The “Space Wizards” Argument: Why Sci-Fi & Fantasy Narratives Need To Be Better
Whenever you try to criticize sci-fi or fantasy on the internet, whether it’s a movie, TV show, book, comic or some other form of media, you can guarantee that one type of smug, grating, self-satisfied comment is going to show up. You know the one.
“Why are you looking for consistency in a movie about space wizards??”
“Uh, it’s a show about MAGIC? It doesn’t have to make sense.”
If you ever meet these people in real life, it’s absolutely okay to hit them with a shoe. It can be a little trickier to deal with on the internet, though, where any attempt to criticize a thing somebody likes might as well be you slapping them in the face with a glove and challenging them to a duel to the death at sunrise. How dare you have a problem with that thing that they didn’t have a problem with? Lighten up!
Why Even Fantasy Needs Rules
Bizarre tribal loyalties to pieces of media aside, these people do have one valid point, even if they don’t realise it: fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal and all similar genres are constantly pushing the boundary of our suspension of disbelief by nature of their very existence, and it’s up to the writer to get as close to that line as possible without crossing it.
After all, these are the genres dealing with entirely fictional concepts: time travel, faster-than-light spaceships, magic, and yes, space wizards. Movies, TV shows and books don’t come with instruction manuals. It’s up to the writer to define how this stuff works, in this universe, and then stick to it. There’s leeway, sure, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a line between an acceptable plot point and one that leaves an audience member scratching their head.
If in Return of the Jedi we saw Luke Skywalker casually walking around gifting Force powers to all the main characters so they can be awesome Jedi as well, that would raise eyebrows.
“Uh, he obviously trained in between movies and can do that now!”
Here’s where we would see the tribe loyalty come into play. If they’re not jamming their fingers in their ears and screeching something about space wizards, people will convince themselves of anything before accepting that the thing they love is flawed. What this type of person doesn’t realise is that just because there’s a reason does not mean that it’s a good reason. You can’t spend two movies telling us that having Force powers is rare and exclusive, then give that power to everyone like it’s candy.
It’s a grey line, one that can be hard to define and almost impossible to explain, but you can judge on a few criteria:
- Has the concept ever been explained? Even a vague explanation is better than simply asking the viewer or reader to just ‘accept it’.
- Was the concept previously introduced? Establishing a crucial plot element before we see it in play provides a strong foundation for it being brought up in the future.
- Is it all a little too convenient? Convenience is the ultimate enemy of strong writing; it takes all the burden off the writer and asks us to simply accept that things worked out that way, or that characters made certain stupid decisions just to get them to that point.
And then a hidden fourth piece of criteria that we really shouldn’t be talking about:
- Is it dramatic/cool/visually stunning/emotional to the point where the audience can forget that what they’re seeing is very dumb?
Sure, it’s possible to pull this off, but it’s risky and should never be the aim. That’s blatantly admitting that you wrote a mistake into the script right before throwing a handful of glitter in the audience’s faces.
When the Rules Are Broken
Unfortunately, visually-splendid as it was, Season 8 of Netflix’s acclaimed Voltron: Legendary Defender trampled over all of these rules in its mad dash to reach the end of its run. Call it whatever you like – the series ending prematurely, the writers wedging themselves into a narrative corner, or an emphasis on style over substance – but this particular season approached that grey line and obliterated it entirely.
The concept of Quintessence (the ‘magic plot stuff’ of this universe) was pretty simple for most of the show’s run. It’s life energy, a vast source of power, and can wielded by good and bad guys with predictable results.
Then we get to season 8, and most plot developments turn into ‘Quintessence did it’. Apparently it can now be used to steal souls, astrally project oneself and others across vast interstellar distances, break into a person’s mind, fuse mechs together like it’s going out of fashion, access the source of all realities, visit the Heart of the Universe (whatever the heck that is – we’re just told that it’s a thing and that’s where they are) and restore the entirety of reality after it was destroyed.
All of this relies heavily on the ‘forbidden’ fourth rule, overtaxing the concept until it exhausts the patience of any discerning viewer. The last one in particular throws up the smokescreen of a character sacrificing their life (for reasons not properly explained), attempting to hide behind an emotional response.
Every time any of these things happen, we get everyone on-screen gaping at the magical thing, one person may state what happened, but crucially, no one wonders why. It’s all visually-stunning, the emotion is there, and the score is sheer brilliance, but the entire season is just a mass of concepts tossed in the viewer’s face that warrant no prior mention or explanation. This breaks every rule in the book, repeatedly.
Narrative vs Enjoyment
If you can watch something like this and still enjoy it, then all power to you. It doesn’t make you less intelligent to enjoy something that has a weak narrative, as this is one trait among many. People get different things out of their entertainment, and as mentioned, there’s still a lot to love about season 8 of Voltron. In fact, there are things to love about almost anything. Take it from an adult who still appreciates Power Rangers.
If you like The Last Jedi because the performances are stellar and the special-effects are gorgeous, then…great. But people are also entitled to their disappointment at a narrative soured by convenience and lazy writing. If your best answer to someone’s problem with a story is a trite ‘stop worrying about it, it’s fantasy/sci-fi!’, then not only are you displaying a total lack of awareness, you’re also setting yourself up for those words to be thrown back in your face next time you dare criticize anything.
Any story ever written, besides actual nonsense literature, falls apart without keeping itself consistent. This isn’t just the same for more fantastical stories; it goes double. The story is already teetering on the knife-edge of suspension of disbelief by virtue of not being set in our world, with rules the audience can instantly understand.
You can say ‘magic did it’, but equally valid is the question of ‘why can’t magic do it’? If wizards in the Harry Potter universe can vanish objects, why can’t a bunch of wizards get together and vanish Voldemort out of existence? If Rey in The Last Jedi can use the Force to lift some rocks, why can’t she also concentrate harder and push all of the First Order’s ships into a black hole, ending the trilogy early?
If someone has explained away problems in their own head, with their own logic, the there’s not much you can do. But next time someone tells you that your criticisms aren’t valid because it’s “space fantasy”, ask them if the above plot development would be satisfying. If they say no, they’re a hypocrite.
If they say yes, then they’re a liar and you should definitely hit them with a shoe.
How do you answer the ‘Space Wizards’ argument? Let us know in the comments.
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