Embracing scifi as fact, rejecting the unexplained.

[JasonChapman]

I have often wondered why society has a habit of embracing the unexplained when it is the theme of a TV show and then laughing at someone who claims they have seen a ghost or a UFO. Shows such as Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Supernatural, Fringe and The X Files; to name but a few have generated huge following over the years and have generated much serious debate and resulted in hundreds if not thousands of articles being written by serious minded journalists.
However when a dodgy looking photo of a UFO appears in the tabloids, or a piece of shaking film gets shown as a finishing story on the news, people tend to laugh, So why do so many people embrace scifi as fact and reject the unexplained as mainly fiction?

 

[BurgerB75]

Having a huge following does not necessarily mean those people accepted it as fact. I loved the X-Files and watched every episode when they originally aired but I did not accept it as fact. To me, and all the people I knew who watched it, we took the show for what it was, an entertaining show.

As for "serious minded journalists", not sure what you men by that.

 

[JasonChapman]

Back in the nineties I use to do the UFO investigator bit, was an avid fan of The X Files. ‘I went to a lot of UFO conferences and watched many UFO experts using The X Files to advance their cause and many people I spoke do did ‘Want to Believe’ myself included.
As for the term serious journalists I suppose I meant newspapers which are not considered as tabloids such as The Times, or USA Today.

You mentioned you loved The X Files, besides Agent Scully what drew you to the show. Did any of the episodes especially the early ones involving Alien covers up make you question whether or not there could be a shred of truth in what Agent Mulder was trying to expose.

 

[BurgerB75]

You mentioned you loved The X Files, besides Agent Scully what drew you to the show. Did any of the episodes especially the early ones involving Alien covers up make you question whether or not there could be a shred of truth in what Agent Mulder was trying to expose.

Not really. I viewed it the same way as I did Star Trek or Star Wars, entertaining Sci-Fi. As for Scully, I could take her or leave her and tbh, Mulder sometimes had the personality of a block of wood. :lol:

Also, I think the problem is your sample set. Using members at a UFO conference is not a good cross section of the population that watched the X-Files. There is definite bias with that sample set.

 

[JasonChapman]

You've made a very good point there, it was a poor choice to take UFO believers and use them as a cross section of society. That said however, many ordinary people knew what I was interested in, and used to take the mickey but only when they were in groups. Nearly all of them came to me as individuals and said they believe.

Believing in UFO's is a lot like being gay, you're either in the closet or you're out of the closet if you catch my drift.

(And that's not a stab at gay people or anything I was merely using what I judged to be a suitable reference)

 

[StarRider1701]

Believing in UFO's is a lot like being gay, you're either in the closet or you're out of the closet if you catch my drift.

And then there are those who are not. Or do not as the case may be. I realize that your point is there may be fewer non-believers in reality than publicly admit it. Not sure how right you are, maybe not so much as you think. I too think that X-Files was simply good entertainment that drew its audience because of that. At the time, "I want to believe" was simply a catch phrase that many people said, more so to identify with the show rather than that they actually beleived in UFOs.

But what the hey - I do believe. And I loved the Files.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

...So why do so many people embrace scifi as fact and reject the unexplained as mainly fiction?

I don't think people embrace "sci-fi" as fact.

It's the nature of many types of fiction stories to be allegories or similes for real-life subjects. "The Wizard of Oz" was about the controversy revolving around the Gold Standard for currency. Because people paid attention to it, does that then mean they believed there was a wizard in some land called Oz populated by short people and very, very flat witches?

When a fictional story is couched in a drama revolving in a present-day milieu, people are going to immediately expect one of two things:

We're going to explore something about human nature or society.
This is an allegory, simile or demonstrative illustration regarding a current topical issue.

Look at "Law & Order." (Not the CSI/SVU crap but the good ol' regular L&O) There are MANY Law and Order episodes that come, seemingly, straight out of the headlines. Often, they either deal with angles that are either not covered or not seen in the news. Sometimes, they put a twist in there to bring out an important view. If people pay attention to that, if they understand the story, does that mean they believe it happened as told?

The X-Files played upon the conspiracy theme in the UFO community. It took that popular myth (myth, because it isn't proven) and expanded upon it, creating an entire history and mythology that takes place in the modern day. Because a great portion of the audience was already "familiar" with the subject, they could jump right in with both feet. The X-Files didn't have to teach anyone what a UFO was nor did it have to lay substantial groundwork in order to legitimately create a fictional government coverup angle. If people enjoyed that, if the understood what the messages were, does that mean they believed it as it was written? No.

Believe it or not, a great many people think that it is possible that aliens could visit Earth and could actually fly around the atmosphere in spaceships. The last poll I saw showed that a majority of Americans believed that ET exists. That's not due to the X-Files. But, it is partly due to the wide body of fiction that is out there. Every single "alien" movie adds to the culture.

So, in a way, the more alien sci-fi there is, the more the culture becomes attuned to it and the more accepting the culture is of the subject in general. The more accepting of the subject they are, the more likely they will take an interest in it and discover what they can about it.

 

[CalliArcale]

Just because I don't think aliens are really visiting Earth right now doesn't mean I don't think it's an extremely cool idea. That's why *I* watch (and read) science fiction, anyway.

 

[HRacct]

Just because I don't think aliens are really visiting Earth right now doesn't mean I don't think it's an extremely cool idea. That's why *I* watch (and read) science fiction, anyway.

I would have to agree with Calli. I have always enjoyed sci/fi, even as a child. I still remember I was different as a little kid, in that I would take half of a plastic easter egg shell and pretend it was a space ship landing in the dirt under the high front porch steps. I told you I was a little off of center in some areas.

I like books that are inventive, creative, and written well, whether they be fantasy, sci/fi, adventure or whatever. But there is one thing though, I do keep my real thoughts from my inventive thoughts in life. The movie, Bridge to Terrabietha(?), had that for one of their concepts. Imangination was fine, but remember reality is real, and so were the real dangers, (like what killed the girl co-star still in her dream world).

And as a preacher who works, I do believe in UFO'S of a sort, but do have a different take on it then most. But since this is SCI/FI, and not theological, that would be a totally different post. Now, back to our creative and active imaginations.

Henry