History Quotes / SciFiGhetto

->I sunk into a proper old gloom. I didn’t even tell you about it because it was foul. Peter Morgan is such a fine writer, damn him. His ''Longford'' script is so fine and subtle, so deceptively simple, heartbreaking and true, and I was so powerfully jealous. I thought, I’m sitting here typing ''[='=]INT. SPACESHIP[='=]''. What am I doing with my career? The answer is, having a wonderful time, with absolute freedom, I know, I know. All the same, looking at ''Longford'', the real tick and bat and pulse that goes on between people, the sheer epic quality of ordinary life, even the lives of Lords and murderers, made me ache... That’s why I turned down the opportunity to meet Creator/GeorgeLucas the other day. The thought of more years typing ‘Int. Spaceship’ and playing with other people’s toys…

->''"I don't write fantasy novels. I write stories with important human themes."''
-->-- '''Creator/TerryGoodkind'''

->''"It is not interesting enough for the general reader, and not thorough enough for the scientific reader."''

->''"The whole association of fairy tale and fantasy with children is local and accidental. I hope everyone has read Tolkien's [[Literature/OnFairyStories essay on Fairy Tales]] which is perhaps the most important contribution to this subject that anyone has yet made. If so, you will know already that, in most places and times, the fairy tale has not been specifically made for, nor exclusively enjoyed by children. It has gravitated to the nursery when it became unfashionable in literary circles, just as unfashionable furniture gravitated to the nursery in Victorian homes."''

->''"English people of the present day are apt, I know not why, to look somewhat down on incident, and reserve their admiration for the clink of teaspoons and the accents of the curate. It is thought clever to write a story with no plot at all, or at least with a very dull one."''

->''"It is far easier to believe in a million fairy tales than to believe in one man who does not like fairy tales. I would rather kiss [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm Grimm]] instead of a [[Literature/TheBible Bible]] and swear to all his stories as if they were thirty-nine articles than say seriously and out of my heart that there can be such a man as you; that you are not some temptation of the devil or some delusion from the void. Look at these plain, homely, practical words. 'The Dragon's Grandmother,' that is all right; that is rational almost to the verge of rationalism. If there was a dragon, he had a grandmother...Can you not see that fairy tales in their essence are quite solid and straightforwards; but that this everlasting fiction about modern life is [[RealityIsUnrealistic in its nature essentially incredible?]]"''

->''"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' ever since ''[publishing Player Piano]'', and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer [[CausticCritic for a urinal.]]"''

->''"You have a murder mystery up there, you have a horror book up there, you have all kinds of genres on the bestseller shelf, why not Terry Pratchett's book? And the response was 'we don't let them out of the science fiction section'"''
-->'''Creator/TerryPratchett''' (quoting his literary agent), [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6bKfu_JGDg&feature=fvwrel interview with Mark Lawson]].

->'''I sunk into a proper old gloom. I didn’t even tell you about it because it was foul. Peter Morgan is such a fine writer, damn him. His ''Longford'' script is so fine and subtle, so deceptively simple, heartbreaking and true, and I was so powerfully jealous. I thought, I’m sitting here typing ''[='=]INT. SPACESHIP[='=]''. What am I doing with my career? The answer is, having a wonderful time, with absolute freedom, I know, I know. All the same, looking at ''Longford'', the real tick and bat and pulse that goes on between people, the sheer epic quality of ordinary life, even the lives of Lords and murderers, made me ache... That’s why I turned down the opportunity to meet Creator/GeorgeLucas the other day. The thought of more years typing ‘Int. Spaceship’ and playing with other people’s toys…"''

->''"Patrick said to me, 'You used to be in ''Series/DoctorWho'' didn't you?' and I said 'Yes, I still am actually,' and he said 'why do you do all this television, why don't you do proper stuff like theatre?,' and I said 'Well I love it actually, I love doing ''Doctor Who''.' 'But science fiction, I mean why would you want to do science fiction?' I said, 'I don't know -- I think partly because you learn so much technical stuff, it's really interesting,' and he said 'Oh, [[GilliganCut I wouldn't want to do that sort of stuff.]]'\\\
I haven't run into Patrick Stewart since, but I look forward to it so I can say, 'Funny, why do you do all that sort of science fiction stuff you do now, why aren't you doing [[IronicEcho proper theatre like real actors]]?'"''

