The Joy of Star Wars

by Adam Robertson Star Wars

The charge is that Star Wars is fantasy masquerading as SF?

Have the Prosecution even seen these films?

Let me try to understand here. Why would somebody think such a thing?

Well, perhaps because they have an unusually narrow sense of what SF is. Sure:

If we are looking for a rigidly and technically exact transfer of “science” into “fiction,” then Star Wars doesn’t fit the bill terribly well. If we want an example of a “literature of ideas,” then we’ll find slim pickings. If our fetishes are seriousness of purpose or emotional maturity then we’d better look elsewhere. But who says that these are the true benchmarks of SF?

There are other forms of SF than the dull and the weighty, the serious and profound; Star Wars belongs to one of those other forms–a specific, joyous and enduring sort. But that doesn’t make it fantasy. (Uh–excuse me–spaceships? robots? a whole planet converted into a … read more»

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