When Science Fiction is Placed in the Hands of Normies
Source: IMDB
I do not like the term “normies” but given the situation, there is no need to be polite. A normie is someone who develops an interest in whatever is popular. Science fiction and more broadly, speculative fiction became quite popular in TV and film at the beginning of this century, which is our focus today.
The blockbuster films of the late 90s/early 00s revealed there was wide appeal for nerd entertainment like the Star Wars prequels, Lord of the Rings, Independence Day, X-Men, and Spider-Man.
The .com boom also produced the ongoing joke that you shouldn’t make fun of nerds, you will probably end up working for one. Being a nerd was becoming cool.
Once it became popular and profitable, the normies swarmed. There was something to sell here, something to profit from. Now, a little over two decades later, it seems the passionate creators (aka nerds) who were committed to the genre before it was popular, are being pushed aside. Media sites have covered creative teams and producers being pushed out of the likes of Marvel Studios, LucasFilm, and the disturbing removal of Tom Shippey as a consultant on the Amazon’s Rings of Power. That man knows more about Tolkien than just about any other living human being but the geniuses at Amazon decided his expertise was not needed.
We all saw the result.
The franchise near and dear to my heart, Star Trek, did not have the commercial success of the others listed above. Still, it’s science fiction and science fiction is cool now so someone needed to reboot the franchise. The likes of J.J. Abrams, who admitted he didn’t really love Star Trek (and it showed), and Alex Kurtzman who declared his intent was to use Star Trek as a vehicle for his own messaging. Obviously, neither are Trekkies. Some may call them nerds but there is an obvious absence of passion for Gene Roddenberry’s creation. They are normies.
Those of us that love science fiction or Tolkien know normies well. They enjoy the movies, TV shows, and occasionally books but often can’t recall much other than the cool laser swords, space battles, bad ass dragons, and the Batmobile jumping off a building onto a highway. To them, the most appealing element of the genre is the stuff.
An image of the Disney LucasFilm storyboard revealed the writers making a list of what should be in a Star Wars movie, or what are the best things in the franchise. Dinosaurs are listed. Let that sink in.
No writer or producer from Disney has been able to articulate what makes Star Wars special, other than to make a list of stuff.
Star Wars was not the first science fiction film. It was not the first with space battles, laser weapons, amazing costumes, weird aliens, or beautiful women in metal bikinis. In the years that followed the original film’s release, there have been hundreds of space operas, some with superior special effects and better world-building.
Why are none of these movies anywhere near as big as Star Wars? Normies seem clueless but the answer is obvious. The stuff is not what makes Star Wars special. It is the brilliant storytelling, timeless themes, and compelling almost Shakespeare-esque style human drama. George Lucas understood that the most dramatic event should not be the climactic battle in space. It is the much smaller but more compelling conflict between father and son.
Rings of Power also took a normie approach. Firing Shippey was a red flag to be sure. Hiring novice showrunners was another. The marketing of the show did not focus on Tolkien much but more on the show itself. OUR show is special. It’s based on a few novels by some old, dead white guy, but OUR show is what is changing the world.
So many fan critics refer to what we see as fan fiction. Creators have openly expressed their intent to bring their own ideas, experiences, and worldview to these IPs, essentially treating them as sand boxes to build what they truly want to create. The original IP, which includes the elements that made it special and popular, are not important.
We’ve seen how that turns out.
Hearing Amazon producers, cast members, and friendly critics state the need to bring the world of LOTR to a broader audience was stunning. One of the bestselling novels of all time needed to reach a broader audience…right.
The show included feeble attempts at poetry or what could be called Tolkien-speak. Somehow, a few unaccomplished writers thought they could write dialogue equal to a legendary novelist and philologist. Clearly, they thought writing was not the most important element of the LORD OF THE RINGS. Let that sink in.
Source: Growingfaith.com.au
A metaphor has been bouncing around in my mind for a while now: a high school drama. The popular kids ignored or mocked members of the A/V Club, the Chess Club, etc. The nerds are second class at best. Then, something happens at an assembly, or event that brings positive attention to the second class citizens of the school. Maybe a talent show, like in the film Chronicle, which results in the broader student body praising a previously unknown nerd.
Soon after, the popular kids rush to be his friend, to celebrate whatever is popular and to be associated with it. So many pretend they liked him all along and whatever they’re into is worthy of their attention now. Eventually, the jocks takeover the clubs and begin running them way they want. They don’t really care about the purpose of the clubs, only that they are getting a lot of attention lately and they need to get in on that.
It is painfully obvious when a new director or producer is brought on board why they are there. Superhero movies are hot right now, so ambitious normies needed to find a way to get on a Marvel project, or they need to write a comic book. They show up after someone else has built it into a success.
They do not take failure well either. You expect big egos and narcissism in Hollywood but it is fully and publicly unleashed these days. Creators lash out at the audience (the customer) when their work is not well-received. It’s called “blame the fans” but let’s be clear, this is a business. This is a business blaming their customers for their failings, and insisting they need to be better customers.
Is that a marketing strategy they teach in business school?
It is entirely about them, not the underlying IP. They need attention, they need success. Rewriting history is nothing to them. The easiest way to change the world is to pretend nothing important happened before you.
It really isn’t about giving underrepresented groups a voice. They’ve had a voice for decades. What they want is for that voice to make more money. That is the primary motivation behind acquiring already successful and profitable IPs and repurposing them. You get that built in audience, playing the game on easy mode.
What we see in Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, Halo, and Marvel is what happens when normies wrestle control from the passionate creatives that made these stories the powerful franchises they are today. Normies don’t understand why they are popular. When they try to recreate that success through their own sequels, prequels, etc. they almost always fail.
Until the normies move on to the next popular trend, there is little hope we will see things get better. This is a dark age that unfortunately, still isn’t over.