->''"In the days leading up to the pilot episode airing, we were doing a lot of press, and I became increasingly irritated by the suggestion from the media, that given my my background with the Royal Shakespeare Company, that I was in a sense ‘slumming’ by doing this syndicated science-fiction television series. Until one day I lost control and I said "listen no only am I proud and delighted to be playing the captain of the ''Enterprise'', but all those years of working for the Royal Shakespeare Company which you have referred to again and again, sitting in the throne of England, was nothing but a preparation of sitting in the captain’s chair of the ''Enterprise''."''

-> ''"[''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale''] is certainly not science fiction. Science fiction has Martians and space travel to other planets and things like that."''

->''"Here is a woman so terrified of sf-cooties that she'll happily redefine the entire genre for no other reason than to exclude herself from it."''

->''"I'm not saying anything new here, but mainstream fantasy tends to be a socially conservative genre. Go grab any of the obvious [[Creator/MichaelMoorcock Moorcock]] or [[ChinaMieville Mieville]] essays, and I'll basically agree with them. And frankly? Science Fiction writers are just much cooler. I tended to think of myself as a speculative fiction writer until a particularly wise ex called me on my bullshit. If your speculations are basically "[[Comicbook/{{Phonogram}} what if music were magic?]]" you're a bloody fantasy writer, dick."''
--> '''{{Creator/Kieron Gillen}}'''

-> ''"The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular."''

->''"If no cultural barrier prevents a public that clearly loves its superheroes from picking up a new "Avengers" comic, why don't more people do so? The main reasons are obvious: It is for sale not in a real bookstore but in a specialty shop, and it is clumsily drawn, poorly written and incomprehensible to anyone not steeped in years of arcane mythology."''
-->--WallStreetJournal's '''Tim Marchman''' on why superhero comics are such a niche property

->''"[[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd James]] was right. Try taking a lot of stuff considered the best literature, put some dragons, magic, psychic powers, zombies, werewolves, vampires, elves, or dwarves in those and see how many awards ''they'' get."''
--> From an IRC chat after ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''[[='=]]s Monster mania vid.

->''"Speaking of desperate pleas for legitimacy, the first dialogue of the movie: 'This is no fantasy… no careless product of wild imagination.'"''

->In many ways [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth}} The Dalek Invasion of Earth]] marks the end of an era for ''Series/DoctorWho''. Its existence as a concession to popular culture provides an interesting bind. On the one hand, Sydney Newman, a populist impresario at heart, would have been elated, and Verity Lambert, the producer, enjoyed a clear boost in reputation. But this came at the expense of the series’ literary qualities. The series was a hit, but not for what Newman originally envisioned its purpose as being. The success of the Daleks was based on their visual spectacle, and served as a stunning refutation of the Frick report’s conclusions that attempting special effects-based science fiction on television was a doomed endeavor. But at the same time it refuted her conclusion that literary plays for adults were thus the correct model of science fiction, [[FollowTheLeader opening the door for more of the mindless pulp adventure]] out of which the Daleks sprung...Also departing in The Dalek Invasion of Earth was Carole Ann Ford’s character of Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter. Ford was frustrated with her character’s collapse into [[DesignatedDamsel generic peril monkey]], and wanted to pursue meatier dramatic roles, which, as was the fate of most ''Doctor Who'' supporting cast members, [[WhiteDwarfStarlet never really panned out.]]

->''"A chastity belt is a harness that is made to fit around the waist, blocking access to the naughty parts, thus preventing sex. Kinda like wearing a ''Star Trek'' belt."''

