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TagTime travel in science fiction

time-concept-hi-res-digitally-generated-image-stockpack-adobe-stock
Time concept. Hi-res digitally generated image.
Type
post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
December 3, 2022
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
Tagged
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The Orville, Season 3, Shows Its Authoritarian Side

This time travel episode is distinctly authoritarian in a way I’ve never seen before
Gary Varner
December 3, 2022
10
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Last time, we discussed how The Orville, Season 3, Episode 6, crossed into some truly disturbing territory, not just by showing a terrible event, but in a very subtle and manipulative way, advocating for it. This week, we’re going into the details. To recap, the Union sent the Orville to drop off a time travel device at a lab because they were worried that the Kaylon or Krill might try to use it to wipe out the Union in the distant past, something they consider a horrible crime. We discussed how the writers ignored a gigantic plot hole in order to contrive a tragedy for Gordon, who was sent into the past as a result of this attack. The Orville Read More ›

time-concept-hi-res-digitally-generated-image-stockpack-adobe-stock
Time concept. Hi-res digitally generated image.
Type
post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
November 26, 2022
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
Tagged
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The Orville: The Moral Conundrums of Time Travel, Part 1

What if killing a person’s past wipes out a whole family?
Gary Varner
November 26, 2022
6
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

The last two episodes I’ve discussed of Orville, Season 3, have delved into popular political issues that allowed the writers’ bias to damage the plot. This episode, Part 6, does something worse. It may not seem like a big deal, at first. But let me explain why this episode is terrible from a standpoint that goes beyond the writing. Yes, the writing is bad but that’s par for the course with this show. However, it’s one thing to prattle on about political issues that are in vogue. But it’s another matter entirely to murder a family, and defend the decision, and in so doing, try to establish a set of priorities that are, to say the least, unwholesome. Writers describe Read More ›

the-butterfly-effect-big-blue-butterfly-appearing-to-create-ripples-in-pink-green-water-surface-with-plenty-of-copy-space-below-stockpack-adobe-stock
The Butterfly Effect - Big Blue Butterfly appearing to create ripples in pink green water surface with plenty of copy space below
Type
post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
September 10, 2022
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
Tagged
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Science Fiction: Time Travel Can Work — If Clear Rules Are Chosen

I despise the Butterfly Effect in time travel stories because there is simply no way to establish what is at stake
Gary Varner
September 10, 2022
9
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Time travel is such a familiar story element (trope) in science fiction that it has a name, the Time Travel Trope. It annoys me — though much less than others — is the Time Travel trope. These story elements can drive classics such as The Terminator (1984) and utter garbage like A Sound of Thunder. (2005). Establishing the rules for time travel The main reason is that there are many different types of Time Travel stories as well as a variety of rules to go with them. The rules depend on which approach to time travel the writer chooses to take. The writer can chooses to go with the idea that the present and future are fixed, and regardless of Read More ›