The Scientific Analysis of Sci-Fi

Have you ever wondered that with every show or movie with extraordinary happenings, people tend to want to rationalise how they happened? This not only happens with the viewing of the show, it occurs on the production side as well.

I blame the increasing trend of rationale and logical thinking. Too many people overanalyzing things. Even in Spiderman the movie, the audience has to be entreated with Peter Parker growing fine hairs on his fingers, which allowed him to climb walls. Now in the comics of the past. He just happened to climb walls. No fine hairs on his hands and legs! (After he was bitten by a radioactive spider, of course.)

Gradually, superpowers have become rationalised.

Able to hear from long distances?

Explanation given: Genetic mutation of the cochlea being extra sensitive

Able to fly?

Explanation given: This particular character is able to exploit the ‘hovercraft principle’ with the feet being jet propel himself/herself while creating vacuum pockets in the air.

Strange beings appearing out of nowhere?

Explanation: The alignment of 11 dimensions which created an anomaly in the space/time continuum.

What with nanotechnology being increasingly popular, it could become a basis of future superpowers. XXX is able to shoot lasers from his fingers due to a grafting of the latest cutting edge technology into the pores of his fingers blah blah…

Guess if you were to categorise most shows with superpowers today, they will mostly come under ‘Science Fiction’.

Props to Mr Tolkien for creating Middle-Earth and those beings of fantasy that people have used as a basis of so many games and stories. The fantasy genre is such a wondrous thing, but you need a vivid imagination to explore a world in the depths of your mind that is not bounded by reality and its rules.

If you are an elf or an orc in a fantasy tale. You are just an elf or an orc. No questions asked. No need to go in the actual history of how you become the elf or orc via some mutagen that got washed over you while you were taking a nap in the sewers. Not so if you are a dwarf. people might rationalise you having some defect in your the coding regions of your DNA makeup.

Well, enough analyzing the science fiction genre. I guess I’m off to watch Heroes.