The Line between Realism and Boring

[JustineGraykin]

Here's another one I shamelessly stole:
The people who really explore space and fight modern wars have a lot of self control. They don’t slam fists into spacecraft controls like Hulk Hogan. Do you have to forget about them in fiction, or can you make them interesting? And if your protagonist is like that do you just have to accept that critics will complain and press on in hopes of finding an audience that appreciates a little verisimilitude?

This is a panel I'd love to be on.  I'd like to broaden it a bit, taking on the fine line writers walk between making not just characters but situations believable and realistic while still taking the reader beyond the constraints of dull reality.

[ASteele]

I'd like to do this one, too, Justine. Count me in.

[JustineGraykin]

That would be awesome.  Programming, take note!!

[bewareofgeek]

I actually look at it from a slightly different perspective.  There's an awful lot of "grounded" sci-fi/fantasy out there, especially on television, which seems entirely populated by twenty-somethings in dystopian societies that still manage to have sufficient hair products.

(Blue lighting filter optional, but encouraged).

This is Mario, BTW.