Science Fiction VS Fantasy: Tussle Association

If you are at all like us, then at some point you either read, watched, played or listened to a piece of science fiction one way or another. From Star Wars to Dune, Altered Carbon to Warcraft, the genre of Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy have bloomed. However as days go it is harder to define them as each seems to borrow from the other and vice versa, and though many will argue that their favorite subgenre is best, we are here to finally settle the score once and for all.

DISCLAIMER

We will be using Rod Serling's distinction between Science Fiction and Fantasy which is as follows:
Science Fiction is "the improbable made possible" while
Fantasy is "the impossible made probable"

Our contestants will be judged based on the following

Themes

Flexibility in use

Clichés

Representation

With astounding titles like Lord Of The Rings, Eragon, A Song Of Ice And Fire, Wheel of Time and "The Name Of The Wind" the subgenre of Fantasy in the fiction category has no lack of strong contenders. With the meteoric rise of DnD and other pen and paper games, the popularity of the Harry Potter franchise and the need of humanity to have fairy tales in our lives, fantasy has and always should be a part of our lives. But how does it fare in the ring?

Themes: 7/10. Fantasy is a great concept to work with, however more often than not, instead of exploring its many applications usually it tends to orbit around the "Hero's Journey" and though that is not necessarily bad, it -does- leave a few interesting forms of storytelling out thus we retract 3 points

Flexibility in Use: 10/10. Contrary to popular belief, Fantasy is a setting not a "genre" in broad terms. As such it is my firm belief that just because something may be in the realm of fantasy does not mean it has to be limited into a specific type of stories. Fantasy is just, the impossible made probable in the end, and as such it can fit into literally any type of story.

Clichés: 1/10. I may be a bit biased, but ultimately the clichés of Fantasy rub me in the worst possible way. Overused, lazy and misused from the most irritating (prophecies) to the less so (character tropes) fantasy has an overwhelming number of tropes some for better, a -lot- for worse. Seriously though, if I see another fantasy story that excuses its lazy as fuck cheap ass writing as "oh its a prophecy" I swear to Jesus...

Representation: 10/10. Gotta give credit where credit is due. Lord Of The Rings, Game Of Thrones (8 seasons with 3 horrible ones is still a great show), the Odyssey, Iliad, the epic of Gilgamesh to name but a few. Face it folks, Fantasy has been on for ages, and it has the strongest and best stories out there.

Dune, Altered Carbon, Blade Runner, Alien, those are but a few of the massive Titans of franchise the Science Fiction genre brings to the table. Many of you might wonder why I did not list Star Wars and Star Trek among those, the answer is simple. Star Trek would be too obvious a choice, and Star Wars is in fact a cross between Science Fiction and Fantasy. Many could argue that Dune and Star Trek also are a cross between Science Fiction and Fantasy (Science Fantasy for short), but we are not here to talk about -that- mess. No, we are here to see how Science Fiction competes with Fantasy in the RING.

Themes: 10/10. I am sorry Fantasy, but science fiction has been experimented on way more than Fantasy has. Maybe it is because it is a more recent creation in humanities literary journey, or maybe because people are more keen on exploring the "what ifs" science fiction poses. Regardless the case, from noir detective films, to space operas to future dystopias/utopias Science Fiction has a number of interesting stories gracing its portfolio.

Flexibility in Use: 7/10. Unlike Fantasy, Science Fiction is not a setting, and as such has more limits. Science Fiction is "the improbably made possible" and as such no matter what you write about, you have to make sure that everything -could- happen in real life so that can limit one's artistic creativity.

Clichés: 6/10. Though Science Fiction does tend to have a number of clichés that can be a major nuisance, the variety of them and the fact that they are usually twists and themes and a lot less excuses for lazy writing. A bit more on the preachy side however, certain tropes that appear tend to be more grinding, but at least to my personal experience they are handled better than their Fantasy counter parts.

Representation: 9/10. Despite anything that leans more on Science Fiction is more to my liking, I have to admit that it does not have many good contenders in terms of pop culture. Sure, there are -very- strong works of science fiction in book form, but it is still not as represented in media as Fantasy is. Case in point: Star Wars is not Science Fiction, and to a degree neither is Star Trek.

To be honest though this should not be a competition. The -true- winner should always be, The Story. If the story is well written, the plot interesting, the characters engaging and the book/movie worthy of your time then it is a win for everyone.

Both Science Fiction and Fantasy are not and they -SHOULD- not be viewed as genres turned into camps, but instead as tools used for storytelling. The "wrapper" of a gift if you will. What matters is the content, and as long as the content is good, then just pick whichever "cover" you wish and share it around.

Besides, everybody knows that New Wave Science Fiction trumps all. Darker themes, socioeconomic themes, proper mix of violence and wits. A hint of something a bit more fantastical, neon colors....It. is. the. best.
Still waiting on Altered Carbon season 2 though.