Anyone else suddenly gone off sci fi/fantasy?

[AnneLovesGilbert]

I’m not sure what’s happened. I’ve always enjoyed some of both, loved Agents of Shield, Lord of the Rings, binge watched Fringe, X files, Orphan Black etc, enjoyed the Avengers films.

Anything we’ve tried to watch recently that’s at all fantastical I have no interest in at all. DH is agog at Loki and it looks pretty and the music is nice but I couldn’t care less that’s going on. I’m sure it’s good but I can’t connect to it because of all the special effects and daft ideas.

Give me people, talking about their feelings or going on realistic adventures.

Am I getting old? Is this a covid thing? Anyone relate?

Current watching Utopia and Doom Patrol so not really 🤣 but yes it probably is something to do with wanting a real connection to real things.

Haven’t heard of either but glad you’re enjoying them and I’ll suggest them to DH - he’s still mad for all that

We’ve been watching 24, still finding things we both like, but I’ve just gone off several genres I’ve always liked. Maybe just for now.

I think the last 18 months has felt like living through some of sci fi novel. Utopia actually has a disclaimer saying ot was written before covid or similar. It's not really the same escape is it?

@SleepingStandingUp

I think the last 18 months has felt like living through some of sci fi novel. Utopia actually has a disclaimer saying ot was written before covid or similar. It's not really the same escape is it?

Even Harry Potter's felt like contemporary allegory in the past year, especually books 5 & 6. Not escapism at all!

I've found it tough to detach and get engrossed in much TV/ film/ fiction. Either it's rung uncomfortably with the state of the world, or it's been a painful reminder of normality.

Yeah I think you’re exactly right. I watched a load of trailers for the next year the other day and there were so many epic disasters, huge loud shouty flashy escapist things and I get the appeal of all of that. Who hasn’t wanted to get lost in a fantasy of good vs evil, with clear ethical values and a satisfying ending?!

But none of it actually appeals, I’ve had enough excitement I think. I want cosy. Comfy. Reassuring. People doing normal stuff and family dramas.

I'm not currently too keen on post apocalyptic dystopias, but otherwise sci fi and fantasy are fine.

Loki isn't brilliant

Wandavision is fab though and very emotionally driven particularly for comic book fantasy

If you're looking for something to watch, This Is Us on amazon prime. It's exactly as you've described. People, relationships, cosiness etc.

I found Wandavision much more relatable than Loki or Falcon. Something about her grief and the need to lose herself in a fantasy. I've been there. I think most of us have.

I normally love a bit of post apocalyptic / sci fi type stuff but I can’t watch it at all at the mo. While not quite at the Virginia River / Gilmore Girls stage I’m now heavily into The Good Place type thing. I think it’s definitely a reaction to covid.

Apart from Resident Alien. That was fantastic

Oh and Wandavision. Loved that.

I have always loved sci fi, the stuff which makes a wider point, uses the form to explore things about humans and society etc. The more I suppose intelligent or interesting stuff that makes you think a bit.

Most stuff now seems to be very similar and with but much to say or think about iyswim.

Or maybe I'm getting old

We are living in a dystopia, I can't use it as my escapism because it is my reality.

Several votes for Wandavision, I’ll give it a go, thank you!

Also This is Us.

I think I’d probably still watch a disaster movie, not cosy at all but they’re still mostly about people and how they react to extreme situations. There’s something about sci fi and fantasy - the not real - that I’m not engaging with.

Wandavision put a woman and her emotions front and centre. Very brave and unusual for Sci fi. Stick with it and don't be confused by the first two episodes

Anything we’ve tried to watch recently that’s at all fantastical I have no interest in at all. DH is agog at Loki and it looks pretty and the music is nice but I couldn’t care less that’s going on. I’m sure it’s good but I can’t connect to it because of all the special effects and daft ideas.

Same with DH and my boys. I agree it looks amazing but I jumped ship after the first episode because I was bored to tears.

How are you with subtitles OP? I can recommend some Korean sci-fi/fantasy that is more character driven and emotionally engaging. Their sci-fi tends to lean more towards tech (AI, robots, time travel, parallel universes) and the fantasy towards zombies, supernatural beings/folk monsters, reincarnation etc.

I have always loved sci fi, the stuff which makes a wider point, uses the form to explore things about humans and society etc. The more I suppose intelligent or interesting stuff that makes you think a bit.

Absolutely agree. My mum was very about me watching stuff about zombies or vampires in my youth and I remember rather pompously telling her they were a good way of exposing and examining the human condition. She’s never had any interest in anything “not real” and I was being a knob but I did have a point

I’m either turning into her or the last year has changed my tastes for a bit.

I have Marvel fatigue and I am a huge fan of the comics (although moreso the X-Men) and my husband is a big comic book nerd too. There’s just too much of it now. I feel like I need something new. Although I did recently watch and enjoy Black Widow. I couldn’t even be bothered with Loki and The Falcon one!

Wanda Vision is great, and if you can find The Good Place it's also fab. Very much about human connection and their relationships to each other, not even really romantic just human. Definitely binge worthy

My escape is Jane Austen.😂
I don't want to read anything remotely dystopian.

That’s interesting @boatyardblues

I’m shit scared of robots taking over the world (especially while we’re all distracted by human viruses) so I’m careful with AI stuff but I’ll look into that.

The Mandalorian is brilliant too, very clever funny and affecting

I normally hate fantasy these days, but I did do a rewatch of all The X-Files recently, and that was good fun - not so much for the storylines, but just for the 90s atmosphere which is so evocative of a now different pre-digital age!

The quality of the eps varies - obvs some are pretty weak, but others are written by people like Vince Gillian and still stand up well. But even though it was filmed in Canada I really appreciate now (more than when I originally watched it) the low-fi Noir Americana of it all. Plus of course the lovely Gillian Anderson who was my teenage crush

I recently binged watched Star Trek Discovery. It was the best thing I’d seen in ages.
I do mix it up with other genres too.

And actually OP if you want kind of fantasy/sci-fi but also not, have you seen Russian Doll? That’s great and very engrossing!