->''"This is not a criticism of this episode but of the sort of people that suggest that because this is an episode of ''Star Trek'' this isn’t a drama that is entering dark territory like ‘real life’ dramas do. The horrendously underwritten and overpriced ''Trek'' review book ''Final Frontier'' suggests this and it made me want to use the breeze block of a book and use it for toilet paper but [[InsultToRocks I wouldn’t assail my arse]] with such disagreeable scribblings. Whilst shows such as ''Series/TheWestWing'' do open our eyes to the tough decisions of government and how people are affected about those decisions it is the ''scale'' of this episode that makes it so impressively sinister and penalties so colossal. We’re not talking about one planet but an entire Quadrant. One mans soul is the tipping point between saving ''billions'' of lives and throwing them away."''
-->--'''[[http://www.docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/deep-space-nine-season-six.html Joe FOrd]]''' on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "In the Pale Moonlight"

->''"Pssh. I still can't believe that there were ''aliens'' in what was ''clearly'' supposed to be the next ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest''. I'm sorry, but the stick up my ass prohibits me from enjoying a movie called ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''."''

->''"There's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records, but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''[[{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}} Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' that same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''[[{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}} E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'', that drove critics to compare Creator/StevenSpielberg to [[{{Creator/JeanRenoir}} Renoir]] for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these [[AwardSnub twisted old farts]] to achieve an erection."''

->''"I know, I know, the term all the smart people are using these days is "post-modernist" or "magical realist," but those phrases are bullshit. They're parsley on a Hot Pocket: They exist only for pretentious folk to try to fancy up something they like but think is beneath them."''

-->--'''[[http://www.docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/deep-space-nine-season-six.html Doc Och]]''' on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "In the Pale Moonlight"

->''"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' ever since ''[publishing Player Piano]'', and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."''

->''"But you've also got to read in the genre, because we all know what science fiction written by someone who doesn't know about science fiction is like. They've got these 'really great ideas' like Creator/MargaretAtwood had -- bioengineered organisms, that's a new one! And the reviewers fall for it because they don't know any different, assuring us that if it's by Atwood or Crichton it's not really horrid science fiction. That infuriates me beyond measure. ''OryxAndCrake'' has got the science fiction sticker on it all the way through (though it's not particularly original), and yet because she wrote it, it's 'not science fiction.'"''
-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', [[http://www.locusmag.com/2004/Issues/05Pratchett.html interview circa 2004]]

-> ''"Here is a woman so terrified of sf-cooties that she'll happily redefine the entire genre for no other reason than to exclude herself from it."''

->''"The whole association of fairy tale and fantasy with children is local and accidental. I hope everyone has read Tolkien's [[Literature/OnFairyStories essay on Fairy Tales]] which is perhaps the most important contribution to this subject that anyone has yet made. If so, you will know already that, in most places and times, the fairy tale has not been specifically made for, nor exclusively enjoyed by children. It has gravitated to the nursery when it became unfashionable in literary circles, just as unfashionable furniture gravitated to the nursery in Victorian homes."''
-->-- '''Creator/CSLewis''', ''On Three Ways of Writing For Children''

->''"English people of the present day are apt, I know not why, to look somewhat down on incident, and reserve their admiration for the clink of teaspoons and the accents of the curate. It is thought clever to write a story with no plot at all, or at least with a very dull one."''
-->--'''Creator/RobertLouisStevenson'''

->''"It is far easier to believe in a million fairy tales than to believe in one man who does not like fairy tales. I would rather kiss [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm Grimm]] instead of a [[Literature/TheBible Bible]] and swear to all his stories as if they were thirty-nine articles than say seriously and out of my heart that there can be such a man as you; that you are not some temptation of the devil or some delusion from the void. Look at these plain, homely, practical words. 'The Dragon's Grandmother,' that is all right; that is rational almost to the verge of rationalism. If there was a dragon, he had a grandmother...Can you not see that fairy tales in their essence are quite solid and straightforwards; but that this everlasting fiction about modern life is [[RealityIsUnrealistic in its nature essentially incredible?]]"''
-->--'''Creator/GKChesterton''' responding to a critic who believed fairy tales were for children, "The Dragon's Grandmother"

->''"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' ever since ''[publishing Player Piano]'', and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."''
-->--'''Creator/KurtVonnegut'''

->"You have a murder mystery up there, you have a horror book up there, you have all kinds of genres on the bestseller shelf, why not Terry Pratchett's book? And the response was 'we don't let them out of the science fiction section'"''
-->'''Creator/TerryPratchett''' (quoting his literary agent), [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6bKfu_JGDg&feature=fvwrel interview with Mark Lawson]].

