When director Alfonso Cuarón was promoting his stunning, apocalyptic "Children of Men" late last year, he said in at least one interview that the movie was not science fiction, but a chase thriller with sociological overtones. Cuarón's position was similar to that of P.D. James, author of the novel on which the film was based. James, an esteemed mystery writer who made her first foray into writing about the future with her novel "The Children of Men," ruffled the feathers of other science-fiction writers by distancing herself from them. "P.D. James won few friends in the [sci-fi] community by whining about how her serious book wasn't science fiction, all the while rewriting an old Brian Aldiss novel, "Greybeard," says British author and film critic Kim Newman.
One interesting note is that no one ever is ashamed of the 'fantasy' label. Cuaron didn't desperately try to avoid Harry Potter being called fantasy. It seems an inferiority complex that is almost unique to the genre...
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http://movies.msn.com/movies/sci-fi?GT1=7701