--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science fiction films are not about…" description: "\"Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/susan-sontag-332_art_science-fiction-films-are-not-about-scie_2098479.jpg" --- # Science fiction films are not about science. They are… ![“Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/susan-sontag-332_art_science-fiction-films-are-not-about-scie_2098479.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/susan-sontag-332_art_science-fiction-films-are-not-about-scie_2098479.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0d/susan-sontag-332_art_science-fiction-films-are-not-about-scie_2098479.jpg) > “Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She argues that sci‑fi movies focus on catastrophic themes, using disaster as a timeless artistic subject rather than scientific speculation. **In simple terms:** Sci‑fi movies are about disaster, not science. Key Takeaway Recognize disaster as a core artistic theme. Themes film science fiction disaster art history Mood analytical critical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - movie criticism - screenwriting - media studies Key Concepts cultural critique genre analysis Questions to Reflect On - Why do audiences gravitate to disaster narratives? - How does disaster reflect societal anxieties? A Different Perspective Science can still be a subtext, but often overlooked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Films](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/films/) [Sci fi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sci-fi/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [Racists have often used pseudoscience to justify their socially damaging views; watch these films to see how science, by replacing ignorance with knowledge, can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-d-watson/racists-have-often-used-pseudoscience-to-justify-their-socially/) [James D. Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-d-watson/) > [“I don’t think there’s any border between science and art. All the fiction films I have made were always on the same subject,—a discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rouch/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-border-between-science-and-art-all-the/) Jean Rouch > [ The films that I loved growing up were the science fiction films from the late seventies and early eighties \[films\], which were more about… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/the-films-that-i-loved-growing-up-were-the-science-fiction-films-from/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [I love making fiction films as well as nonfiction ones, and hope to keep challenging myself to make better and better work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-walker/i-love-making-fiction-films-as-well-as-nonfiction-ones-and-hope-to/) [Lucy Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-walker/) > [Hopefully, great science fiction films help you think about issues that relate to yourself, whether it's: What's my purpose? Why am I here? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-kosinski/hopefully-great-science-fiction-films-help-you-think-about-issues/) [Joseph Kosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-kosinski/) > [I made up my mind that I will do fiction in films and non-fiction in TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javed-jaffrey/i-made-up-my-mind-that-i-will-do-fiction-in-films-and-non-fiction-in/) [Javed Jaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javed-jaffrey/) > [ I think we tried to make a film \[Moon\] that was about human beings as opposed to going from one special effects set piece… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/i-think-we-tried-to-make-a-film-moon-that-was-about-human-beings-as/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [I watch mainly fiction. The films I like watching are films where you see people change, like with Boyhood. You see a moment in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-longinotto/i-watch-mainly-fiction-the-films-i-like-watching-are-films-where-you/) [Kim Longinotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-longinotto/) > [You know, a lot of my favorite moments in old, you know, fiction films or documentaries are the parts that capture things that change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wilson/you-know-a-lot-of-my-favorite-moments-in-old-you-know-fiction-films/) [John Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wilson/) > [In science-fiction films the monster should always be bigger than the leading lady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-corman/in-science-fiction-films-the-monster-should-always-be-bigger-than-the/) [Roger Corman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-corman/) > [I did documentaries for maybe 10 years before I turned to fiction films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-salles/i-did-documentaries-for-maybe-10-years-before-i-turned-to-fiction/) [Walter Salles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-salles/) > [My biggest difference with our film and those kinds of science fiction films is that they are going from one special effect set piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/my-biggest-difference-with-our-film-and-those-kinds-of-science/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [I love films. I love fiction films, too. I do. I love making them, but it has to be the right one. Hopefully, I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/i-love-films-i-love-fiction-films-too-i-do-i-love-making-them-but-it/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [My non-fiction films are pretty much fiction, or at least close... It's all "movies" for me. I never have searched for a subject. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/my-non-fiction-films-are-pretty-much-fiction-or-at-least-close-it-s/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) > [I've always been a fan of science fiction films, and I've never been able to put my particular spin on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-reitman/i-ve-always-been-a-fan-of-science-fiction-films-and-i-ve-never-been/) [Ivan Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-reitman/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? 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The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. 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