(LOGO)
Welcome to Zombocom. You guys have been requesting this topic a lot,
so I felt it was only logical to indulge. Today I'm listing the ten sci-fi tropes that I find
illogical. I'm gonna be doing this a lot, get used to it. Many of you know that sci-fi is one of my
preferred genres for reading, writing, TV and movies. And I may or may not have a nostalgic
love for a very popular sci-fi series. Take a wild guess what it is. (Laser noises) Pew, pew!
That doesn't mean that I think the genre, or even sci-fi stories that I love are flawless. There are
a lot of tropes that don't make any damn sense, and we're gonna talk about them. Before we get
started, this video is sponsored by my all time favorite learning platform. It's also Spock's
favorite learning platform. I know these things, he told me. And that Skillshare. You guys have
maybe heard me talk about them once or twice, or roughly a million times. They're my favorite
for a reason, okay. Skillshare has over 17,000 classes available specifically for creators. There
are classes in creative writing, painting, graphic design. And they've even got some amazing business
and marketing classes for anyone who is trying to turn their creative endeavor, like writing a book,
into a career. I myself have two marketing classes on Skillshare. The most recent one
is a step-by-step guide to releasing a novel with minimal to no assistance. Skillshare has got some
goodies just for you guys, stick around until the end of this video to find out more. But first,
live long and prosper. Also I'm gonna bitch about sci-fi tropes. Here we go.
Number One (1): Born sexy yesterday. A humanoid creature or robot is born or created in a
laboratory. It's got the mental capacity of a child. It finds wonder and mystery in the most
basic concepts. It's also a super hot woman, because what else would it be? You rarely see
this trope done with men. The only example I can think of is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
And that's because dumb men are fucking annoying, so are dumb women. But the only way our Joe Schmoe
lead is going to get laid is if a robot woman with the IQ of a sock thinks he's amazing,
because he's the only human being she's ever come into contact with. Breathing, amazing! Sentient,
amazing! You know, you could just write a compelling male lead who would reasonably earn
the affection of a woman with basic intelligence. Just saying. Number Two (2): Homogenous aliens.
We are not homogenous. Your characters land on the planet with an advanced alien species that
could easily rival the intelligence of humanity. Except they all look the same, they talk the same,
they act the same, they are the same. They wear the same clothes, they speak the same language,
they even believe the same religion—globally. How is it possible for an entire globe to be this
homogenized? Look at humans: we've got different skin colors, different sexualities, different
heights, different politics, different social norms. The only way a homogenous alien species
makes sense, is if that is specifically the point. The writer is drawing attention to the fact that
wow, this whole species is a monolith. Isn't that weird? If you're going for hive mentality,
great! Otherwise not so great. Number Three (3): Too much tech. I understand that technology
is a part of science-fiction. These books take place in the future,
technology advances over time, it's relevant. But I'm reading these books for the characters,
the aliens and creatures, the adventures. I do not care about the make or model of your spacecraft,
or how its anti gravity feature works. I also don't care about your complex computer system.
Best believe I am skipping that info dump entirely. It's fine to explain your tech,
your reader probably needs a basic understanding of it. So provide that basic understanding and
move on. Number Four (4): Lack of research. Science-fiction has a key word in there:
science. That means at least some of what you're presenting needs to be rooted in fact, or at least
the possibility of it being factual. If a facet of your novel revolves around biology, it needs
to be accurate to biology. If it's not accurate, there needs to be some plot related development or
event that makes this biological impossibility possible. Number Five (5) Teens in charge.
Why is the captain of the spaceship sixteen years old? Why is the entire crew sixteen years old? Do
they all band together to escape their parents? What happened here? What I see the most often are
child soldiers. Fifteen year olds who have been trained in intergalactic battle…you realize this
the form of slavery, right? Why are you making children risk their lives to protect civilization?
