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Weird Science: Difference between revisions
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[[Weird Science]] is the name for the style of storytelling made famous by the [[Science Fiction]] "pulp" (named after the poor quality paper on which they got printed) magazines of the 1930s and '40s. By the '50s, sales fell off, probably because of the advent of television. A few of these magazines had covers far trashier than the contents, others reveled in cheese with the writers entertaining no delusions that they created great art.
''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later ''[[
The stories featured exotic worlds and gee-whiz gadgetry, [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|buxom space babes]], [[Good Old Fisticuffs|two-fisted heroes]] and, most important, [[Department of Redundancy Department|plenty of gee-whiz gadgetry]]; it is this last that can be called [[Weird Science]]. Many of the most notable names in science fiction and fantasy got their start writing in these magazines, and, as the century progressed, the standards both for storytelling and scientific plausibility increased, although an exciting story was always more important than a realistic one.
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Their influence is still widely felt: any [[Science Fiction]] that involves derring-do with robots, rocketships and rayguns and doesn't worry about technical realism can be said to use [[Weird Science]], but it is especially likely to be found in [[Planetary Romance]].
Note also that [[Weird Science]] is not the same as [[Hollywood Science]]; the former throws realism to the wind in order to create spectacle whereas the latter comes from not bothering to get things right that could have been. They often have similar effects, but different causes; [[Weird Science]] springs from [[Rule of Cool]], whereas [[Hollywood Science]] grows from [[Did Not Do the Research]]. (The extreme case, most often found in comedy, is [[It Runs
Not to be confused with the [[Weird Science (
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[[Weird Science]] tropes:
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[[Settings]] where [[Weird Science]] is likely to be found:
* [[After the End]] -- ''long'' [[After the End]]
* [[A Long Time Ago in
* [[The Final Frontier]]
{{examples}}
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== [[Film]] ==
* The ''[[Flash Gordon Serial
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' famously draws from a tremendous range of influences, many not even from [[Speculative Fiction]], but all held together by a distinct [[Weird Science]] sensibility.
* ''[[Mom and Dad Save The World]]'' somewhat parodies [[Weird Science]], but in an affectionate way.
* ''[[Stargate (
* ''[[The Core]]'': the idea of taking a giant drill vehicle into the depths of the planet is pure [[Weird Science]]; unfortunately, ''everything'' else in the entire movie is particularly bad [[Hollywood Science]].
* The ''[[Godzilla]]'' films (and the entire [[Tokusatsu]] genre, for that matter) tend to be full of this. In ''[[Godzilla]] versus Megaguirus'', the humans have developed a hilarious new weapon to deal with Godzilla: The "Dimension Tide" is a gun that will generate a small ''black hole'' and launch it at Godzilla. The hole will suck up Godzilla, sending him into a parallel dimension, and then vanish. (In the real world, in addition to being monstrously heavy and difficult to create, black holes are also fucking dangerous. Possibly more so than a giant lizard loose in your city. And they don't just vanish into thin air... [[wikipedia:Black hole#Evaporation|at least not peacefully]].) At one point, Godzilla tries to defend himself against the Dimension Tide by ''[[Beam-O-War|shooting the hole]]'' with his energy beam breath. {{spoiler|Given the tone of the film, this editor half expected it to work.}}
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* [[Tarzan]] sometimes encoutered lost civilizations that used this.
** [[John Carter of Mars|Barsoom used this to the max.]]
* The ''[[Lensman]]'' stories, originally published in ''[[Amazing Stories (
* Empire City in A. Lee Martinez' ''[[The Automatic]] Detective'' runs on this.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'', in its "classic" phase, had an ambivalent relationship to it as well, usually reveling in it, though at various times [[Creative Differences]] and [[Genre Shift|Genre Shifts]] would affect how much the creators acknowledged it. The new series (and its spinoffs) under [[Russell T. Davies]] embrace it.
* ''[[
* ''[[Lost in Space]]'' of course, especially in the bizarre alien gadgets and the [[Monster of the Week]].
* The "Captain Proton" adventures on ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' were an unabashed celebration of [[Weird Science]] (somehow fitting for the ''[[Star Trek]]'' that tended to veer away the most from scientific plausibility).
* Homaged in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Far Beyond The Stars" where Captain Sisko falls into a coma and dreams that he's a science fiction writer for the 1950s [[Pulp Magazine]] "Incredible Tales".
* [[Power Rangers]] occasionally falls into this in its technology-based seasons.
* While the movie was this to a lesser extent, the TV show Weird Science was this trope.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Portal (
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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* Gnomes in many [[Dungeons and Dragons]] settings, including [[Dragonlance]] and [[Spelljammer]].
* ''[[Deadlands]]'' has [[Weird Science]] as one of the sets of player skills. This being an explicitly Faustian setting, the knowledge to make the gadgets comes from less than heavenly sources, and every new gadget you invent makes you a little more insane.
* ''[[
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[All Over the House]]'' veers into this trope almost every time Emily builds a new invention.
* ''[[
* The simulated "Spacemonauts" segments of ''[[
* ''[[
* Just about anything Frederick and Doctor Franky create in ''[[The Life of Nob T. Mouse]]'' fits this trope well.
* ''[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' is pretty weird with its science... well, more silly than weird, but still.
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