Is Sci Fi an american thing

[Niale]

Everytime i have talked with an american, they always seem to be interested in Sci Fi. Someone reads Sci Fi, someone watches Sci Fi, and somebody plays Sci Fi game. But then again i did like Mass Effect.

But they also have a show called "Star Trek", which i think is geeky, i have never watched it, but its quite popular.
Just curious, i am more interested in nature and stuff like that though, i guess i like flesh and trees more than space :P

[Denmark]

No. Pretty sure this show isn't American.

[Pike]

Historically Science Fiction is anything but American:

One of the earliest and most commonly-cited texts for those looking for early precursors to science fiction is the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, the first known work of recorded literature, with the earliest text versions identified as being from about 2000 BCE.

Ancient Indian poetry such as the Hindu epic Ramayana (5th to 4th century BCE) includes Vimana flying machines able to travel into space or under water, and destroy entire cities using advanced weapons.

Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes' has several works that include elements often associated with the "fantastic voyage", including air travel to another world. Examples include his The Clouds (423 BCE), The Birds (414 BCE) and The Peace.

One frequently cited text is the Syrian-Greek writer Lucian's 2nd-century satire True History, which uses a voyage to outer space and conversations with alien life forms to comment on the use of exaggeration within travel literature and debates. Typical science fiction themes and topoi in True History include: travel to outer space, encounter with alien life-forms (including the experience of a first encounter event), interplanetary warfare and planetary imperialism, motif of giganticism, creatures as products of human technology, worlds working by a set of alternate physical laws, and an explicit desire of the protagonist for exploration and adventure.

From the Enlightenment through most of the 19th century it was a largely European thing. (See: Verne, Wells, Shelley.)

If modern sci-fi is an "American thing" it is probably because most mass entertainment is an "American thing" by virtue of Hollywood and major American game studios.

Overall I think you will find that it is simply a "geek thing", as there are a great many non-Americans on this forum, for example, who love sci-fi. But ultimately it belongs to anyone who has ever looked up at the stars on a clear night and wondered what's out there.

[Jiro]

I am holding a copy of Hyper magazine's Science Fiction in video games special edition. So uh. No. Not just Australian.

PS I'm in this one too. Thrice.

[The Man]

No. Pretty sure this show isn't American.

This was going to be my response too. Pike said it better though.

[Shlup]

If by "American" you mean "awesome." I know a lot of people use the word interchangeably, so you're forgiven.

[Citizen Bleys]

But they also have a show called "Star Trek", which i think is geeky, i have never watched it, but its quite popular.

Where the flipping flip do you live, Narnia?

[Elskidor]

I like Star Wars and a few other gems stand out too, but by far and wide I prefer Fantasy. I never understood the Sci Fi obsession. I thought it was an American thing to because looking at most tv shows and movies in a Sci Fi/Fantasy comparison there is many many more Sci Fi adaptions, and I for the most part I wouldn't touch 80% of them, but then again only few fantasy shows and movies have been done well enough to be considered good either.

[Parker]

It's because every American you've talked to has been through nerdy forums like this one hope this helps