I just had to take a moment to mourn the loss of Drive before it even had a chance to get started.
I admit I only started watching it because it stars Captain Mal, but I am now hooked, which is of course Fox’s cue to cancel it. Stupid Fox. Why don’t they want me to see Nathan Fillion on TV? You can catch the episodes on Myspace for now – commercial free even.
Real post coming soon! I have 8 zillion (or thereabouts) things I want to write about.
I even plan to write a real post soon. I’ve had a pressing deadline at work, my roommate has been causing all sorts of drama, and my family has been taking up a bit of my time as well, but I will be back before you know it!
Why is it that I’m pretty the only one I know who watches Doctor Who? Show Me Scifi makes the point that the BBC would be smart to partner with the SciFi channel (or I think perhaps BBC America would also be a good choice?) and offer the episodes as they are available, rather than making American viewers wait six months or more before they can see them. If I actually watched live TV this idea would make me very very happy, but the wonders of broadband and file sharing have made my days of watching commercials and only seeing what’s available through my local cable company a distant memory.
Right now Doctor Who is regularly killing the competition in the UK ratings (the third season premier netted 8.2 million viewers) – I think partially because it is well promoted by the BBC and is offered on a major channel. Many US television watchers seem to be wary of science fiction/fantasy shows – I think they are afraid that the gimmicks and fantasy elements will detract from the quality of the storylines, or that enjoying watching a show about aliens, time travel or magic makes you some sort of social freak. My very best friend almost cannot be convinced to try watching or reading things that smack of science fiction. There are a few shows, such as the X-Files and currently Heroes that seem to have the ability to cross that mental boundary for a lot of people, but I think that is partially because of the way in which they are promoted, and partially because in those shows, like any good television, it is the relationships between the characters and their personal development that make the stories work. Battlestar Galactica is the best current example of a show that exemplifies good writing, character, and plot development. However, since it is named for a space ship and is, in fact, about people flying through space fighting robots, many people are not willing to even give it a chance – though those who do invariably end up loving it.
I think an automatic bias against science fiction shows either a fear of the unknown or a lack of imagination (sorry best friend). There are a million beautiful stories to be told about the human race as it is today, our faults and foibles, strengths and weaknesses, passions and heartbreaks. Many of them have been told, many are being retold in amazing ways. The best science fiction and fantasy tells a beautiful story about people just like any fiction, but it also adds new environments for them to interact with, and new types of situations that will push them along in the aforementioned character development. The human race has recognized this for thousands of years – how else did we get myths such as King Arthur and the stories of the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses? The elements of those stories illustrate a culture’s values, fears, definitions of beauty, and hopes for the future, and all of them share a wonder and fascination for the unknown. What if there really was a lady in the lake waiting to give the most worthy a magic sword? What if there really were supernatural beings playing out their little soap operas in the sky? What would that mean for you and me?
The art of storytelling has always been (at least in part) about taking something we know and talking about it in a knew way – to entertain, to enlighten, to provide an escape from the mundaneness of everyday existence. It has the power to allow us to step into someone else’s shoes, at least for a while – which is pretty freaking awesome if you ask me. This power was the catalyst for my love of books as a small child, and I have never lost my joy in it. It gave me much needed mental relief during some difficult times in my life, and has provided me years of entertainment. I do tend to be a enjoy-it-on the surface type of reader, who plows through a book at lightning speed and then moves on to the next one, so it is a welcome surprise when I come across a story that I can’t rush through, that forces me to meditate on the themes presented, to allow connections to be made that aren’t immediately apparent. It is at these times that I understand why people become English majors, and envy them to some degree. I love working with technology, I love creating something that will be useful or beautiful to someone and then seeing it take on a life of it’s own – people have an amazing ability to take a tool and re-purpose it in surprising ways – and I think I would enjoy taking those loves and abilities and applying them to a more traditional art form.
