Over-used concepts and under-used concepts in sci fi

[phee]

Over the history of the genre of sci fi/fantasy there have been many reoccurring ideas, concepts, plot devices, etc... while these items in and of themselves might not be over-used, it is my opinion that at least the WAY they have been used has been grossly over done.

This thread is to discuss both the over-used and original concepts in sci fi that you would like to see more of. New ideas, or cool uses of older ideas. Since sci fi/ fantasy is all about imagination and pushing limits, I thought it might be a healthy discussion.

For example...

One of the most OVERUSED concepts in sci fi is TIME TRAVEL, for example in Star Trek.... No less than 4 of the Star Trek movies have dealt with this concept either directly or indirectly, as well as the Terminator franchise and several other TV series. With such a cool idea, its sad we can't do any better. I have seen a couple of films in the last 10 years that have had a very original and refreshing take on the theme, the film PRIMER is a good example, as well as 12 MONKEYS.

Another example...

The whole War With Machines concept has been driven into the ground and beaten to death. Obviously the Terminator films have done this as well, but also shows like (as totally awesome as it is) Battlestar Galactica is still based on that whole cliche. Again there are a few exceptions to this, the film A.I. for example had a much less intrusive and balanced way of showing how the planet shifted from organic to silicone, also DUNE seemed to handle the idea of this well by putting it far the past of the time line (The Butlerian Jihad for you non-Dune readers).

What are some things you would like to add or discuss on this topic?

[Destroit]

Although the concept of transporting your personal identity, or "soul", into a network or machine of some type has seemingly been done over and over again, nobody has represented the idea to this day like Serial Experiments Lain has.

Although the concept of transporting your personal identity, or "soul", into a network or machine of some type has seemingly been done over and over again, nobody has represented the idea to this day like Serial Experiments Lain has.

[phee]

Although the concept of transporting your personal identity, or "soul", into a network or machine of some type has seemingly been done over and over again, nobody has represented the idea to this day like Serial Experiments Lain has.

Very good one Cher yes.... I actually thought adding that... people in Sci Fi seem to store peoples minds in computers as if they were photos....

The book "Speaker For The Dead" has a pretty cool take on that.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I'm not sure many ideas really bother me as being "overused" just, poorly used, with a few exceptions.

They can have as many spaceship battles as they want, just do a good job of it (just as a random example). All concepts are overused by this point if overused means its been done 100 times or more, the pool of possible concepts is pretty much totally used up (If we include novels/ short stories) and we just have variations on themes. Funny how 12 monkeys poped into my mind as soon as i read the title of phee's topic post.

The overused THEME is Action-Adventure. Period. I almost feel like "Sci Fi" should be just the setting when talking about films not the "genre". "The Future" or "Speculative Technology" in a story , generally is just the setting. The actual theme is , a love story, a comedy, a drama etc. Something other than just action-adventure all the time is a nice change. Problem is , they just don't make much money.

We can only make so many predictions about what will be available in the future and which ones will be relevant. I'm having a hard time wit the idea that any story has been "told as well as it could be" and there is no room for improvement or exploration of variation on a primary theme. But, I'd vote for cutting down on entertainment as a whole and go along with that idea if it would put more resources into reality rather than entertainment. We could stop making movies / music / etc for a year and put all that into improving health or medicine and probably make a 10 year leap in 6 months. I could go from now until I'm 60 and not read / watch all the good entertainment that already exists.

The most POORLY overused concepts that stand out in my mind:

Kid saves the planet due to being a genius and apparently most all adults are morons. (almost assumed in anime) This one isn't just poorly used, its just annoying. It annoyed me even when I was 10 years old.

THE ALIENS/Robots/whatever LOOK JUST LIKE PEOPLE >>> UGH. (cost saving issue / better for marketing in TV and Movies I'm sure is a key factor here) Same as above.

Some ancient 100k+ year old civilization is "tricked" or "outwitted" by humanity by some little quirk that said ancient civilization was too stupid to notice, being new and all apparently. (same thing with the 900 year old vampires being outsmarted by the 17 year old kid)

And yeah time travel, although my key bitch there is they always seem to need to come back to whatever current-era earth is, thus cheating me out of lots of potential cool special effects / predictions about what life will be like in the future, shown in detail.

I like lets call it "hard" science fiction were they try really hard to make it seem like a realistic, prediction of the future. A "slow" moving movie like Moon for instance, which is a psychological drama is like that. Also the quiet, lonely film Code 46 (tim robins). But, any individual (general) concept in any story is probably already been used 100 times.

[phee]

Yeah... Moon is an example of solid sci fi that has a brain and does not have too many pitfalls...

[Joey Deadcat]

"All aliens look alike" and and mono-cultural alien planets.

[phee]

"All aliens look alike" and and mono-cultural alien planets.

Ah yes... they whole... "Desert Planet" or "Jungle Planet" thing that Starwars made so popular.

[n0Mad]

I think cliches are over-used but tropes are under-used.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I think cliches are over-used but tropes are under-used.

I guess i thought Trope was a synonym for Cliche. (maybe that was a joke that I didn't get hah) "puts on dunce hat"

Just went and looked it up, seems to be a debate as to the proper use of this term (and its meaning). Never new. I do like words... odd as that sounds. Respect@words.

A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning. The term trope derives from the Greek τρόπος - tropos "turn, direction, way", related to the root of the verb τρέπειν (trepein), "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change".

Rhetoricians have closely analyzed the bewildering array of "turns and twists" used in poetry and literature and have provided an extensive list of precise labels for these poetic devices. Some examples include:

metaphor

metonymy

irony

oxymoron

hyperbole

litotes

antithesis

synecdoche

For a longer list, see Rhetorical remedies.

Since the 1970s, the word has also come to mean a commonly recurring motif or device, a cliché.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Ah yes... they whole... "Desert Planet" or "Jungle Planet" thing that Starwars made so popular.

Never thought about that. Yeah that is pretty common. I guess that is a bit unrealistic but subtle. Earth probably could be summarized as a "water planet" despite it not being homogeneous.

Like Arakis in Dune is not a mono-culture but is summarized as "desert planet", right? (and it also has water)

Most planets, at least the ones we know about, actually are (fairly) homgonenus, earth is the only one that we know of that is THIS heterogeneous. (depending on how you define terms)

Mercury = Hot rock

Venus = Hot Gas Rock

Mars = Cold Desert

Jupiter = Giant Gas Planet

Seems to be tollerably accurate use of "summary" descriptions. No?