This is why I generally hate "articles about articles". When I first started reading this thread I was going to suggest we all relax until someone reads what he actually said in the magazine.
Simon Pegg Says Sci-Fi Is Making Us Childish
- Thread starter cayman shen
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cayman shen
Master Member
A good response to the kerfuffle. It's gotta suck having every grouchy thing you say recorded and analyzed, but he replied with a certain amount of aplomb.
Of course much of what he said would be taken out of context. I don't condemn him entirely.
But he’s definitely seeing history through rose colored glasses. He was seven years old when Star Wars came out. I was eleven years old and a sci-fi fan at the time. I could tell you that sci-fi fantasy films I had seen up until then were films like these: The Land That Time Forgot, The Incredible Two Headed Transplant, Westworld, Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Phase IV, Giant Spider Invasion, Logan’s Run, The Thing with Two Heads, Deathrace 2000 and Beware! The Blob.
Sci-fi was not all social commentary in the 1970’s. For every Soylent Green/Silent Running/Andromeda Strain there were many more films like Invasion of the Bee Girls and countless Godzilla movies.
Until Star Wars a sci-fi fan simply accepted that every sci-fi film was defined by a single gimmicky premise, (Westworld – futuristic amusement park with robots – the rest just writes itself; Soylent Green – overpopulation and food shortage with a twist ending – the rest just writes itself; Sleeper – Woody Allen in the future – the rest just writes itself; Logan’s Run – future dystopia where young is virtue and old is vice – the rest just writes itself; The Land That Time Forgot - dinosaurs!; Phase IV - ants!)
I remember standing in line to see Star Wars in 1977 and, based on the posters and trailers, I was predicting the film’s central gimmick was going to be “robots” and that the whole film would be about robots. I was wrong. The sci-fi element of Star Wars was only part of the backdrop to actually tell a story about characters and that's what made it stand out.
(Not to mention the sci-fi aspect was to a level of sophistication not seen in 99.9% of “hard” sci-fi movies.)
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Angelus Lupus
Sr Member
Oh dear god, no...
Mr Spaced and Shaun of the Dead thinks Sci-fi makes you childish? What a hypocrite!
CharlesHouse
Active Member
It's a little frustrating to see a man who made his career off nerd culture and poking fun at himself being an overgrown child (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead) then started participating in the largest science fiction franchises (Star Trek, Doctor Who, presumably Star Wars) is insulting his audience while distancing himself. Reading his reaction, I have a hard time deciding what is backpeddling and what is genuine.
No. As soon as anyone is titled "King of Geeks/Nerds/Whatever" they lose all credibility to me. There are so many people vying for that title it's stupid. We're a varied group with massively different interests. I am a nerd, I have no king. Anyone who claims that mantle is a pretender.
It's like being God of the athiests.No. As soon as anyone is titled "King of Geeks/Nerds/Whatever" they lose all credibility to me. There are so many people vying for that title it's stupid. We're a varied group with massively different interests. I am a nerd, I have no king. Anyone who claims that mantle is a pretender.
Darth Lars
Master Member
I think that science fiction and "comic book movies" could be both escapism and serious about societal issues.
Star Trek TOS and TNG certainly were. Although TNG was largely made for kids it was so in an educational way - which was common for kid/teen shows at the time.
What made Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back great was that it did not only have stunning visuals and was a "roller-coaster ride" but that it also had adult themes and believable characters.
The issue here is just that many blockbusters from Hollywood recently have been in the science fiction or comic book genres while having catered to the lowest common denominator. J.J Abrams' Star Trek movies fall into that category, unfortunately.
I think it is a good thing that someone involved in the next Star Trek script has thoughts along these lines. I just hope he comes to the right conclusions and is able to make something out of it.
Star Trek TOS and TNG certainly were. Although TNG was largely made for kids it was so in an educational way - which was common for kid/teen shows at the time.
What made Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back great was that it did not only have stunning visuals and was a "roller-coaster ride" but that it also had adult themes and believable characters.
The issue here is just that many blockbusters from Hollywood recently have been in the science fiction or comic book genres while having catered to the lowest common denominator. J.J Abrams' Star Trek movies fall into that category, unfortunately.
