Sci-Fi

For many years I’ve considered myself to be an anti-science fiction type of guy. Then, after some reevaluating of shows, movies and books I own or have enjoyed, I’ve come to the shocking conclusion.
I’m a nerd.
I looked at my book collection and saw Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell among my many other books which consist of politics, the Beat Generation and Hunter S. Thompson.
If that wasn’t enough, looking through what I’ve been currently watching on Netflix was “Star Gate: SG1,” “Highlander” and “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
I also own a Darth Vader helmet and a talking Yoda doll.
As I realized this, my head began to swim. I tried to reassure myself I wasn’t a total nerd in that I hate “Star Trek.” That lasted only a few seconds when I remembered the recent J.J. Abrams reboot of the original show was, in fact, very good.
So I give in. I’m a geek. A geek who enjoys science fiction along with indie music, dark humored comedy and video games.
So here I will list my favorite book, movie and television show.
Book: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
This series of books by the late Douglas Adams is incredible and among my favorite books of all time. It’s called a trilogy, even though there are six books in the series.
It follows the life of Arthur Dent, who awakens one morning to see Earth get demolished for a Hyper Spaceway. He is saved by his eccentric friend, Ford Prefect and the books go on to tell their tales of fumbling around space and time.
The humor is much in the vein of Monty Python in that it is subversive, crude and often insane.
It often pokes fun at the science fiction genre, with a maniacally depressed robot, and an alien who is immortal and bides his time insulting every creature in the galaxy in alphabetical order.
It is this combination of humor, subversive commentary on society and the fact it’s well written why I love it.
Film: Star Wars
Well, I only enjoy the original trilogy, and by “original” I mean before George Lucas decided to CGI up the films with goofy aliens standing around that do not even add much to the story.
Also, the prequels were awful. I can’t believe I sat through those and only got to see Darth Vader for two minutes at the end of the third one. And that was ruined when Vader did the old movie cliche of screaming “NOOOOO!”
But the original trilogy was great. Touching on the complexities of good versus evil, not only in the galaxy, but in people as well.
Plus Yoda was pretty sweet.
So, for the record, I enjoy the original films, not the touched up ones and certainly not the prequels.
TV: Highlander
Ok, so this show is not as sophisticated as the other choices in my sci-fi cannon. But, to my defense, a show about a species of immortal being roaming the earth with the sole purpose being to chop each other’s heads off is pretty cool.
Plus, the soundtrack is by Queen, which ups the cool factor.
The show is a spin-off of a film of the same name. It follows a character who is 400 years old and is a distant associate of the main character from the film.
Sure, it is debatable as to whether this is science fiction or not, but since it was on the Sci-Fi channel, I will just assume it is.
Sure, it’s cheesy and often boring, but like I said before, the premise is pretty awesome.
So those are my current favorites in my geeky forms of entertainment. I’m a dork and proud of it.