Final Frontier!

Science fiction is amazing. It applies characters and plot to a fantasy realm that is based on some scientific rules. My Dad introduced me to science fiction when I was eight or so. We caught Star Wars: A New Hope on tv, and that's when he realized he had yet to introduced his kids to a culture favorite. From then off, I've made friends with a common the interest, who introduced me to Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, and Babylon 5. And now the one series my Dad loved but was never inspired to show me has gotten me hooked.

Star Trek is good for lots of reasons, but the greatest reason is its characters. It's full of characters who are diverse in backgrounds and personalities. There are also races which have distinctive habits and cultures that represent different sides to humanity. There's just so much to explore in the shape of characters and their roles in the story, possibly more than the characters really have to explore in space.

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, explained that Star Trek was simply morality plays set in the future. He couldn't have been more right. Possibly the whole backbone for science fiction is the application of normal problems in a high-tech, fantasy setting. A lot of Star Trek episodes have a moral theme or a moral ending, attempting to push the limits and views of people in the 1960's America. Clashes with aliens who commit genocide, aliens who barter women undergoing drugs that make them beautiful, alien prejudice in the work room. Gene Roddenberry couldn't have made it anymore obvious unless Captain Kirk's direct line was "racism is wrong!"

Science fiction is both entertaining and a tool for a message. War of Worlds, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Fareinheight 411 are all great examples of great science fiction with an underlying message. Reading it or watching is a journey to understand the universal concepts of acceptance, understanding ourselves, and what it means to be human.