Marcus Impudite Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 What once was lost has now been found: Linky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Actually lots of those ideas seemed like some of the fun of the Genre to me and very workable as long as not instituted in a brain dead way. it looks like a good source place for "bits" my players want to see. Then again we're a very "pulp SF" kind of bunch. Looking at it again the list pretty much includes everything in SF anyway. I want to see a similar one for "deep and meaningful" movies which IMO are at least as cliche:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsedgamer Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches 19. A society consists of: 1. A handful of ultra-powerful ultra-rich; 2. Criminal lords who control everything not controlled by the ultra-rich; 3. Police whose only principle of operation is maintenance of the status quo; 4. Hordes of poor people starving in the streets; 5. Absolutely no middle class whatsoever. Nonetheless, the society manages to remain at a high technological level. [sNARK MODE ON] Is is just me or is this a reasonably accurate description of 21st Century America. [sNARK MODE OFF] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches . . . If you substitute "criminal lords" with "politicians," you've got a perfect match! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Impudite Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches #52: Post-cataclysmic societies that treat items of the lost technology as holy relics. "You guys worship an unexploded nuclear bomb?" "Yeah, but no one's really that observant. It's more of a Christmas and Easter thing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Impudite Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches #45: The protagonists destroy the entire social structure and governmental system of the society they encounter, and only a few old fuddy-duddies complain. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that one should have been classified as a red cross mark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekkidcarpenter Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches "You guys worship an unexploded nuclear bomb?" "Yeah, but no one's really that observant. It's more of a Christmas and Easter thing." "Not really a lot to worship after it 'splodes." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Of course you realize that if you take each list and roll on them with percentile dice, you have an instant bad SF scenario generator. Might be handy if the game master is stuck for a plot idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches The only issue I really have to take up with such a list is that many times people put things on it that a Genre Conventions. Things that people who are into the genre are attracted specifically too it for. Otherwise there's nothing to separate it from standard fiction, or other genres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches 57. The intelligent and confident woman who can be bribed with a dress. General fiction trope (at least in US culture), not specific to sci-fi. Similarly, 89. All female scientists are good-looking; male scientists are average-looking. Also a general (perhaps US culture) trope, provided you generalize from "scientist" to "career of those nearest to the genre core". E.g., detectives and cop shows. EDIT: Nerts, Ghost-angel beat me to this point on a more general basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches The only issue I really have to take up with such a list i The issue I have with this list comes here The incredibly competent man-of-action with more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at. The incredibly competent woman-of-action with large breasts, no sexual inhibitions, and more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at. These are the same character for all intents and purposes since I assume character 1 also has no sexual inhibitions and frequently has bulging body parts as well. So why is one sexist and the other not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches The issue I have with this list comes here The incredibly competent man-of-action with more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at. The incredibly competent woman-of-action with large breasts, no sexual inhibitions, and more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at. These are the same character for all intents and purposes since I assume character 1 also has no sexual inhibitions and frequently has bulging body parts as well. So why is one sexist and the other not? You've come a long way, baby. Well, obviously because beefcake is perfectly normal and natural. Cheesecake is gross and offensive. (/snark mode) Midas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches [sNARK MODE ON] Is is just me or is this a reasonably accurate description of 21st Century America. [sNARK MODE OFF] (re point #19) Well, it pretty well discribes every noir story ever written, from Bladerunner, to Glen Cook's Garrett* series. Midas *Which is a pretty decent fantasy pastiche of Nero Wolfe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmakaze Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches The issue I have with this list comes here The incredibly competent man-of-action with more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at. The incredibly competent woman-of-action with large breasts, no sexual inhibitions, and more skills/degrees than you can shake a blaster at. These are the same character for all intents and purposes since I assume character 1 also has no sexual inhibitions and frequently has bulging body parts as well. So why is one sexist and the other not? Why do you assume character 1 is excessively beefcake and sexually uninhibited? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Cliche is nothing more than genre convention that a particular person doesn't like. I've never met a genre convention I didn't like. Well, aside from not liking entire genres. Do genres have conventions? And where do they meet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches "Single female monster ISO single human male. Object: Mating." Hasn't this one been done the other way around far more commonly?? Lucius Alexander The palindromedary is urgently kicking me for some reason...oh! I see. Time to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches And nobody noticed that my name at the bottom of the page is also a link to TUV on Amazon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steamteck Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches The only issue I really have to take up with such a list is that many times people put things on it that a Genre Conventions. Things that people who are into the genre are attracted specifically too it for. Otherwise there's nothing to separate it from standard fiction, or other genres. Precisely my point. Well said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Yo, people, just remember that Mars needs our women while Venus needs our men! (Or was that the moon? Or Mongo? Or Risa?) Matt "I-know-I'm-needed-somewhere-in-the-universe-so-don't-they-come-pick-me-up-already?" Frisbee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches "You guys worship an unexploded nuclear bomb?" "Yeah, but no one's really that observant. It's more of a Christmas and Easter thing." Reminds me of the MAD Magazine parody of Beneath the Planet of the Apes from many years ago. The mutant High Priest has just gotten through showing Taylor (I forget what the character's parody name was) the nuclear bomb that the mutant society worshipped. The reply: "Man... I hope I'm not around for your HIGH HOLY DAYS!!" Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches How many occurances of a situation are required for something to become cliche? Are we sure that it is just not a popularity thing rather than repetition thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Sometimes cliches become genre conventions. Like the Tolkein-rip "dark lord rising in the {compass direction}" cliche that got used so much, people started shrugging and accepting, or even expecting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRavenIs Posted July 23, 2007 Report Share Posted July 23, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Weirdly strange.......but what does it do except play to the masses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Anyone notice how many of these are visual? This list was put together from movies and TV, not from real SF in books with few pictures. Says lots more about those putting the list together than it does about the genera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 Re: The Grand List Of Overuse Science Fiction Cliches Possibly written SciFi is less lazy and the authors of it don't take the meme shortcut of using cliché? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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