I think Hollywood makes the mistake of thinking that science fiction is the sole property of adolescent boys or violence loving men. The movies and series they make are heavy in explosions, scary bugs and freaky scenarios. There are a limited number of successful plots and they've all been done so now the race seems to be how freaky, how mind bending, how scary or how violent they can be. If there is romance, it is doomed from the onset with a right to left camera sweep or ominous music.
Seems like someone always has to make a bad decision, someone has to be hiding something, someone isn't who they seem, someone is in possession of something that could rescue/kill/destroy them all.
They need to stop. They need to hire a few smart women. They need to consider that successful series and movies have one thing in common - characters you can root for, characters you can emulate, characters who make you smile/laugh/feel good. The characters make the show. Good actors/actresses specifically. Start there, give them a struggle and let the audience root for them. Don't forget to add a great villain. Almost a super villain. Seemingly undefeatable. The harder the struggle the harder we will root for the hero and heroine.
Now hire good writers (I agree with you Andrea, I've only seen a few of the Universe shows, but the writing was markedly atrocious, they really think the audience is stupid, it was insulting, but I can't watch Who...I tried...it didn't take). Writers that know their craft, writers that respect the audience they are writing for, writers that respect the actors they are working with, writers that know a good beginning, middle and end and are willing to add enough character building moments to help move the entire series forward emotionally.
Just watch Farscape again. What else can you do?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you watched Battlestar Galactica. With the exception of one terrible episode in the middle and the last 45 minutes, it might have been the greatest SciFi show ever. No one on it poots helium, though, but I can't do anything about that.
I can understand about Who. If I hadn't had Rob there explaining some of the Dr. Who history and a bazillion years of Who-lore, I probably wouldn't have gotten into it, either. And especially when it restarted, there were a lot of episodes that were pretty silly (which is historically Who, because it was started as sort of a kid's show).
I don't know where the genre should go. I think X-Men could have real potential, but it suffers from the explosion syndrome you're talking about.
V is sometimes interesting. Did you watch?
Okay, I just had to look up something about Firefly, and I came up with this information: The gun that Zoe used on Firefly was originally used on The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. Which for some reason makes me incredibly happy.
I liked Battlestar Galactica in theory, but found it monumentally depressing many times. Overall I guess I just need Farscape. They didn't take themselves seriously, Aeryn Sun was hot, and the stories were really fun.
ReplyDeleteAND I LOVED FIREFLY! I wish they'd had more seasons. The pirate guys were gross though. Had to always fast forward through that.
And speaking of Brisco County Jr. Do you ever watch Burn Notice? Not sure why, but thinking that I might like it. Only watched a few episodes, but it is visually fun.
Oh and I never did watch V. Not a single episode. If you say it is good I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDelete