My family recently watched The Secret of NIMH, an animated movie based on the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I was surprised and annoyed at how the movie turned science fiction into fantasy. In the book, everything was the result of disciplined neuroscience research. The rats achieved success via intelligence and hard work. In the movie, the only real success came from mysterious powers acquired simply by having a special soul.
Why should this offend me? Why not simply enjoy the movie for what it is?
The book was about an astounding breakthrough in cognitive science: rats going from dumb animals to sentient beings. Most people think there is something ineffable that separates us from animals, and especially from inanimate matter. They think this special something is outside the laws of the natural world. In other words, life and intelligence are magic.
The science fiction approach of the book implies a faith that we can understand how intelligence works, and master the creation of it. The fantasy approach of the movie implies an abandonment of reason. It despairs of ever understanding our own souls.
The switch was a deliberate substitution of one world-view for the opposite. It did extreme violence to the meaning of the book, and I found it deeply offensive.