->''"I'm not saying anything new here, but mainstream fantasy tends to be a socially conservative genre. Go grab any of the obvious [[Creator/MichaelMoorcock Moorcock]] or [[ChinaMieville Mieville]] essays, and I'll basically agree with them. And frankly? Science Fiction writers are just much cooler. I tended to think of myself as a speculative fiction writer until a particularly wise ex called me on my bullshit. If your speculations are basically "[[Comicbook/{{Phonogram}} what if music were magic?]]" you're a bloody fantasy writer, dick."''
--> '''{{Creator/Kieron Gillen}}'''

->''"SF's no good", they bellow 'til we're deaf,''
->''"But this looks good."''
->''"[[NoTrueScotsman Well, then, it's not SF.]]"''

->'''...I saw a repeat of that ''Longford'', that Channel 4 drama about the Moors Morders, and it did me no good at all. I sunk into a proper old gloom. I didn’t even tell you about it because it was foul. Peter Morgan is such a fine writer, damn him. His ''Longford'' script is so fine and subtle, so deceptively simple, heartbreaking and true, and I was so powerfully jealous. I thought, I’m sitting here typing ''[='=]INT. SPACESHIP[='=]''. What am I doing with my career? The answer is, having a wonderful time, with absolute freedom, I know, I know. All the same, looking at ''Longford'', the real tick and bat and pulse that goes on between people, the sheer epic quality of ordinary life, even the lives of Lords and murderers, made me ache... That’s why I turned down the opportunity to meet Creator/GeorgeLucas the other day. The thought of more years typing ‘Int. Spaceship’ and playing with other people’s toys…"''

->''"In the days leading up to the pilot episode airing, we were doing a lot of press, and I became increasingly irritated by the suggestion from the media, that given my my background with the Royal Shakespeare Company, that I was in a sense ‘slumming’ by doing this syndicated science-fiction television series. Until one day I lost control and I said "listen no only am I proud and delighted to be playing the captain of the Enterprise, but all those years of working for the Royal Shakespeare Company which you have referred to again and again, sitting in the throne of England, was nothing but a preparation of sitting in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise."''

-->--'''Lalla Ward''' [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/webcasts/shada/interviews/ward/page10.shtml on]] working with ''Creator/PatrickStewart'''

-->--'''Creator/PatrickStewart'''

->''I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' ever since ''[publishing Player Piano]'', and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal.''

->''"[My agent] said "You have a murder mystery up there, you have a horror book up there, you have all kinds of genres on the bestseller shelf, why not Terry Pratchett's book? And the response was 'we don't let them out of the science fiction section'"''
-->'''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Fantasy'' author, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6bKfu_JGDg&feature=fvwrel in interview with Mark Lawson]].

->''"For some damn reason, the self-appointed circle-jerkers in American entertainment feel that science fiction and fantasy aren't real art. You can see this by the way those assholes refuse anything to do with those genres. In the entire history of film and television, I mean, if you look at it all, we've had a whopping two successes - ''{{Series/LOST}}'' won an Emmy, ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Return of the King]]'' won an Oscar. That's it.''

->''[...]''

->''[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''[[{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}} Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' that same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''[[{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}} E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'', that drove critics to compare Creator/StevenSpielberg to [[{{Creator/JeanRenoir}} Renoir]] for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''
--> '''{{Website/SFDebris}}''', introduction to ''{{Series/RedDwarf}}''

->''"English people of the present day are apt, I know not why, to look somewhat down on incident, and reserve their admiration for the clink of teaspoons and the accents of the curate. It is thought clever to write a story with no plot at all, or at least with a very dull one."''
-->--'''Creator/RobertLouisStevenson'''

->''"It is far easier to believe in a million fairy tales than to believe in one man who does not like fairy tales. I would rather kiss [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm Grimm]] instead of a [[Literature/TheBible Bible]] and swear to all his stories as if they were thirty-nine articles than say seriously and out of my heart that there can be such a man as you; that you are not some temptation of the devil or some delusion from the void. Look at these plain, homely, practical words. 'The Dragon's Grandmother,' that is all right; that is rational almost to the verge of rationalism. If there was a dragon, he had a grandmother. But you--you had no grandmother! If you had known one, she would have taught you to love fairy tales."''

