I guess I've just come to assume that contemporary science fiction and fantasy is written predominantly by angry atheists. Read enough George R.R. Martin's works and you'll come to wonder if a Catholic priest ran over his pet dog when he was a kid or something. When people call Martin "the modern Tolkien," I want to wretch; Tolkien's faith featured heavily (though not, in my opinion, heavy-handedly) in his work whereas Martin's bald nihilism in A Song of Ice and Fire leads me to recommend Christians avoid the series entirely.
The author's world view will find its way into the story and Firefly was no exception. I had just hoped (based on early episodes) that it wouldn't be nearly so antagonistic toward Christianity as later episodes revealed. In fact, early on, I thought it was cool that there was finally a sci-fi story where Christianity had survived in the future and was still being preached among new colonies on new planets. I also thought the shepherd character was actually interesting before he started prattling on about "believing in something" rather than specifics.
I'm encouraged whenever I remember that (in my opinion and, I imagine, many others') two of the greatest fantasy series of the twentieth century (The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia) were written by Christian authors whose faith permeated their stories.
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But back to Facebook buying Oculus: I admit that I, and I suspect many other tech enthusiasts, really wanted to get excited about something that seemed daring, pioneering, and aimed at making our childhood dreams a reality. So while our heads were in the clouds, dreaming about a wonderful VR future, someone came along and kicked us in the head and back down to reality: Ideals don't cut it. Dreams don't pay bills. Corporations exist to make a profit. Harsh facts govern business practices.
I guess I just wanted to dream a little longer--maybe long enough to try an Oculus Rift headset for myself. (I'd even toyed with the idea of buying the latest version of the headset with gift money I'd saved up.) Now? I find I don't really care any more. The future of VR just doesn't seem amazing any more. I won't say VR is dead. In fact, its prospects may be better than ever. It's just not exciting with Facebook in control (and have no illusions on that point; Facebook bought Oculus, so Facebook is in control).
I can't help but think of that scene in The Incredibles when Mr. Incredible turns to the kid in the driveway and asks, "What are you waiting for?" And the kid answers, "I don't know. Something amazing, I guess?" And instead of something amazing, we get Facebook.
If John Carmack is still excited, then hey, I'm happy for him. But I find that I just don't care at this point. I'd love to be wrong. I'd love to get excited again. And I guess time will tell how it all plays out.
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