Science fiction is the literature of
the world we live in, even when it was written decades ago. It shows us the wonders of science, the
potentials of technology, and the potential dangers of misusing both. In “Runaround”(found in I, Robot) and other robot stories, Isaac Asimov gives us “The Three
Laws of Robotics” and—for the first time—a vision of robots as tools and
companions, not monsters. Aldous
Huxley’s Brave New World shows us a
frightening world where, thanks to controlled genetics and an infinite supply
of entertainment, drugs, and other distractions, no one is free, but everyone
is happy—because they are too immature to know any better; a story more
relevant now than ever. A Wrinkle in Time mixes elements of
science and fantasy to take its readers on a journey that explores both the
cosmos without and the universe within.
The novels of Andy Weir take us first to Mars in the early day of its
exploration (The Martian), then to
the first human city on the Moon (Artemis),
emphasizing along the way both the technical and the human elements in his
stories.
Science fiction gave us the
mythological worlds of Star Wars, Star
Trek, and Dune. It helps us see our own world better, or just
helps us get away.
Today, Isaac Asimov’s birthday, is
unofficial science fiction day for many.
And so it is appropriate that I had a notable science fiction experience
just yesterday. I was watching the
fourth season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,
a series involving characters time-traveling to various periods in history. This show is always good for an allusion or
two to the roots of science fiction, like the time Ray Palmer had been in an
accident and Gideon, the ship’s AI, estimated his odds of survival as 3720 to 1
(if you don’t get the joke, watch The
Empire Strikes Back again); or the time they encounter a very young Herbert
George Wells. Perhaps my favorite of
these little allusive gems was the fact that their captain for the first three
seasons, Captain Rip Hunter, was played by Arthur Darvill, who had previously
played another time traveler, on Doctor
Who, where he was the male half of my favorite pair of companions to the
Doctor, the Ponds. Yes, we all loved Amy
Pond (codename: the Legs) and her husband Rory Williams (codename: the Nose),
although I much preferred it when the Doctor called him “Rory the Roman” or—best
of all—Roricus Pondicus (see, it’s in
italics because, it’s Latin…sort of). If
nothing else, Mr. Darvill’s background gave a bit of irony to every time he
addressed or referred to Mick as “Mr. Rory.”
But as much fun as it was to see
Arthur Darvill time-traveling again, there is really not any one single moment
of his time on the show that stands out above all others, but there are plenty
of moments involving the other characters that do shine. One such moment was the time Dr. Martin Stein
got a chance to sing with a band and prefaced his song with the following
instructions to the musicians on stage:
“Watch
me for the changes and try to keep up.”
These
are, of course, the same words spoken by another time-traveling Martin to
another band: Martin “Marty” McFly at “The Enchantment Under the Sea Dance” in Back to the Future (Nov. 12, 1955). This clear and overt allusion to one of the
greatest time-travel films ever is rendered slightly humorous by the fact that
in an earlier episode, Dr. Stein had told his young protégé Jefferson Jackson
that he needed to think “fourth-dimensionally”; when Jefferson accuses him of
quoting Doc Brown to him, Dr. Stein claims not to know what Jefferson is
talking about.
But that is not the funny part. No, the funny part was what I heard watching
season four of the show, when they introduced Nate Heywood’s father Henry,
played by Tom Wilson, who is best known for playing the Tannens (Biff, Griff,
and Buford) in, yes, The Back to the
Future Trilogy. It was, of course,
fun seeing Mr. Wilson again—looking quite well, I might add—in a series
involving time-travel. But the real
payoff came near the end of their fourth episode, when, as Henry and Nate are
leaving a scene, Henry says, “Let’s make like a tree and leave,” to which Nate
responds, “Hm, not sure that’s how it goes.”
But of course, that is how it goes,
and we’ve waited close to thirty-five years to hear it. In the first Back to the Future, and again in the second, Biff, played by Tom
Wilson, notoriously demonstrates his utter stupidity (scholars of literature
call this “characterization”) by butchering this very same, very transparent
expression, saying, “Why don’t you make like a tree and get out of here.” The second time, he is corrected by the old
man he is talking to, who, as we know, but he does not, is his own 77-year-old
self from sixty years in the future, also played by Wilson. When we hear Henry Heywood use the expression
correctly, it is a wonderful little allusion to one of his most well-known
lines in no doubt his most well-known role.
And Nate’s questioning of whether his father has spoken truly serves to
let us know that the showmakers are very much aware of what they are doing:
yes, Nathaniel, that is how it goes; this time, he said it right.
Good for him. Lots of fun for us fans.
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