Comments on: Is Madmen Science Fiction? http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/ Writer of weird fiction, Guardian columnist and journalist. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:32:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: damiengwalter http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-603 damiengwalter Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:35:34 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-603 None of those things are what define science fiction for me. But I guess they do for many people, no doubt. Lots of things that most people wouldn't think of as SF seem like SF to me...Mad Men among them! None of those things are what define science fiction for me. But I guess they do for many people, no doubt. Lots of things that most people wouldn’t think of as SF seem like SF to me…Mad Men among them!

]]> By: PieManPie http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-602 PieManPie Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:10:13 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-602 That wasn't my only argument. As far as I'm aware, there's no time travel, there's no alternate history, and there's no McGuffin that couldn't have existed in the 1960s. Sure, it might consider the 60s from the viewpoint of the present, rather than through a fake or filtered nostalgia, but that just means it's a more realist form of Wikipedia's chosen label, "period drama". I just think that calling Mad Men science fiction because it considers social issues is like calling Star Wars a crime drama because, well, what Darth Vader does has to be illegal, right? That wasn’t my only argument. As far as I’m aware, there’s no time travel, there’s no alternate history, and there’s no McGuffin that couldn’t have existed in the 1960s. Sure, it might consider the 60s from the viewpoint of the present, rather than through a fake or filtered nostalgia, but that just means it’s a more realist form of Wikipedia’s chosen label, “period drama”.

I just think that calling Mad Men science fiction because it considers social issues is like calling Star Wars a crime drama because, well, what Darth Vader does has to be illegal, right?

]]> By: damiengwalter http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-601 damiengwalter Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:39:32 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-601 No, and you haven't seen the show? And your agument is 'It's not set in the future.' I'll take that opinion with a pinch of salt. Next! No, and you haven’t seen the show? And your agument is ‘It’s not set in the future.’ I’ll take that opinion with a pinch of salt. Next!

]]> By: PieManPie http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-600 PieManPie Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:29:37 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-600 "Is Madmen Science Fiction?" No. OK, so that's slightly glib, and I haven't seen the show. The thing is, Ballard was on the edge of science fiction at best, from the 70s onward, and to call Mad Men, a show set decades in the past, without (I assume) any particularly anomalous technology or history (it's the 60s of this Earth, in this universe, isn't it?), and generally a lack of nonrealist elements, a science fiction show, is pushing things too far. “Is Madmen Science Fiction?”

No.

OK, so that’s slightly glib, and I haven’t seen the show. The thing is, Ballard was on the edge of science fiction at best, from the 70s onward, and to call Mad Men, a show set decades in the past, without (I assume) any particularly anomalous technology or history (it’s the 60s of this Earth, in this universe, isn’t it?), and generally a lack of nonrealist elements, a science fiction show, is pushing things too far.

]]> By: Sam Strong http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-599 Sam Strong Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:02:36 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-599 Lie To Me Lie To Me

]]> By: James Burt http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-598 James Burt Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:30:56 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-598 I've never been sure exactly what science-fiction is, whether it's about technology or something more subtle (as Ballard seemed to hint). For me, one of the best science-fiction moods in a novel was Shogun, where the Elizabethan sailors were lost in a strange and dangerous new world; or the film Apocalypto, with the tribesmen seeing their first city, and the everything-changes ending. They were certainly more wondrous than, say, Moon or District 13. I’ve never been sure exactly what science-fiction is, whether it’s about technology or something more subtle (as Ballard seemed to hint). For me, one of the best science-fiction moods in a novel was Shogun, where the Elizabethan sailors were lost in a strange and dangerous new world; or the film Apocalypto, with the tribesmen seeing their first city, and the everything-changes ending. They were certainly more wondrous than, say, Moon or District 13.

]]> By: The Ferrett http://damiengwalter.com/2009/11/21/is-madmen-science-fiction/#comment-597 The Ferrett Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:53:33 +0000 http://damiengwalter.com/?p=950#comment-597 Deadwood. Deadwood.

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