->''It seemd to me that he did not follow me with sufficient delicacy, so I moderated my tone. "Can you not see," I said, "that fairy tales in their essence are quite solid and straightforwards; but that this everlasting fiction about modern life is in its nature essentially incredible? Folk-lore means that the soul is sane, but that the universe is wild and full of marvels. Realism means that the world is dull and full of routine, but that the soul is sick and screaming. The problem of the fairy tale is--what will a healthy man do with a fantastic world? The problems of the modern novel is--what will a madman do with a dull world? In the fairy tales the cosmos goes mad; but the hero does not go mad. In the modern novels the hero is mad before the book begins, and suffers from the harsh steadiness and cruel sanity of the cosmos."''
-->--'''Creator/GKChesterton's responding to a man who believed that it was bad to tell fairy tales to children, in''' "The Dragon's Grandmother"

->''"SF's no good", they bellow 'til we're deaf,''
->''"But this looks good."''
->''"[[NoTrueScotsman Well, then, it's not SF.]]"''
-->-- '''Robert Conquest'''

->''"Horror is the only genre of film that produces unapologetically terrible movies that people willingly go to see. As long as the body count is [[KillEmAll high]] and [[{{Gorn}} entertaining]], we will [[SoBadItsGood happily shell out ten bucks]] to sit through films whose reviews are rated on [[BrokeTheRatingScale a scale of varying degrees of personal tragedy]] as opposed to the traditional one to five stars."''
-->--''Website/{{Cracked}}'', [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/5-bizarrely-specific-subgenres-horror-movies/ "5 Bizzarely Specific Subgenres of Horror Movies"]]

->''"Pssh. I still can't believe that there were ''aliens'' in what was ''clearly'' supposed to be the next ''OnceUponATimeInTheWest''. I'm sorry, but the stick up my ass prohibits me from enjoying a movie called ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''."''

->''[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''[[{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}} Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' that same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''[[{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}} E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'', that drove critics to compare ''Creator/StevenSpielberg'' to [[{{Creator/JeanRenoir}} Renoir]] for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''

->''[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''[[{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}} Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' that same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''[[{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}} E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'', that drove critics to compare ''Creator/StevenSpielberg'' to {{Creator/JeanRenoir Renoir}} for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''
--> '''{{Website/SFDebris}}''', introduction to ''{{Series/RedDward}}

->''[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}}'' the same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}}'', that drove critics to compare ''Creator/StevenSpielberg'' to {{Creator/JeanRenoir Renoir}} for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''
--> '''{{Website/SFDebris}}'''

->''[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}}'' the same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial]]'', that drove critics to compare ''Creator/StevenSpielberg'' to {{Creator/JeanRenoir Renoir}} for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''

->''[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}}'' the same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}}'', that drove critics to compare ''Creator/StevenSpielberg'' to {{Creator/JeanRenoir Renoir}} for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''

->''"For some damn reason, the self-appointed circle-jerkers in American entertainment feel that science fiction and fantasy aren't real art. You can see this by the way those assholes refuse anything to do with those genres. In the entire history of film and television, I mean, if you look at it all, we've had a whopping two successes - ''{{Series/LOST}}'' won an Emmy, ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Return of the King]]'' won an Oscar. That's it.

''[...]''

