Although it’s County Fair season in New England I could be persuaded to take a brief vacation in the United Federation of Planets. You know spend some time on the Enterprise, perhaps to meet Kirk, Sulu and the one with the pointy ears. They are a veritable triad representing the values of an enlightened, if not always successful, political experiment.
I chose it because it’s one I watched on TV and in movies more than any other “franchise”. Despite many gaps in our knowledge of how the specifics work ( well it is a series of television shows, movies, books and games). It seems to be a progressive universe interested in enlightened rule, with individual and social development rather than obsolete ideas of race, creed and social caste taking precedence.
I don’t have to be a high paid analyst to choose it over the adjacent Star Wars franchise!
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Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, Data, Mr Spock…I could never keep them straight. Star Wars? Star Trek? Not a clue.
I thought about that prompt for a while and couldn’t come up with anything. Most of the fiction I read or watch has some kind of messy situation that makes for interesting engagement, but I wouldn’t want to live there—even in the fantasy worlds. But I think your post is spot on. Yeah. Star Trek, probably the original, but…
Yes! the original series.
What was the prompt? What franchise would you want to visit in real life? I thought I’d try to play and did a search for Top 20 TV franchises and I had only watched TWO of them. Ha ha ha!! Hilarious. One was A.L.F., which blows my mind because wasn’t it super dumb? I only watched it because that’s what my dad chose. The other is Firefly, another outer space show, which I still think is super funny and smart and engaging, but there was only one season, so I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that world. Never mind, I’ll let you others play.
I’m there with you. I had a life-size cardboard Spock for a while. The first quarter I taught as a TA my students wondered why I left my office hour every day exactly at 4. It was non-negotiable. One of them figured out I was going home to watch Star Trek reruns. He and a couple of students came and got me one day to join a bunch of them in the student union to share a pitcher and watch Star Trek. When the movie came out, I went with my brother. The Star Trek theme came up and we both cried. Silly, I know, but beyond the good, slightly hammy acting and the convincing characters, was the underlying premise. We loved it. Might be time for me to get back on the Enterprise for a little optimism. Anyway, Lou, live long and prosper.
One of my cats was named Vyger and another Klingon.
See? That’s just it. I was largely a positive image of the future, and encouraged people to think of a future in which justice could prevail.
Sometimes I think of the future US episode where people don’t even know how to read the preamble to the Constitution.
It’s probably been banned already for MAGATS.
Probably. Or they think it’s about them. Lots of the Magats around here think they’re pro-Constitution.
My Dad watched the episodes over and over.
Well I’m prejudiced, but I think he had good taste!
Choosing the Federation because of what it represents rather than for the ships is a nice twist on the prompt — an enlightened and not always successful political experiment is a very fair description. Though ‘the one with the pointy ears’ made me laugh. Also, County Fair season in New England sounds like a decent runner-up destination.
We are in the midst of it now. One last weekend, a few 4 H ones this one, two big ones on the weekend of the 9th and two on the 19th. And that’s just in my section of Massachusetts alone.