Scientific Magic

The line between magic and science is not that well defined. Is magic a natural and perfectly logical phenomenon to which our science simply hasn’t caught up yet, or is it something mystical and mysterious, outside the realm of scientific possibility? Regardless of where we draw the actual line, science fiction movies – or sci-fi movies- certainly deal with magic, albeit of a veiled and science-y type.

Sci-fi movies are essentially fantasy movies, but within the realm of possible or assumed scientific theories or facts, admittedly sometimes with some flourishes that can never be explained scientifically. Some experts see science fiction traits in very ancient works dating back to even the Arabian Nights, but with the coming of the Age of Reason, science fiction as we know it started to take form. The all-time classic satire Gulliver’s Travels is considered by many to be one of the first true science fiction books. After Swift penned his famous novel, Wells came up with War of the Worlds, and the era of science fiction was established.

The subgenres of science fiction are as follows. Hard sci-fi is characterized by great attention to fact and detail and tries to stay as close to the truth as possible. Soft sci-fi deals with social sciences such as psychology and sociology (George Orwell’s “1984”). Then there is Cyberpunk, which usually involves a miserable future not too far off from our present day in which cyber technologies usually play a central role, such as an all-intelligent supercomputer trying to dominate mankind (Blade Runner). Time travel is another popular subgenre, as is Space travel, most notably, of course, the Star Wars and Star Trek series.

Science fiction is for a large part unproven science. It’s kind of like magic.