And why would an advanced society choose children, of all people, to defend them? Don't get me wrong,
I'm sure there are a bunch of teenage bodybuilders out there who could beat the shit out of an alien,
but I'm guessing they're in the minority. Wouldn’t the world prefer super soldiers who weren't going
through puberty? I'm just saying. Number Six (6): The lone woman. I've talked about this chick
before, and the sci-fi genre is where she most often pops up. She's the only woman in the book,
of course she is. She's usually the hero's love interest, possibly a sci-fi version of the damsel
in distress. If the author fancies themselves woke, she might be a doctor or a scientist,
or something else that's smart and progressive, but still leaves her defenseless in the face
of danger. “Shaft Danger Zone, save me! My intellect is no match for these killer robots.”
Just write another woman or two, or ten. We make up more than half of the population,
so it's not exactly a stretch. (Cliff) “But Jenna, women don't read science- fiction. It's for men!”
Do not step to me with your illogical bullshit. Number Seven (7): I swear it's not Star Trek. A
lot of space operas follow a league of people from different planets who come together to explore the
galaxy, and boldly go where no man has gone before and—oh my gosh, does this sound familiar? I will
be the first to say that all stories have been done before, ad nauseum. But the regurgitation of
Star Trek and Star Wars is rampant and prevalent. You don't have to duplicate the stories to be
successful. What made these stories so popular in the first place is that they were so original, at
the time. Shit ain’t original anymore. That's not to say that you can't write about space explorers,
but make ‘em your own. You're also welcome to write a satire of Star Trek or Star Wars.
But satire and mimicry aren't the same thing. Number Eight (8): Yay, colonialism. (Laser noises)
“Let’s go to an alien planet and teach them our ways! We'll share our customs and religions.
We’ll colonize their society and civilize them. What could possibly go wrong? Certainly not
genocide.” Writers, I beg you, open a history book. Colonizing isn't a good thing. It's got
very bad repercussions like violence, disease, and the destruction of entire civilizations. Your
characters are not heroes for barging onto another planet and changing its entire way of life. If
your character looks a little bit like Christopher Columbus, he's actually the villain. Number
Nine (9): The Space Cowboy. He's an arrogant drunk douchebag, who moseys from planet to planet,
banging aliens and shooting bad guys. And he's a leading man. Why is this guy the main character
in every genre of fiction? He's the worst! Captain Kirk I'm looking at you. There's nothing new I can
say about this character that I haven't already said in every other trope video, because this guy
is literally everywhere. Just write someone new, I'm begging you. And Number Ten (10): Sexy aliens.
I don't mind aliens that are aesthetically pleasing. In fact, I prefer them over the
ugly motherfuckers. What I don't understand are aliens that are created for sexy time purposes,
since you know, they're not human. It's having sex with an alien beastiality? Inquiring minds want
to know. How do these aliens from an entirely different planet have the exact genitalia for
humans to fit into? Creatures from a different galaxy of penises and vaginas? Sounds normal. I
see you’ve written an alien woman with enormous titties. Am I to assume the species breastfeeds,
or do you just like titties? We all like titties, but something's gotta give. If you wanna make your
aliens pretty, go for it. But sexualizing the crap out of them is gonna make me question your kinks,
just a little bit. So that's all I got for you today. Sci-fi is fun and exciting, and filled with
garbage tropes that get on my nerves. If there are any other genres you want me to pick apart,
or genres you want me to gush over, comment them below, because I'm a people pleaser,
and I'll probably do it. A huge thank you to Skillshare for sponsoring this video. Their
support makes it so much easier for me to release regular content, to hold giveaways, and to pay
my bills and not die. If you wanna check out my class on Skillshare or any of their other classes.
Now is the perfect time to do it because right now Skillshare is offering two months of Skillshare
premium for free to the first 500 people who click the activation link below. I don't know about you,
but if it's free, it's for me. I’m all about saving money, so do yourself a solid and click
the link. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new videos on Wednesdays. And
if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload, you gotta ring that bell down below. And I have
it on good authority that you should totally do that, because I may or may not be releasing bonus
content very soon. Keep an eye out. The Savior's Champion is available in ebook and hardback,
as well as signed hardback. I've got all the links listed below. Get on it, pick up a copy
and read Tobias’ glorious adventure. And be sure to follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram,
Tumblr, Facebook. And of course you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Jenna giggles) (Cliff) Okay.