Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst
1
2
3
  1. #41
    If you can't enjoy babylon 5 you're doing it wrong.

  2. #42
    ... Um, yeah?

    "Normal" people on a planet inhabited by billions and billions... It's a rather broad term.

  3. #43
    Titan Yunru's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    The Continent of Orsterra
    Posts
    12,391
    Probaly:



    (live action kinda sucks storywise)
    Don't sweat the details!!!

  4. #44
    Quote Originally Posted by Fencers View Post
    One of the most popular film, video game and book franchises is a space opera.
    Which one?

  5. #45
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Yunru View Post
    snip
    Yeah nothing beats the moment when in the darkest hour of the earth all of a sudden the YAMATO emerges and the captain is some old man

  6. #46
    Dreadlord Ol Scratch's Avatar
    7+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Sunbathing in Tarterus
    Posts
    994
    Quote Originally Posted by TITAN308 View Post
    How has no one mentioned the original space opera (at least to me as a kid of the 80s) in book form?
    Yeah, ya'll! Space opera didn't exist before Robotech! C'mon guys! If something existed outside my personal frame of reference, then it never existed at all, at least according to Titan308! True story!

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Tackhisis View Post
    Which one?
    Star Wars. He's obviously talking about Star Wars. I'm sure you think you have some brilliant retort to that, but whatever it is, you'd be wrong. Star Wars is, and will continue to be for the forseeable future, the single most popular space opera on the planet.
    "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through out political and culture life, nutured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" —Isaac Asimov

  7. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by Tackhisis View Post
    Which one?
    Star Wars.

  8. #48
    The Unstoppable Force Super Kami Dende's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    The Lookout
    Posts
    20,979
    I'd say Stargate is the perfect example of a Space opera for Regular Joes. Some far out shit happens in Space and Alien planets but the show also grounds itself in "reality" by having the Characters be part of a legitimate current day Earth Armed Forces. Which blurs the lines quite a bit with Fact and fiction since much of the background of the show is what current day Humans would do if they had possession of a device that could send them anywhere in the Galaxy. That and the characters feel real and not overly dramatised.

    Also a lot of humour.


  9. #49
    Wait did you just say I am not normal for liking the Mass effect franchise? D:

    I don't know if I should feel insulted or just denounce my love for the franchise and become a normie.

  10. #50
    Can normal people enjoy a space opera?
    Wrong question. You are off the bat making the predefined assumption that there is something abnormal with people who does enjoy a space opera. I reject that assumption.
    Cue Star Wars as the perfect counterexample. You do not have to be Steve Urkel to enjoy star wars.

    Can non sci fi fans and culture snobs enjoy a space opera?
    Much better question. The answer is however very simple. Haters gonna hate.

    The real question is - can science fiction be good entertainment?
    And of course it can. As someone said in the thread earlier, there is something massively wrong with you if you cannot enjoy Babylon 5.
    Does it mean everyone can enjoy it? No. Some people can't get past their own issues.


    I have a friend who hate game of thrones because they cannot stomach anything with fantasy elements.
    I have another friend who cannot stand anime because they think it is childrens cartoons.
    I know of people who strongly dislike Harry Potter because it's satanic magic designed to corrupt children.

    In all cases, it is a mental condition.

    The first person in my examples overdosed on low-quality bad fantasy stories, and now reacts violently whenever the local anime club show anything featuring a sword or magic. Per Sturgeon's law, 90% of everything is indeed crap. And there is hardly a genre more filled with craptastic cliche overuse than the fantasy genre. I can see why people would overdose on another trip of the chosen one summoned into another world and take on the evil overlord ... it is enough to break someone. But as we all know, that's not all there is to the genre, and if someone actually has a good story to tell, a fantasy setting is just that - a setting. It's not a story. The fantasy setting is certainly not the story of Game of Thrones. But try convincing my friend of this. You will fail. And get punched in the process.

    I have another friend who hate anime with a passion. "Those eyes" he says. "It's cartoons for kids" he says. While I will give him that the eyes are a bit jarring until you get used to them, I wouldn't call it "for kids" if you put a gun to my head. There certainly is anime for kids (hello pokemon!), but anime is just a medium. It is not a story, and it is not something that can be generalized to one experience any more than you could go to the cinema, watch one movie, and claim to know everything about movies ever. But I can't get that argument through to that friend of mine if I tried. He's set in his opinion, and there is no changing it.

    And the less I talk about the third example, the better. It's flat-earther levels of insanity no matter how you look at it.

    Each of these three examples have convinced themselves that the subject matter is something it is not. As the saying goes, there is nothing more difficult than turning an old lady. When someone is convinced they are right, it doesn't matter if they are wrong. You can never convince them. Just shrug and move on.

    --

    Which leaves me with the fourth example. The snotty movie critic. The stereotypical connoisseur that only approves of Italian nouveau-art films from the mid-70s, thinks just about everything else is modern trash, wouldn't be caught dead watching a popcorn action movie even if he was paid for it. Which he is. And he certainly has nothing but contempt for people who do enjoy that sort of thing. Plebians!

    But you know... That person isn't "normal". Compare it to food. "Normal" people go and find a diner because they are hungry. Unless the diner is horrible, they will leave not hungry. If they also liked the food, they come back for more. The snotty food critic exclusively goes to French restaurants where the servings are smaller than the cutlery. He rates the food not so much by taste, as by presentation. He would rather commit suicide than to visit a Burger King. He certainly is in a position to tell you which restaurant in the city is the best. But he is useless for just about anything else. Like where to find a quick and enjoyable meal.

    Some movie critics fall in this trap I feel. Star Wars is still one of the most popular franchises ever, and anyone hating it for being just that is objectively wrong as a movie critic. There are several things you can - and should - criticize each star wars movie for. But ultimately the most important part is that they were fun, enjoyable movies that has stood the test of time. And if anyone want to hate them for that, that's their problem.
    Non-discipline 2006-2019, not supporting the company any longer. Also: fails.
    MMO Champion Mafia Games - The outlet for Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. [ Join the Fun | Countdown | Rolecard Builder MkII ]

  11. #51
    Quote Originally Posted by Ol Scratch View Post
    Yeah, ya'll! Space opera didn't exist before Robotech! C'mon guys! If something existed outside my personal frame of reference, then it never existed at all, at least according to Titan308! True story!.
    Are these kind of weird outbursts normal for you?

    Did I offend your space opera autism or something?

  12. #52
    Dreadlord Ol Scratch's Avatar
    7+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Sunbathing in Tarterus
    Posts
    994
    Quote Originally Posted by TITAN308 View Post
    Are these kind of weird outbursts normal for you?

    Did I offend your space opera autism or something?
    Nope, I just get really annoyed having to read garbage posted by people with the intellect of a five year old who doesn't understand that an entire universe exists outside their own inane, ignorant, and self-centered perspective.
    "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through out political and culture life, nutured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" —Isaac Asimov

  13. #53
    Legendary! Pony Soldier's Avatar
    10+ Year Old Account
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    In my safe space
    Posts
    6,930
    I LOVE space operas. Mass Effect was what got me into the genre. Then I beat Mass Effect 3 and it became nothing to me anymore. The ending to that game was so poorly done that Mass Effect completely dropped off my list of favorite games because that 5-10 minute ending ruined the whole series for me to the point where I can't even replay the previous games.

    Anyway I love space operas when they're done right. When it makes me feel like I'm in that world interacting with the characters as if they were my real life friends that's when you know it's good. Mass Effect did this...for a time. Ever since Mass Effect though I haven't found any other space operas that grab my attention like it did.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •