My Science Fiction Hierarchy

I believe I've been pretty clear that I'm quite the geek. I love science fiction and fantasy. But my friends often confuse what aspects of science fiction and fantasy I love the most. This is especially true when it comes to science fiction. I have had a number of friends come up to me and say, "Such and such said such and such about Star Trek, but I don't think that's right and you're such a Trekkie..."

At which point I interrupt them and say, "What? I'm a Trekkie?"

They sort of pause and stare at me sideways, and then say, "Aren't you? Don't you love Star Trek?"

Me: "I like Star Trek but love might be too strong of a word. I definitely prefer Star Wars more." At this point my friends' heads usually explode in surprise. For some reason, being a geek seems to automatically translate to Trekkie in most people's minds. And I do like Star Trek. Star Trek has played a huge role in my life. But to be honest, Star Trek doesn't even make it into my top three favorite science fiction things.

So what is the order in which I love Science Fiction? I'm glad you asked! Here is my top five.

1. Star Wars - Star Wars will always hold a number one place in my heart. When I was young, my family only owned Episode IV, and it was a version we taped off the TV. Whenever we watched it, it was a huge deal. We would have to go down to Blockbuster and rent the other two. It would be an all day affair, involving popcorn and ice cream. I loved it. Then when I was in the 5th grade, my uncle loaned me the Thrawn Trilogy. It was like a whole world opened up to me. While most girls my age spent the next three years obsessing over boy bands, I spent them obsessing over Luke, Han, and most importantly Wedge Antilles. I love Star Wars. I always will. Not even the new movies could destroy that.
2. Terminator - Most people see this as a curve ball in my list, and especially that its so high on the list. This is because I don't talk about my love of Terminator much with my friends. But ask my family, they know. I can't remember the first time I watched Terminator 1 or 2. Terminator 3 was the first rated R movie I saw in theaters. My entire life I've known the name John Connor, and that he will save the world from robots. My family loves discussing these movies and the time travel paradoxes. I love the ideas. I watched the short lived television show avidly and still lament its end. I wish Terminator had an extended universe like Star Wars. I want to know what happens. I need to know if humanity wins!
3. Stargate - Most people who know me expect this one. When I was little, every time the movie Stargate came on TV, I would drop everything and watch it, glued to the screen. Stargate SG-1 is the one show my little sister and I could enjoy together, the archaeologist and the engineer both enjoying a show. Colonel O'Neill is one of my favorite characters, and I would be lying if I didn't say Stargate SG-1 directly influenced why I work where I do today. I own all 10 seasons and can identify an episode by any ten seconds within the episode. I also enjoyed Stargate Atlantis. But don't get me started on Stargate Universe. It was an abomination.
4. Planet of the Apes - People don't usually expect this one either, but once again my family knows. My brother has purchased me five gifts in my entire life, and the best one he ever gave me was all five original Planet of the Apes movies on VHS. I own the book in English and the original French. Like Terminator, I enjoy the philosophical questions it brings up, the conundrums and paradoxes. I didn't much like the new movie, but when I saw the new X-Men movie recently, I saw an interesting trailer. As soon as they mentioned a smart monkey named Caesar, I thought to myself "If this isn't a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes then someone is certainly paying obvious homage to it." Turns out it is a remake. And despite the awful new movie, I have high hopes that James Franco will do my number four on the list justice. (EDIT: I've seen it, and it was awesome.)
5. Asimov's Robots/Empire/Foundation Universe - This is a book series, but there is no denying that I love Asimov. Daneel Olivaw is one of my favorite characters of all time, and Asimov is a genius. From short stories to novels to epic histories of the universe, the man was amazing. I reread Caves of Steel yearly. A science fiction murder mystery? Genius!

So that's my top five, which doesn't include Star Trek. Surprise, surprise, but true. So if you're a science fiction fan, what are your favorite shows/books/movies?

Pandora's Box & Doctor Who

WARNING: This blog post contains spoilers of the latest Doctor Who episode. If you've been watching Doctor Who on BBCA - then you have not seen the latest Doctor Who episode. BBCA is a few weeks behind the UK. So you've been forewarned.

The myth of Pandora's Box has never made sense to me. Oh, I get the part where curiosity killed the cat. Pandora is told never to open the box (or rather jar), curiousity gets the better of her, and she opens the box. Classic human mistake. What I don't get is that, according to the myth, every evil thing came out of the box, but Pandora closed it just in time to capture hope inside. This has always left me with a few questions.

1. Why was hope inside the box with all these nasty things? It's not like the box was full of lots of nasty things and lots of good things. No, it was filled with lots of nasty things and hope. That doesn't make any sense.
2. So opening the box released nasty things into the world - I get that. So why close hope in? Doesn't that mean hope has not been released into the world? Doesn't that mean we don't have hope? Hope is still trapped inside of the box! That means we're all hopeless, right?
   

Apparently, I'm not the only ones with the second question - though my high school Latin teacher kind of brushed my questions aside. Research into the matter will see that translators also argue about the same question.

However, it's all been cleared up for me, by the latest episode of Doctor Who. The episode does not take us back in time to meet an actual Pandora with a jar, but centers around a box called the "Pandoricum" which the Doctor believes is a myth. According to the myth, the box contains the greatest evil in the Universe - something that destroyed every planet and race it came across and there was no way to stop it.

Then at the end of the episode it is revealed that the box is empty. All of the Doctor's great foes show up and shove him in the box. The Doctor has been their greatest evil - their greatest foe - and according to the story line of this season, an explosion caused by the TARDIS has created cracks in time and will destroy the universe. By imprisoning the Doctor, they're hoping to prevent that.

What they don't realize is that it is too late. The TARDIS is already exploding. The Doctor is their only hope to stop it, but they put him in the box.

Now, this doesn't completely line up with the myth of Pandora's box - since opening the box didn't release all those evils. However, it does give us a picture of how the evils and hope are like the same person. Hope is put in the box by all the evils of the universe who think the Doctor is the greatest evil in the Universe.

Does this answer all the questions of Pandora's box? No. Does it make complete sense with the myth? No. But I love stuff like this - because it shows that the writers are thinking - which is what makes Doctor Who such a great show. The writers are intelligent. (Wish I could say the same for some of the writers of American television. *sigh*)

It's an episode that left my thinking and left me wanting more. (Is Amy dead? Will robot Rory survive to become real Rory? Will the TARDIS blow up? Who will free the Doctor? My money is on Rory for the last question.)

And this sort of stuff is exactly why I love Doctor Who. It's really a great show. If you don't watch it - you should.

Now I just have to wait a week to see the season finale. Ahhh!