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Star Wars is not Sci Fi!
Most people would agree with the statment that Star Wars is the biggest Sci Fi blockbuster series EVER! I wouldn't. Star Wars is hardly Sci-fi/
Wait, you say: Star wars is filled with spaceships, robots, aliens, and so ofrth. How coulkd it not be sci-fi? Well, beause sci-fi doesn't need robots, spaceships or aliens, and their existance does not make something science fiction. Notice the name of the genre, the prominance, the centrality, of science. Star wars, as we are told, was set long, long ago, in a galaxy far far away. The characters are not even human (we never find out what they are, the humanoid looking ones), and the movies are certanly doen't give a damn about science.
So what makes science fiction? Personally, the most important aspect of sci-fi is the theme of how science and its applications influence other basic human themes. Take Frankenstein: a great piece of science fiction: in it, we see an exploration of how science could give man the power of creation, and it explores how man could handle this power, and its reprecussions. 1984 is in some ways science fiction, as the oppresive regime is only possible due to the exstance of mass media and the total control of information that modernity (and its handmaiden, science) make possible.
The themes of sace travel and robots are very important for modern sci-fi because they open all sorts of possiblities. What would be man's relation, both practical and moral, to sentent creations of his own? HOw does incorporating mechanical bits change what man is? How would man change after leaving home (earth)?, so forht and so on. Star Wars then, is a fantas tale in space, with all the characteristics of sagas and myths, not those of science fiction!
Wait, you say: Star wars is filled with spaceships, robots, aliens, and so ofrth. How coulkd it not be sci-fi? Well, beause sci-fi doesn't need robots, spaceships or aliens, and their existance does not make something science fiction. Notice the name of the genre, the prominance, the centrality, of science. Star wars, as we are told, was set long, long ago, in a galaxy far far away. The characters are not even human (we never find out what they are, the humanoid looking ones), and the movies are certanly doen't give a damn about science.
So what makes science fiction? Personally, the most important aspect of sci-fi is the theme of how science and its applications influence other basic human themes. Take Frankenstein: a great piece of science fiction: in it, we see an exploration of how science could give man the power of creation, and it explores how man could handle this power, and its reprecussions. 1984 is in some ways science fiction, as the oppresive regime is only possible due to the exstance of mass media and the total control of information that modernity (and its handmaiden, science) make possible.
The themes of sace travel and robots are very important for modern sci-fi because they open all sorts of possiblities. What would be man's relation, both practical and moral, to sentent creations of his own? HOw does incorporating mechanical bits change what man is? How would man change after leaving home (earth)?, so forht and so on. Star Wars then, is a fantas tale in space, with all the characteristics of sagas and myths, not those of science fiction!
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