I think the deeper point is that sci-fi is often just X in space. So pirates or cowboys or Vietnam or cold war or colonialism or communism or murder-mystery in space.

We already have stories and/or history that fit that model, and you can reference back to those to understand what's going on.

But that inevitably leads to absurdity at the edges of the metaphor. And those clichéd bits of absurdity become the standard tropes that you can either go along with and celebrate and/or rebel against.

Personally once I get into a genre, I then gravitate to the examples that play with or subvert the form. Doesn't make them better or worse, but since I've already read a lot of the other stuff I'm ready for that next step to keep things interesting.