The new Star Trek series, in particular, have been met with criticism from certain parts for being... 'too political.' Another comment I saw 'once upon an internet' was how it was ramming its woke agenda down our throats...
The inadequacy of their subject knowledge is startling and I am convinced, has nothing to do with science-fiction. SF has always been a platform for politics and social commentary - it lends itself to that task better than most genre's because of the way it allows abstract scenarios to be created that distill the social or political issue down to the base arguments. When it excels, it also takes the next step and challenges them.
So if their argument is nonsense, what's really going on?
While I don't think SF has really changed much in its sociopolitical commentary, 'people' have. People are more politically aware, more conscious, more polarised and have more fervour in their position. Both the left and the right. I think it could be as simple as 'the politics in science fiction is getting noticed more' and inevitably, some people are finding that it doesn't agree with them... and nobody likes being told they are wrong.
Cue plug for my dystopian Science Fiction novel: The Deep System: Boxrunner. Yes - jam packed with social commentary and politics about the devaluation of Human life with population growth, entitlement, social empathy and the importance of a good coffee.
Will some people who read it not like the subtext, the commentaries and the politics? I hope so because a) it means they read it, and b) it means I'm doing my job as a contributor to the genre of Science Fiction.
Thank you for reading. My novel is free to read if you are interested, just DM me.
L.