Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6160963" data-attributes="member: 177">Quite true.  You can turn to Cyberpunk, or to some of the less dystopian works by Bruce Sterling as examples.  But note that even in those worlds, there's tech that's indistinguishable from magic.  So, I do have to ask a question - is it "pseudo-magical technology" you mind, or is it specific kinds of pseudo-magical technology?  The rest of this assumes that it is *any* pseudo-magic that annoys you.  Oh, on that basis, I'd argue that the shows you're looking for already exist - the modern police procedural is a good example of a show that uses extrapolated access to information and analysis.  Leverage (which I find to be a fun, if somewhat campy show) also fits that bill.  And those are only a couple of examples.  Do you find the technology in those shows to be one of the interesting bits?  I don't.And therein lies the key.  While in books, we may have pieces that are written for purposes of exploring an intellectual curiosity, for economic reasons modern TV and movies must also satisfy the viewer's need for escapism.  Real technology does not provide escape from the real world, because it is too real.  We recognize it too easily, and it does not make us think much.  While you can have a show with such technology in it, it will not be known for its tech.  It will instead be known for that which provides the escape - basically, it will seem to the viewer like it is in another genre.  Which is a perfectly acceptable thing to do, but it won't look like science fiction.  It'll look like a mystery, or a thriller, or a drama, or what have you, with slightly advanced technology.</blockquote>

Verification