Combining Things Doesn't Always Make Them Better

      I like science.  I like fiction.  I do not like science-fiction.  The one exception to this is my obsession with The X-Files.  I adored that show, but I think I was more interested in the characters than the aliens.  I liked the battle between science and not-science.  The paranormal and metaphysical could hold my interest because they were grounded in a reality I was familiar with.
     I've never been big on Sci-fi or fantasy.  Apparently, most people are.  Someone recently recommended a book to me and enthusiastically said "It's like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Narnia combined." 
     "I do not enjoy any of those things."
     "Oh.  Then you might not enjoy this."  Then it became as though I was not in the room as everyone else gushed over how ah-mah-zing it is.   
     I ended up in another conversation about sci-fi last night.  I had to sit silently trying to figure out what anyone was talking about.  Again, I like science, and I like fiction, but I've never cared much for science-fiction.  And that tends to (far) extend into Fantasy as well. 

      There are exceptions.  I've seen a decent number of sci-fi or fantasy films, especially those considered important in the realm of pop-culture.  I've seen The X-files films a few times each.  I've read and watched Jurassic Park.  One of my favorite movies is Donnie Darko, though I would venture into an argument that it's not really science-fiction.  I saw Sunshine, which I actually quite enjoyed- I credit Danny Boyle for that.  I enjoyed The Matrix a lot and watched it several times.  I didn't watch E.T. all the way through until I was much older, but it was fine.  And I did enjoy the most recent Star Trek.
     And as I started listing these films, another facet of my indignity towards science-fiction culture surfaced.  I am expected to like science-fiction because I like science.  People are appalled when I tell them I don't like Star Wars.  But I don't like it.  I'd be very happy if I never had to see it again.  This might have something to do with watching it every damn Christmas for 14 years.  Even so, I'm pretty effing over it. 
     It's a whole lump of geek / nerd culture that actually really bothers me.  Like science?  Then you are a nerd and must therefore like all of these things that are labeled for nerds.  But I do not like all of these things.  I enjoy very few of them, in fact.  Well, that might not be entirely true, but apparently fewer than most.  And admittedly, I'm lumping Fantasy into the Sci-fi category, which may be unfair. 
     My simple point was that combining two things I enjoy does not mean I will enjoy that one thing twice as much.  Similarly to that Full House episode where Michelle is trying to earn her cooking badge and she makes chocolate pudding with cheese in it.  It was gross.  Michelle was a moron.  Combining things doesn't always make them better.