Sci-Fi Shenanigans

Time's up! The show shall begin.

Since I found out there will be no new episodes of Heroes this month, I've decided to pick a day and have a Flash Forward marathon. The premise of the show is intriguing and makes me contemplate how I keep coming back to movies/shows that deal with time and temporal disturbances.

I guess the first question is why I'm so fascinated with time. I haven't really considered it, other than that messing with time is equivalent to playing God. While I don't believe in God, I do think that moving through time is a big deal that should not be taken lightly. In eighth grade English, one of our journal assignments was to write about what we would do if we could go back in time. I said I probably wouldn't change anything. I understood even then that time travelling was a risky venture. So maybe that's why it appeals to me, at least on one level. It's power, the kind of absolute power that corrupts absolutely.

The other way it appeals to me is from a writing perspective. Time travel (voluntary or otherwise) allows for not only suspenseful plot twists but a chance to really develop characters. Why's that? Well, time travel creates a psychological sense of isolation, and you know me. I'm a fan of juxtaposition (in this case possibly being surrounded by people but not being able to mentally connect with them due to being from the mindset of a different time). This isolation alone provides fodder for excellent man vs. self conflicts. Of course, the other conflict types are fair game as well, and man vs. man conflicts between individuals from two different times allows for great contrast as well. I think this is why time is such a prevalent concept in science fiction. This ability to really flesh people out and being able to present myriad mentalities simultaneously makes time endure and immune to being trendy (unlike vampires) or appearing dated (like nuclear holocausts).

Another thing to consider when dealing with time deals not with the past but the future. How does knowing the future affect your present and the decisions you make? Now this question has been around much longer than science fiction (Oedipus, anyone?), but it's just as much fun to contemplate in writing. Without having seen it, I figure Flash Forward centers around this question. The new Trek movie also plays around with it, mostly from how Spock Prime thinks, acts and feels in that brave new universe. In his case, he has experienced a future and thus gives Kirk a cheat sheet for getting the hell off Delta Vega and commandering the Enterprise. I think this particular aspect of time will be more explored in the media in this century due to an increasing psychologcal interest in wanting to have greater control over everyday affairs (at the very least).

My first exposure to time in entertainment was Quantum Leap, which I watched with my parents as a kid. Of course, I wanted to be Al and not Sam Beckett. Go figure. From there, I tended to gravitate toward stories that dealt with temporal themes (e.g. Twelve Monkeys, The Butterfly Effect). This could partially explain my preference for Star Trek, as temporal disturbances were occasionally explored on the various shows. It's fun to watch the writers play god and see how the various others involved (actors, directors, art crew) interpret "God"'s word.