So what has Science Fiction predicted for us in 2010?In films...
2010: It's the year we make contact! And turn Jupiter into a second sun! Handy for, you know, global warming and stuff.
District 9: Let's all let a cheer for that alien saucer finally leaving. Been a long, hard 18 years.
On tv...
Doctor Who: A double-decker bus disappears and reappears next Easter, but I don't think we'll notice. Our collective facelift next Christmas, however, is gonna be DISTURBING.
Knight Rider 2010: I've been holding out on getting a driver's permit for this very year, when I can just download my consciousness into a sports car. That's what science has been leading up to all this time.
The Simpsons: Lisa gets married. How old is she, currently? Oh, that's gonna be all kinds of wrong.In books...
Stand on Zanzibar (John Brunner): The only book I've read that takes place in 2010 predicts unmanageable over-population, media oversaturation, eugenics laws, rampant drug use and big ass world paranoia. I think we have ourselves a winner! DING! DING! DING!
Okay Siskoid, you gotta help me remember. What is the Doctor Who bus reference? That's not from "Planet of the Dead" is it? Is it classic series and I'm just forgetting?
ReplyDeleteThe Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com
http://firestormfan.com
All the predictions are true for that last one except the eugenics. Both this book and Gene Rodenberry got it wrong.
ReplyDeleteGuess we're just not smart enough nowadays to mess with human genetics.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1945379_1944416_1944420,00.html
Or maybe it's just too complicated. Either way, I'm glad they got this one wrong.
Lisa is 8. The kids don't age, although the parents have (slightly). Why do I suspect that if I do a search, I'm going to find really disturbing Lisa Simpson fanart/fic out there?
ReplyDeleteIs Doctor Who still 1 year ahead of the current year? Didn't they catch up during season 3?
Shag: Yes yes, Planet of the Dead.
ReplyDeleteProf: Well, Eugenics controversies... Stem cell stuff may well count as "eugenics laws". Anyway, we have a whole year to make it happen!
"Is Doctor Who still 1 year ahead of the current year? Didn't they catch up during season 3?"
ReplyDeleteYes they are. Journey's End is said to occur in May-June 2009, and the specials are after this. So Planet of the Dead's Easter has to be 2010, and therefore, the latest special Christmas 2010.
I am disappointed in our lack of Artificial Intelligence.
ReplyDeleteAnd where's my jet pack?!? Sci Fi promised me jet packs by now!
ReplyDelete"I am disappointed in our lack of Artificial Intelligence."
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed in our lack of Actual Intelligence...