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by bee_rider 984 days ago
That seems like it must be using sci-fi as a lens for social commentary—an age-old tradition, of course.
2 comments

Narurally. I think it's widely recognized that social commentary is what distinguishes science fiction (which casts a lens on possible futures extrapolated from our present) from fantasy (escapism, mythology, or hedonism).
So Discworld (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld) or Earthsea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthsea) are science fiction for you?
well, the first line of the linked page says these are "comic fantasy" and "high fantasy" respectively, so no (though I think Discworld is arguably sci fi). But I get your point and concede that genre boundaries are not solid but more like intersecting clouds.
Orville is really thinly veiled most of the time.