Cylons. The Empire. Klingons. The Sentinels/Matrix. The Others. The Syndicate.
Gotta have some evil antagonist, right?
It's problematic -- all the evils in TV shows seem so black-hat, mustache-twirling. I think the real evil in the world is cleverly disguised in a variety of forms, and trying to pinpoint the WORST, and embody it in my show, is hard.
I thought of a growing empire that is species-ist, saying humans were the children of God, and oppressing other sentient species as a result. But growing Empires are hardly a real threat, in my mind; those who say the U.S. government is corrupt exhibit enough influence to change it. It's fun as a villain, in some ways, but we beat the Nazis, then the Soviet Union, and I don't see any country ever succeeding in conquering the Earth politically.
Oh, but corporate emperialism, they cry. Okay, so the corrupting influence of greedy corporations -- that's a force to be reckoned with. But again, we are reckoning with them. Plenty of organizations are fighting to raise awareness of sweatshop conditions supported by American corporations, or to fight environmental damage caused by companies that disregard the environment. It's still going on, but it's not anywhere near the most evil thing we have to deal with.
The greatest evil is that which is disguised as good, or that is invisible, and that slowly corrupts the souls of mankind. Not destroying the world, not enslaving other people... slaves can grow in humility and spirituality, and their masters inspire the masses to rally against such an obvious evil.
These evils will surely exist in my universe, and may serve as red herrings in stories where our characters are trying to root up some evil. But while they do damage to people, they don't necessarily corrupt those people.
Real evil corrupts but doesn't show its damage.
Now, the love of money is the root of all evil, so we have that to go on. Perhaps the growing tide of consumerism is it.
Or, consider the desensitizing effect of most media, which panders to baser desires for violence or sex. And even when it doesn't, it's often feeding individuals' desires to Escape. While the occasional diversion is, I think, healthy and needed, FULLY diverting into Escapism, and hungering for TV time or video-game time or whatnot is not.
The two work together nicely -- the media giants pushing more and more escapist entertainment at the populace in return for the money they love and crave.
But the good guys can't defeat the bad guys in one fell swoop. You can't throw the Emperor over the railing and restore peace to the Galaxy with this one.
Story-wise, I think our heroes are also following prophecies that talk about The Great Evil or somesuch, and hoping to fight it; for a long time, TV-wise -- multiple seasons? -- they pursue this. When they finally discover what the real evil is, they see they are powerless to fight it with violence as they have fought other evils, and they seem depressed. But they resolve to keep fighting anyway, The End.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Lost Tribes
Did I mention that the 10 Lost Tribes were abducted by aliens after being captured and taken from Israel? Yup! They sure were! A mass abduction to get some sturdy slaves.
So one guy our heroes run into is an Israelite of some lineage, whose passed-down history says they were born on the planet of the Messiah.
They then start tracing down his family history, trying to find his real roots. This may or may not lead to the information they need to pinpoint Earth.
So one guy our heroes run into is an Israelite of some lineage, whose passed-down history says they were born on the planet of the Messiah.
They then start tracing down his family history, trying to find his real roots. This may or may not lead to the information they need to pinpoint Earth.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Prophecies of Christ in the Odyssey Universe
At first, perhaps, we're not even sure whom Character X (somebody in the show -- I don't know who) is looking for. Maybe that's a mystery to be revealed later.
But the scriptures that Character X has say the following, among other things, about the Christ:
A "dark world" is difficult to understand, but X imagines it to be a planet that is going apostate -- falling into disbelief. There are a number of candidates.
He also wonders if it's somehow a planet that doesn't orbit a star, and is thus in perpetual darkness -- someplace secretly colonized and powered self-sufficiently.
The answer, though, is that the dark world is a planet that emits no man-built E.M. waves -- no radio, etc. This is unheard of -- ALL planets have advanced technology.
He never leaves his home world during his mortal life.
He visits every world of men after his resurrection.
And while his birth-world's identity won't be made known, it could still be discovered by some. Or at least, that's what Character X believes.
What they don't know:
Character X wants to find Him, and live under His reign of peace on a world devoid of sin. He can't imagine anything else would happen. He thought the Christ would live to a ripe old age, reigning in peace throughout His life, and at the end perform the sacrifice necessary to save mankind. To do so any sooner would be to rob us of His teachings.
But the scriptures that Character X has say the following, among other things, about the Christ:
- He will be born on a dark world.
- He will never leave his home world.
- He will visit every world of men. (Contradictory? Sure seems like.)
- No man knows the hour of his coming.
- To none but those of his world will his coming be made known.
- Near the end of his life, he will suffer the sins of all, in order to redeem all mankind, and will then lay down his life. As he is the Son of God, he will have the power to die only when he so wills it.
A "dark world" is difficult to understand, but X imagines it to be a planet that is going apostate -- falling into disbelief. There are a number of candidates.
He also wonders if it's somehow a planet that doesn't orbit a star, and is thus in perpetual darkness -- someplace secretly colonized and powered self-sufficiently.
The answer, though, is that the dark world is a planet that emits no man-built E.M. waves -- no radio, etc. This is unheard of -- ALL planets have advanced technology.
