3 ms·

I have only ever watched two thirds of a Starwars movie. That was some 35 years ago on television, and it struck me as utterly stupid and pointless. Bad science

I have only ever watched two thirds of a Starwars movie. That was some 35 years ago on television, and it struck me as utterly stupid and pointless. Bad science, bad space, bad soundwaves in space, silly costume party in a bar, idiotic storyline, and ill-conceived characters. Didn't ever come back for more. It was obvious to me then that this was simply a concoction of fairytales and tall stories with a new coat of Hollywood paint sprayed on. Fine by me, as long as I don't have to watch, but offensive seeing it touted as science fiction, when so clearly it is fiction with no trace of science. Mind you, I am difficult and probably annoying. Even as a child, I never liked fairytales and fables, which would usually lose my attention about thirty seconds in. Like "Okay, someone has magic/holy/super-powers. No need to wade through a tedious story, then. Resolve the damn thing with your powers, and move on". Magic was cheating, it undermined any kind of predictable ruleset for me. That's right. I'm on HN, and I never read a word of Tolkien, nor ventured anywhere near the films.

RyanOD 9y ago
I'm curious...what stories sustain your attention?
- interfixus 9y ago
  There needs to be rules, there needs to be consistency. Which more or less means my kind of story has to masquerade as some kind of realism. So ... science fiction of the reasonably hardboiled kind, certain kinds of mainstream literature - doesn't need much of a plot if it's worth reading for the humour and the language. I do read some stuff considered de rigueur in nerdy circles. Neal Stephenson yes, as in Cryptonomicon and Baroque Cycle (but - you guessed it - disliked Snow Crash enough never to finish it, and found REAMDE tacky and movie scriptish). Heinlein, Gregs Bear and Benford, that kind of stuff. Quite a few British writers, as long as they're not Tolkien og Lewis. I should probably escort myself out of here. I never did get into computer games either...

RyanOD 9y ago

I'm curious...what stories sustain your attention?

interfixus 9y ago
There needs to be rules, there needs to be consistency. Which more or less means my kind of story has to masquerade as some kind of realism. So ... science fiction of the reasonably hardboiled kind, certain kinds of mainstream literature - doesn't need much of a plot if it's worth reading for the humour and the language. I do read some stuff considered de rigueur in nerdy circles. Neal Stephenson yes, as in Cryptonomicon and Baroque Cycle (but - you guessed it - disliked Snow Crash enough never to finish it, and found REAMDE tacky and movie scriptish). Heinlein, Gregs Bear and Benford, that kind of stuff. Quite a few British writers, as long as they're not Tolkien og Lewis. I should probably escort myself out of here. I never did get into computer games either...