I've totally adapted this idea from another blog, but is it REALLY stealing? I'm calling it inspiring . . . :P
I've been thinking about this ever since I read this particular author's post -- what really sparked my interest in Sci-fi?
I really think it started in grade school -- in 6th or 7th grade (back in 1977/1978, gawd, I'm old) when we got a magazine about NASA. Seeing the cool newfangled microwave ovens that were going to be in the space shuttle. Space flight itself was always so cool to me.
Nope, I take it all back -- I think it was one of the moon landings. Can't remember which one (I was only 3 in 1969, so don't think I remember Neil Armstrong), but I do remember watching a moon landing and thinking how flipping cool that was.
I watched every rocket launch I could. And I read every sci-fi book I could get my hands on. And I watched every sci-fi tv show I could . . . and when I saw pictures of the planets from Pioneer and Voyager, I clipped everyone of them from the newspaper. I remember when this one was on the front page:
My grandfather was always watching TV, so naturally, being a kid, I'd sit and watch with him. So those shows really made me take notice . . .
Flash Gordon
No, not the flashy movie in the 80's with Queen music, the old black and white Buster Crabbe serials. The cigar shaped rockets that spewed sparks as they wobbled on their wires across the (obviously) toy landscape. THAT was so cool to me. The struggle of oppression and the parallels to our 'modern' society were lost on me . . . I just loved the spectacle.
Buck Rodgers
I don't remember details of this serial as well as Flash Gordon, but I do remember it starred Buster Crabbe again. Again, the spectacle was what appealed to me -- the fantastic lettings and costumes, the space ships, the total ridiculousness of it all. This is not to be confused with the 80's TV show starring Gil Gerard. That had its own fun and spectacle, and I think I watched every episode of that too. LOL
Star Trek (classic) and Star Trek: The Next Generation
These two shows alone are responsible for many hours sitting in front of the television and loving every second of it. The idea of a future with very few of the problems we see today (or back then) and the idea of exploration. As a kid, the political commentary was (once again) lost on me, unless it was very obvious. That aside, I did just love every second watching Kirk, Spock, Picard, Riker, and all of them every week. The Starships rocked.
Doctor Who
I discovered this show in college. I think our local PBS station had started carrying it and I gobbled it up. I'd record it while I was away, then binge watch it when I came home. The idea of a story told in two, three, or six parts was just like the old serials I'd watch with my grandfather. The mystery of every episode was cool, the idea of a Time Lord who could regenerate when his life was over was mind-blowing. I still get a little thrill when I hear that old theme song -- the one during Tom Baker's run. I even learned how to crochet my own 16 ft scarf -- which was an abomination and should never even be mentioned again.
2001
As bizarre as this movie was, it made me read the book, then the sequel, then THAT book's sequel and then pretty much any Arthur C. Clarke book I could find at the library or book store. Clarke could take space and describe it in a way that was so mysterious ... I still read his books now and again. I learn something new with each re-read.
There are so many more influences I can name, but that would end up being a book, not a blog post. LOL But I think you get the picture. I'm a total space cadet. Would I ever go up and see it for myself? It would be cool, but space tourism is a long way off . . . who knows, with Blue Origin and Space X and even Virgin Galactic, it may come sooner than we think . . .
And wouldn't THAT be cool?
Keep looking up . . .
Terry