He never leaves his home world during his mortal life.
He visits every world of men after his resurrection.
And while his birth-world's identity won't be made known, it could still be discovered by some. Or at least, that's what Character X believes.
What they don't know:
- He will be rejected by the world.
- He will be betrayed and slain.
- He will be resurrected.
Character X wants to find Him, and live under His reign of peace on a world devoid of sin. He can't imagine anything else would happen. He thought the Christ would live to a ripe old age, reigning in peace throughout His life, and at the end perform the sacrifice necessary to save mankind. To do so any sooner would be to rob us of His teachings.
Introduction to this "blog"
What I'm doing here, really, is posting my ideas for a Christian Science Fiction TV show.
Aaaaaaaand that's probably all you need to know.
Well, and this: it's not based on Earth, or in Earth's future, but in another portion of our Galaxy, in a different time.
Here's the opening explanation sequence... now, I know that opening credit sequences are somewhat passé, but I think you need one when your story takes place in a different world. Thus, Battlestar Galactica has an opening explanation sequence, but Lost does not.
Here's mine, so far.
------------------------------------
FADE IN:
Blackness. An empty void.
A sudden pinpoint of light, which explodes into a million rushing lights.
A star, and coming into view, a planet with white clouds and blue waters, getting closer.
In an instant, a different star, a thousand light-years away. And another Earth-like planet in orbit.
Then another star, and its earth.
On the planet’s surface, a FAMILY in rough clothes: father, mother, child. The father hits rocks together to light a small pile of wood.
And in an instant, another planet, where a hairy FOUR-LEGGED BEAST moves slowly through a grove. It stands on its hind legs, reaches for a purplish fruit, and bites into it--
Then another planet, where TINY ELFISH MEN move through grass as tall as themselves, trying to spear an enormous bug--
Then another planet, and beneath the sea, where the equivalent of a manta ray with arms holds a glowing globe, and a school of fish rushes towards him—
And another planet, with a growing village—
And another planet, with a towering city of strange architecture—
And another planet, with its continents lit by countless pinpoints of light, and an orbiting space station of enormous size…
TITLE: “ODYSSEY”
--------------------------
So that's the universe -- created by God, but with a variety of sentient species. In general, this world -- now, I'm using the term "world" to describe the show's setting, not a single planet -- this world is a pretty good place, compared to Earth. There are conflicts, and there is a rising evil, but it's not as violent and terrible a place as Earth.
In terms of Sci-Fi, there's no Faster-Than-Light travel, at least at the start -- we're in a cluster of stars close enough together that travelling at 1 gee will get you to a neighbor in a couple weeks.
All the planets are advanced, technologically, with perhaps some spots of deliberately primitive lifestyle.
Christian theology is prominent throughout the Galaxy... but they don't think the Messiah has come yet, and they don't know where He'll be born. They have scriptures and prophecy of their own, however.
Aaaaaaaand that's probably all you need to know.
Well, and this: it's not based on Earth, or in Earth's future, but in another portion of our Galaxy, in a different time.
Here's the opening explanation sequence... now, I know that opening credit sequences are somewhat passé, but I think you need one when your story takes place in a different world. Thus, Battlestar Galactica has an opening explanation sequence, but Lost does not.
Here's mine, so far.
------------------------------------
FADE IN:
Blackness. An empty void.
V.O.
In the beginning…
A sudden pinpoint of light, which explodes into a million rushing lights.
V.O.
God created the heavens…
A star, and coming into view, a planet with white clouds and blue waters, getting closer.
V.O.
…and the earths…
In an instant, a different star, a thousand light-years away. And another Earth-like planet in orbit.
Then another star, and its earth.
V.O.
And God created man in his own image…
On the planet’s surface, a FAMILY in rough clothes: father, mother, child. The father hits rocks together to light a small pile of wood.
V.O.
And God created man in new images…
And in an instant, another planet, where a hairy FOUR-LEGGED BEAST moves slowly through a grove. It stands on its hind legs, reaches for a purplish fruit, and bites into it--
Then another planet, where TINY ELFISH MEN move through grass as tall as themselves, trying to spear an enormous bug--
Then another planet, and beneath the sea, where the equivalent of a manta ray with arms holds a glowing globe, and a school of fish rushes towards him—
And another planet, with a growing village—
And another planet, with a towering city of strange architecture—
And another planet, with its continents lit by countless pinpoints of light, and an orbiting space station of enormous size…
TITLE: “ODYSSEY”
--------------------------
So that's the universe -- created by God, but with a variety of sentient species. In general, this world -- now, I'm using the term "world" to describe the show's setting, not a single planet -- this world is a pretty good place, compared to Earth. There are conflicts, and there is a rising evil, but it's not as violent and terrible a place as Earth.
In terms of Sci-Fi, there's no Faster-Than-Light travel, at least at the start -- we're in a cluster of stars close enough together that travelling at 1 gee will get you to a neighbor in a couple weeks.
All the planets are advanced, technologically, with perhaps some spots of deliberately primitive lifestyle.
Christian theology is prominent throughout the Galaxy... but they don't think the Messiah has come yet, and they don't know where He'll be born. They have scriptures and prophecy of their own, however.
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