You once made a poor choice which had long lasting and widespread consequences for you and those you love. Let's be honest, most of us have done this multiple times. You have the means to travel back in time to change that decision. Do you?
It's a classic hypothetical question. Time travel, as far as we know, is not possible. It is however the subject of countless films, television shows and novels. It is even a recurring theme in love songs. Recently I watched Back to the Future for the umpteenth time. I've previously written about Time Travelers on Netflix. Today I watched an episode of Dark Matter. Same subject: time travel. Science fiction series always have time travel episodes. It's fascinating and mind blowing stuff, but it's fictional. Purely speculative.
Why is time travel such a rich vein to mine for stories? What makes it such a popular theme?
We all have regrets. At some point in our lives, we've all said those fateful words, 'If only...' Even though we cannot change the past, we still obsess about it. It's very human to think this way, but it isn't very helpful. As the writers of science fiction clearly explain, any change to a single event in the past would automatically impact on many other events. The ripple effect is a slave to the laws of physics. Time is not exempt. We can't selectively change the past, but even if we could, would we really want to?
The answer depends entirely on how you feel about yourself. The fact is the person you are now is primarily the cumulative result of your experiences. You have been shaped by what has happened to you. If you can accept that, you can break the chains and find peace and move forward. If not, you're in big trouble because you can't undo what has been done and the burden of history is far to heavy a load for anyone to carry.
I love Star Trek. I've spent the last number of months (can't remember how many-maybe more than a year) working my way through nine seasons of Voyager and then seven seasons of Deep Space Nine. Now I'm waiting for season two of Discovery which Netflix has been promising for two months. What's a sci fi fan to do in the interim? Find another show to watch.
I accidentally discovered The Orville while watching season five of Vikings on SBS ondemand. I also decided to overlook the terrible film version of Lost in Space and give the rebooted series a go. The Orville is rocks and diamonds for me so far. I'm up to episode seven of season two. There are some very good episodes which deal with universal issues in that special "utopian Roddenberry" manner, but the humour is generally crude. The influence of Star Trek mythology is very obvious, but it doesn't quite hit the mark. Nevertheless, it has its moments like episode six of season two which I watched last night.
Dr Claire Finn (human) develops romantic feelings for Isaac (artificial intelligence life form) so she decides to ask him on a date. To Isaac this presents an opportunity for more research into human behaviour. For Claire, it's an also an experiment albeit one on a much more emotional level. Isaac doesn't know what's epxected of him so he seeks counsel from a male crew mate whom he perceives as being 'good with women'. They go on a date, then a second date which results in a love making session. Issac understands that his research is finished now so he ends the relationship. This hurts Claire and makes all Isaac's crew mates angry with him. Captain Mercer suggests that, in fact, the experiment isn't finished yet because he hasn't experienced the 'make up". So Isaac says sorry in an artificially intelligent romantic way, Claire accepts his apology and the relationship resumes.
His winning words: "My internal programs function more efficiently with you."
It's a really funny and clever episode exploring relationships, which are essentially all about emotion, through a highly unlikely "romance" between a human and an emotionless non-biological life form. Men are lampooned as useless with the emotional side of relationships, while women are at the other extreme; overly sentimental and illogical. Of course, these are grossly exaggerated stereotypes, but there are certain truths within, with which we can all identify.
Love is often said to be the key ingredient in a good relationship, but this is way too simplistic and superficial. Love itself is extremely complex. What constitutes genuine love may be fairly universally acknowledged, but it is not so widely practiced. Issac would probably call love 'a series of inefficient internal programs which adversely affect other programs.'
How would you define love? Can you do it with just three words. I challenge you.
I'm currently reading Debris by Jo Anderton and I am loving it. I don't know whether it is set in the future or on some other world. I presume future but it doesn't matter. Some science fiction fantasy stories are literally and metaphorically off the planet, while others manage to maintain strong links with what is relateable. You'll have to wait for my review, which will be glowing, but one clever thing I noticed Anderton had done in Debris was to change the name for a few everyday things like money and days and weeks. Money, for example, is referred to to as 'kopacks'. This subtle change, I came to realize, had the effect of making the setting for the novel both strange and familiar at the same time. I think that's very clever.
Debris by Jo Anderton
I'm not a comic book fan. I know a number of the various characters and superheroes which exist in the Marvel and DC Comics universes, especially those of course who have made it to the silver screen. However, when looking for a film to go and see last night, I came across Guardians of the Galaxy and thought how stupid it looked. I'm a sci fan but it looked like just another special effects extravaganza with a flimsy plot and cheesey try hard dialogue.
One lesson I have learned is that, although I'm generally a high expectations kind of guy, sometimes low expectations can be a good starting point. We were considering Hercules and Lucy but my son seemed keen on seeing Guardians so I thought I'd take a shot. At best I was hoping for some light entertainment with countless explosions, spaceships and cool looking aliens. I mean if that's all it was then my money would have been well spent.
With my daughter drip feeding me her M & Ms in the stifling heat of the cinema, and my son following instructions to suppress his newly burgeoning cough, the good times rolled, and I laughed and thrilled, and was captivated for almost the full two hour run time. Guardians of the Galaxy was really very funny and clever. It delivered exactly what I expected in terms of content, but so much more in terms of style and wit. A sequel is on its way, and I for one, will be lining up for a ticket to see it.
When have your expectations of a film been exceeded?
You once made a poor choice which had long lasting and widespread consequences for you and those you love. Let's be honest, most of us have done this multiple times. You have the means to travel back in time to change that decision. Do you?