[T]here's no denying the truth of it. These assholes gave a Best Picture award to ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', a loud, big budget film depending on overcoming technical difficulties and populated by character ciphers that broke all box office records...but gave half as many awards and no Best Picture to ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', a loud, big budget film depending not only on overcoming technical difficulties, but pioneering the techniques that other films would use to overcome them, populated by character archetypes that broke all box office records, and helped to shape many aspects of the film industry. They also snubbed the classic ''{{Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind}}'' the same year. And let's take 1982, where we had ''{{Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial}}'', that drove critics to compare ''Creator/StevenSpielberg'' to {{Creator/JeanRenoir Renoir}} for the incredible achievements of his film, and then gave the award to ''{{Film/Gandhi}}''. Why ''Gandhi''? Well, the same reason ''Titanic'' won, because at that age, only a bit of historical pathos can cause these twisted old farts to achieve an erection."''

-->-- '''Terry Goodkind'''

-->-- Publisher rejecting H.G. Wells' book ''TheTimeMachine''

-->-- '''Tim Brooks''', an executive at the channel now known as SyFy.

->''"The whole association of fairy tale and fantasy with children is local and accidental. I hope everyone has read Tolkiens essay on Fairy Tales which is perhaps the most important contribution to this subject that anyone has yet made. If so, you will know already that, in most places and times, the fairy tale has not been specifically made for, nor exclusively enjoyed by children. It has gravitated to the nursery when it became unfashionable in literary circles, just as unfashionable furniture gravitated to the nursery in Victorian homes."''

-->--'''KurtVonnegut'''

->"[My agent] said "You have a murder mystery up there, you have a horror book up there, you have all kinds of genres on the bestseller shelf, why not Terry Pratchett's book? And the response was 'we don't let them out of the science fiction section'"

->"[[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd James]] was right. Try taking a lot of stuff considered the best literature, put some dragons, magic, psychic powers, zombies, werewolves, vampires, elves, or dwarves in those and see how many awards ''they'' get."

->"Pssh. I still can't believe that there were ''aliens'' in what was ''clearly'' supposed to be the next ''OnceUponATimeInTheWest''. I'm sorry, but the stick up my ass prohibits me from enjoying a movie called ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''."

->"Horror is the only genre of film that produces unapologetically terrible movies that people willingly go to see. As long as the body count is [[KillEmAll high]] and [[{{Gorn}} entertaining]], we will [[SoBadItsGood happily shell out ten bucks]] to sit through films whose reviews are rated on [[BrokeTheRatingScale a scale of varying degrees of personal tragedy]] as opposed to the traditional one to five stars.

->"I'm not saying anything new here, but mainstream fantasy tends to be a socially conservative genre. Go grab any of the obvious [[MichaelMoorcock Moorcock]] or [[ChinaMieville Mieville]] essays, and I'll basically agree with them. And frankly? Science Fiction writers are just much cooler. I tended to think of myself as a speculative fiction writer until a particularly wise ex called me on my bullshit. If your speculations are basically "[[Comicbook/{{Phonogram}} what if music were magic?]]" you're a bloody fantasy writer, dick."

->''"But you've also got to read in the genre, because we all know what science fiction written by someone who doesn't know about science fiction is like. They've got these 'really great ideas' like MargaretAtwood had -- bioengineered organisms, that's a new one! And the reviewers fall for it because they don't know any different, assuring us that if it's by Atwood or Crichton it's not really horrid science fiction. That infuriates me beyond measure. ''OryxAndCrake'' has got the science fiction sticker on it all the way through (though it's not particularly original), and yet because she wrote it, it's 'not science fiction.'"''

-> ''"[''TheHandmaidsTale''] is certainly not science fiction. Science fiction has Martians and space travel to other planets and things like that."''
-->-- '''Margaret Atwood'''

-->-- '''Peter Watts''', on Margaret Atwood, "[[http://www.rifters.com/real/shorts/PeterWatts_Atwood.pdf Margaret Atwood and the Hierarchy of Contempt]]"

->"I'm not saying anything new here, but mainstream fantasy tends to be a socially conservative genre. Go grab any of the obvious [[MichaelMoorcock Moorcock]] or [[ChinaMieville Mieville]] essays, and I'll basically agree with them. And frankly? Science Fiction writers are just much cooler. I tended to think of myself as a speculative fiction writer until a particularly wise ex called me on my bullshit. If your speculations are basically "[[{{Phonogram}} what if music were magic?]]" you're a bloody fantasy writer, dick."