Perhaps the part of me that loves to explore new things and create new technology is the part that fosters my love for science fiction/fantasy as well. The human race is accomplishing amazing new things every single day, things that would not have been imaginable a thousand or even a hundred years ago. My job would not have existed – in fact I probably would not have even been able to get a job that wasn’t outside the scope of traditional women’s work. These things have been accomplished because there are always people looking ahead for the next scientific breakthrough, the faster car, the smaller computer chip. We want to know how far we can go, and we aren’t going to stop expanding, learning, developing. Science fiction speaks to that part of us – suppose we do make it out of our solar system, what then? What if there really is life out there? How we will react if they are like us? How will we react if they are not? If we solve the human race’s money problems and there is suddenly enough food for all, what then? Can these stories provide insight into how we can even get to that point?
One thing that history has certainly taught us is that the future is almost never what you think it will be, so perhaps all of our projections and speculations are moot. We are not likely to create a robot race that will annihilate our species, and there are probably not thousands of alien life forms out there that look exactly like us save a set of pointy ears or nose ridges. What truly awaits us probably has not even been imagined, and we will have to improvise when we get there. But stories today of how we will improvise tomorrow give us all the chance to put ourselves in the shoes of our future selves, to mentally practice what we will do when tomorrow becomes today.
Doctor Who certainly falls into the fantasy genre rather than science fiction, but it is escapism at its best. Who wouldn’t love to be carried away into space and time by a singularly charming alien with a British accent, having amazing adventures and saving the world umpteen times?
Plus, David Tennant is very tasty.
Finally, finally finally! Doctor Who, my beloved British show that I can only keep up to date with via bittorent has premiered its 3rd series (season). This latest revival of the Doctor Who series has been well written, sexy, fun, colorful, and surprising, and I’ve fallen in love. It helps to balance out the dreary darkness of my other favorite scifi show – Battlestar Galactica.
In honor of series 3 I have collected a few youtube clips for your viewing pleasure.
The first Doctor in this incarnation of the show was played by Christopher Eccleston, and I adored the character as played by him, and honestly resented David Tennant a little when he came along. However, his portrayal is completely irresistible, and his chemistry with Billie Piper’s Rose was undeniable.
This Billie Piper and David Tennant cheesy fan vid is set to a Pink song, and it totally made me cry(or feel teary at the very least). I suppose it’s a good thing I’m anonymous so I can’t be made fun of in person…
I loved Billie and David so much on the show that I was totally prepared to hate the new companion Martha, but of course they had to make her completely like-able. Thank God it wasn’t a repeat of the X-Files/Diana Fowley situation. You know what I’m talking about.
Here is a Season 3 preview. After seeing the first episode I can’t wait for the rest!
And finally, a Comic Relief sketch with David Tennant, Catherine Tate (Donna from the Christmas Special), and plenty of Who jokes.
I have a distinctly tiny amount to report on the subject of my dating life recently. I’ve had a couple of IM conversations with the tall southern boy, and exchanged e-mails with the European, but no real sparks there.
The over achiever and I went out for pizza a couple of weeks ago, but after that I didn’t really hear from him much. And that brings up something that has been niggling my brain. Perhaps one my 10 readers can help to explain it for me, because I have turned it over and over in my mind and I really can’t decide what exactly is going on here. The date with o.a. went well, I thought there was chemistry, there were surprisingly few awkward pauses in the conversation. At the end we both expressed interest in repeating the event… and then a week went by. At this point I had decided that he was just being nice after our date and actually was not interested, which I could deal with. However, twice since then he has contacted me via IM, we’ve had a nice little chat, and then we’ve gone on. No mention made on his part of seeing each other again. Enough time passed between the first and second chats that I assumed again that he had lost interest.
Here is what is confusing me. If he is not interested (which I have to assume since he hasn’t called or asked me out again), why does he keep contacting me via IM? Am I missing something here? I am fine if he wants to just go our separate ways. I understand that. And I would be open to going out again if he is. What I am not open to is continued tiny amounts of contact without mention of another date. It’s not like I knew this guy before, we only know each other in the context of a dating relationship.
What is going on here? What is he thinking? If he’s not interested why does he keep messaging me?
*mutter*
Stuff from my RSS feeds
Recent Comments