I think it is a good thing that someone involved in the next Star Trek script has thoughts along these lines. I just hope he comes to the right conclusions and is able to make something out of it.
I think he's referring to a lot of these mainstream sci-fi/fantasy films. In particular, these "name" franchises and movies. I'm not saying they can't be good, but with something like Capt. America or Iron Man, you're really not going to get a solid character drama or something that reflects the human condition. I think he wants something more from movies, period, but I don't think he worded it the way he meant to. More and more now, I leave the theaters feeling empty and slightly disgusted at how many times I have to see buildings crumble into the streets.
The movies I look forward to the most typically are small released things (cinema or stream, otherwise) that are scheduled to be released in the fall/winter season. Movies that really are a bit more adult. I wished there were more of those kinds of movies to be released intermittently all throughout the year, to offer some reprieve, but with how the system works now, where tent-pole movies seem to last all year round; I doubt that's going to happen.
The movies I look forward to the most typically are small released things (cinema or stream, otherwise) that are scheduled to be released in the fall/winter season. Movies that really are a bit more adult. I wished there were more of those kinds of movies to be released intermittently all throughout the year, to offer some reprieve, but with how the system works now, where tent-pole movies seem to last all year round; I doubt that's going to happen.
Hallelujah.
Here's the crux of what he's saying
I really don't think he's talking about sci-fi in general, but the corporate junk food that is mercilessly force-fed into the multiplexes ad infinitum. Genre movies don't have to be merchandise lead and dumb as a stump, but the studios found out today's punters like 'em that way :unsure
Personally, I think it's already symptomatic of a greater problem when these movies are being made/released every year with plans to continue to do so for the remainder of my adult life.
Childish? Simon Pegg, the same man who played the comic relief in the last two Star Trek movies that had otherwise "serious" tones. The awful movie with the alien stoner.
Maybe he was high during the interview?
Maybe he was high during the interview?
DARKSIDE72
Sr Member
**** Simon Pegg he's ****ing scottie... who ****ing cares!!!
I get what he was trying to say. I think a lot of us have questioned whether we're wasting our time with this stuff, but it comes back to it being something that we really like and it makes you happy. It's not hurting anyone (unless you're neglecting your life, family, kids, etc.) so who cares? I disagree when he says scifi has nothing to inspire, etc. because if you talk to a lot of scientists and engineers they will tell you that Star Trek, SW, etc. inspired them to become what they are today. I think scifi can do all of the things he said the other movies do. There's quite a few ST and Babylon 5 episodes that made you question society, relationships, your place in the world, etc. I don't think scifi has to be seen as childish.
DARKSIDE72
Sr Member
Which is why niimon pegg is a ****ing ******!!!!!!!!!!
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What's wrong with ******?
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What's wrong with ******?
I detect some butthurt around here.
The guy has a point. Most sci-fi/fantasy is aimed at 13-14yo kids. Whatever deeper messages or anything else that shows up, it's all running a distant second to the main purpose - escapism. When grown 30-something adults spend huge portions of their disposable income on these interests, the "escape" has become the destination for them. It's not really supposed to be that way.
Think about how someone like Simon Pegg would be experiencing the sci-fi/fantasy fanbase. He's a celeb and he sees the most extreme ends of it all. He's also starring & writing about it, which further immerses him into things. Maybe farther than most of us if you add up the amount of his waking life spent on it. All this has to be influencing his feelings & comments.
The guy has a point. Most sci-fi/fantasy is aimed at 13-14yo kids. Whatever deeper messages or anything else that shows up, it's all running a distant second to the main purpose - escapism. When grown 30-something adults spend huge portions of their disposable income on these interests, the "escape" has become the destination for them. It's not really supposed to be that way.
Think about how someone like Simon Pegg would be experiencing the sci-fi/fantasy fanbase. He's a celeb and he sees the most extreme ends of it all. He's also starring & writing about it, which further immerses him into things. Maybe farther than most of us if you add up the amount of his waking life spent on it. All this has to be influencing his feelings & comments.
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