tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post6130427260737946047..comments2024-03-05T13:51:24.898-07:00Comments on Spacefreighters Lounge : ISN'T IT ROMANTIC? WHY SOME OF OUR GREATEST LOVE STORIES AREN'T ROMANCESUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-13873474520168368422012-08-28T00:43:25.382-06:002012-08-28T00:43:25.382-06:00A Knight's Tale and Megamind are probably two ...A Knight's Tale and Megamind are probably two of my favourite romances (yes, I know Megamind is more of a kids film, but it IS romantic in the traditional sense, even if it doesn't look like it at the start).Pippa Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15146591827060731958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-8200803122505946332012-08-25T18:04:24.511-06:002012-08-25T18:04:24.511-06:00No argument on Avatar. I've been holding it u...No argument on Avatar. I've been holding it up as my shiny example of what SFR truly is (though I don't write alien SFR, but that's another topic) when people ask what I write.<br /><br />Star Wars I'd classify as Series SF/Romantic Elements. There is a romance though it's not central. There is an arc...conflict, spark, more conflict, black moment (Han encased in Carbonite immediately after somewhat of an admission of love--Han style) and eventually an HEA after the threat to the main characters has been neutralized and any hint of a love triangle with Luke completely extinguished. (Luke...I am your sister.) <br /><br />The romantic arc takes place over the three middle installments (or maybe the three ending installments...which were filmed first...because there will be no ending installments.)<br /><br />The first three installments (which were filmed last) are series SF/romantic tragedy. Again...romantic arc between main characters that ends in utter catastrophe...though with a faint glimmer of hope for the future that's born with Luke and Leia.<br /><br />And just to add to the list of SFRs or SF/REs that aren't considered romances:<br /><br />The Abyss<br />Jurassic Park (until sequel, where it falls to next list)<br />Contact<br />Supernova<br /><br />And a few not-romances-that-could-have-been (aka romantic tragedies):<br /><br />Terminator<br />Close Encounters<br />The Time Traveler's Wife<br />Aliens <br /><br />TV SF series by their very nature usually doom the romance (i.e. Firefly) but the sadly unfinished *sob!* Defying Gravity series at least had an HEA pseudo-wrap to a long and tortured storyline between astronauts Maddux "Tragic American Hero" Donner and Zoe Barnes which culminated in an appropriately titled episode called The Kiss.<br />L. A. Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01198035351359321392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-29901489342633090092012-08-25T08:17:35.375-06:002012-08-25T08:17:35.375-06:00Avatar definitely qualifies as a romance--one of t...Avatar definitely qualifies as a romance--one of those stories where the science fiction (external)plot and the romance plot are equal. Hero/heroine/romantic arc/HEA are all there, though we see things from the hero's POV. It wasn't marketed as SFR because that would have had male SF fans running screaming from the theater. However, it succeeded precisely BECAUSE it appealed to both men and women with both SF and ROMANCE.Donna S. Frelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16431686010313020234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-19782270948211208852012-08-25T08:00:06.555-06:002012-08-25T08:00:06.555-06:00Avatar wasn't marketed as a romance here, eith...Avatar wasn't marketed as a romance here, either. It was marketed as "look what we can do with our shiny new toys, and btw, see blue pocahontas save her people and defeat the evil techno humans."<br /><br />Star Wars (the Han/Leia arc, not the three abominations) is not a romance, although it has a romantic subplot. It took me years of struggling with it, but I finally realized I don't write romance. I write romantic subplots and romantic elements, but my stories are not romances. There is a very subtle but recognizable stylistic difference in romance writing versus other fiction. I'm still looking for words to describe it.Jaleta Clegghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05442641418941475763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7808733415551134993.post-44480155580311317862012-08-25T06:55:25.641-06:002012-08-25T06:55:25.641-06:00I think on that basis, Star Wars isn't a roman...I think on that basis, Star Wars isn't a romance. The Empire Strikes Back isn't either, since Leia and Han don't get the HEA. I'm not sure even ROTJ qualifies although that's probably the closest of the three. On those rules, Avatar is definitely a romance, although it wasn't marketed as that here in the UK.Pippa Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15146591827060731958noreply@blogger.com