59:45Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > This seems to be a frequent trope: it’s a dark, dirty, fallen world with gang rule everywhere… but somehow we still have antigravity, FTL travel, AI robots etc etc. Star wars being a typical example. The AI? The TV series of Logan’s Run had as a main character a pre-apocalypse AI that kept the lights on in a city, then went off for adventures with Logan and Jessica and presumably kept their vehicle running. (In the novels people weren’t restricted to just one city, there was still a viable world-wide civilization going) Post-apocalypse _for awhile_ I’d expect some tech to keep staggering along, but after a century or two I’d expect it to be gone. Absent some mega-work like the Roman roads or aqueducts which still exist in bits and pieces to the present day. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/610 "2024-03-06T13:38:17Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > These twist plots in general are sometimes known as “[jar of Tang](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-m&sca_esv=b679d9581e4a3aee&sca_upv=1&channel=ts&sxsrf=ACQVn0_RrnSWz0jbjdvUyw4gcznnTdbRPg%3A1709641189108&q=%22jar+of+tang%22+story&oq=%22jar+of+tang%22+story&aqs=heirloom-srp)” stories: > > > An entire pointless story contrived so the author can cry “Fooled you!” For instance, the story takes place in a desert of coarse orange sand surrounded by an impenetrable vitrine barrier; surprise! our heroes are microbes in a jar of Tang powdered orange drink. > > Twists like that are especially common in old SF short stories. I never heard that term before. But it perfectly describes L. Ron Hubbard’s _Beyond the Black Nebula_, an awful little story that still found its way into the Donald Wollheim anthology _Tales of Outer Space_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/611 "2024-03-06T14:30:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I wrote a piece entitled “Teleportation Angst” that appeared in our sadly defunct e-zine _Teemings_, and is sadly no longer available. [Hold on to your hat.](https://web.archive.org/web/20030312041707/http://www.teemings.com/issue14/calmeacham.html) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/612 "2024-03-06T14:39:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > You actually see that with real-world Amish - apparently they’re quite open to using solar power even as they continue to have off-grid homes lit with kerosene and candles and use plowhorses. A clear case of socio-religious factors influencing a lot of tech choices. The objection to the electric grid, if I understand it correctly, is that it requires continual dependency on non-believers. Apparently buying something from non-believers, but which is then owned and maintained by the Amish, is a different matter. Horses instead of cars, AIUI, is based on a different issue: the use of cars changes society in ways in which the Amish, and some Mennonites, don’t want to change. The wider society just went ahead and changed, without considering possible long term effects and whether any of them were considered to be negative. The Amish and Mennonites are very much a think-about-it-first, then-pick-and-choose society; decisions vary between individual congregations, and a number of different factors are considered. I often don’t agree with the particular choices made; but I admire the overall attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/613 "2024-03-06T15:01:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Twists like that are especially common in old SF short stories. There was once a SF magazine called _Vortex_ that was dedicated to SF short stories only, no longer fiction, no articles, reviews, editorials, etc. It lasted for two issues in 1953. It is filled with twist-ending stories. > > [Vortex Science Fiction 1 of 2 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/VortexScienceFiction1Of2/mode/1up) That was the concept for almost every EC Comics mag for almost half a decade. Bill Gaines called them “O Henrys”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/614 "2024-03-06T15:14:06Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Hold on to your hat. Ge, thanks! Good to see you can still access my old stuff. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/615 "2024-03-06T19:52:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I wrote a piece entitled “Teleportation Angst” Having read that (nice piece!) – The early stories I read about virtual reality were all effectively horror stories. Somebody would heroically escape into the real world, or somebody living in the Real World would come across a building full of dreadful breathing bodies hooked into a computer – ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/616 "2024-03-06T20:10:03Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The early stories I read about virtual reality were all effectively horror stories. Somebody would heroically escape into the real world, or somebody living in the Real World would come across a building full of dreadful breathing bodies hooked into a computer – Well, not the very first. Daniel F. Galouye’s **Simulacron-3** , acknowledged as the first non-mechanical “artificial reality” presents it as a revelation, but not necessarily a horror. It was adapted as a German TV movie in 1973 and as a movie, **The Thirteenth Floor** , in 1999 that was pretty good. But, liker David Cronenberg’s similar **eXistenZ** that came out about the same time, both were pretty much lost by comparison with **The Matrix**. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/617 "2024-03-06T20:47:09Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The early stories I read about virtual reality were all effectively horror stories. The entire first season of _ **Black Mirror** _ was an interlocking chain of horror stories about how virtual reality and other technologies will make it possible to torture people in Hell forever. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/618 "2024-03-06T20:49:10Z")
I really need new reading glasses. It took me about a dozen times until I noticed that it wasn’t _angels_, it was _angst_. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/619 "2024-03-07T00:00:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The entire first season of _ **Black Mirror** _ was an interlocking chain of horror stories about how virtual reality and other technologies will make it possible to torture people in Hell forever. I don’t think we watched the same show named _ **Black Mirror** _. First season was pretty darn grim, yes, but there wasn’t any VR in any of its episodes. The first example of VR I can think of in the series is the Christmas episode, between seasons 2 & 3; the second was _San Junipero_ in season 3 which was about as far from hellish torture as imaginable. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001/620 "2024-03-08T05:42:06Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > You could try suspending Venus above a chosen location on Earth, and you’d get some pretty impressive antigravity there for the few seconds before the two planets crash into each other. There’s now an [xkcd](https://xkcd.com/2903) for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bother-me-in-science-fiction-movies/992001.md?page=32)