There is a difference. The "Force" in "Star Wars" (BTW, I don't like this franchise either) is, effectively, magic. And with magic I can forgive anything. You can use magic left and right without any rules. But if you establish some rules, then stick to them and don't violate them without at least a "timey-wimey" explanation. If the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood, then that's it. It doesn't. Later they explained that it could, in theory, work on wood, but that would require centuries of calculations.
So, I have no problem with "aliens" doing whatever they want. But humans carry the illusion too close to the real world. It makes the rules for them be, by default, the same as physics laws.
That's what good sci-fi movies do. For example, the Doctor creates a lot of complicated mechanisms that work like magic gadgets — including his timey-wimey detector which goes ding when there is stuff. But you don't see Amy Pond doing the same thing. Amy is restricted to the usual physics. She can only go beyond it when she is helped by the Doctor or some of his machines (including TARDIS, of course).
A lot of sci-fi movies and novels give their characters some magical thingy — like a faster-than-light spaceship, for example — but again, the rest is limited to regular physics. That's the same thing, with inanimate object instead of some alien.
Diversions from the physics are OK, if they are justified by the plot. But the plot is the main issue here. It's too weak. So, yes, inconsistencies with physics stick out.
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Date: 2014-11-16 05:29 pm (UTC)There is a difference. The "Force" in "Star Wars" (BTW, I don't like this franchise either) is, effectively, magic. And with magic I can forgive anything. You can use magic left and right without any rules. But if you establish some rules, then stick to them and don't violate them without at least a "timey-wimey" explanation. If the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood, then that's it. It doesn't. Later they explained that it could, in theory, work on wood, but that would require centuries of calculations.
So, I have no problem with "aliens" doing whatever they want. But humans carry the illusion too close to the real world. It makes the rules for them be, by default, the same as physics laws.
That's what good sci-fi movies do. For example, the Doctor creates a lot of complicated mechanisms that work like magic gadgets — including his timey-wimey detector which goes ding when there is stuff. But you don't see Amy Pond doing the same thing. Amy is restricted to the usual physics. She can only go beyond it when she is helped by the Doctor or some of his machines (including TARDIS, of course).
A lot of sci-fi movies and novels give their characters some magical thingy — like a faster-than-light spaceship, for example — but again, the rest is limited to regular physics. That's the same thing, with inanimate object instead of some alien.
Diversions from the physics are OK, if they are justified by the plot. But the plot is the main issue here. It's too weak. So, yes, inconsistencies with physics stick out.