I’d be interested in peoples thoughts on why Sci-Fi movies as a genre seem to attract the kind of ‘microscopic’ forensic analysis that other genres don’t.

As the link to the ESB letters page shows, and having lived the period myself, it has always been there. This desire to nitpick, and to pull at all the threads and cleverly say “Ha, I knew it, this is the one that causes it all to unravel!”.

Is it because sci-fi and fantasy fans are more intelligent and able to deconstruct films better than most?

Is it because they become more invested in the ‘universe’ of the movie and so it matters to them more than regular punters?

Is it because they’re socially awkward? That old stereotype, don’t feel assured in the real world and don’t feel assured around girls (we’ve seen that with the reaction to Rey and with the new Dr Who casting).

Is it because of the Prequels - ‘George Lucas raped my childhood’ - did that moment change geek fandom?

There are countless examples in this forum of people trying to pull at the threads and unravel The Last Jedi, and as a fan of the film I am trying not to be judgmental. I have also been on the other side, as I walked out of Attack Of The Clones having hated the photoshop aesthetic and I am sure I vented a bit on social media too.

Anyone have any insight? Why does this happen so purposefully in sci-fi / fantasy but not in other movie genres?