


Nevertheless, the late '80s/early '90s show Quantum Leap played this theme well by studying different possibilities for society, rather than different scenarios for individuals. The series made me think, even if the acting was sometimes wooden and the plots thin, and Scifi should make us think about those possibilities, right? A lot of good slipstream fiction has focused on how society would be today if certain wars had had different outcomes, or if for example we'd gone mad on steam power as opposed to electricity (leading to 'Steampunk scifi). Quantum Leap held true to its focus on social outcomes that could be different to where we are today, some better, most worse.
My favourite slipstream at the moment is Fringe (seasons 3 & 4). Okay, it focuses on characters. But those characters have been made so compelling by the series, and the detail and thought that has gone into different technology and artifacts (e.g. the 'Show-Me' card) make it interesting.
Coming back to the Star Trek movie, what impressed me about Into Darkness was the symmetry played out in the final quarter of the film, focusing on a single act of sacrifice made by one of two friends, but reversed from the original film. For Trekkies (yeah, I am one I suppose), it is like a mirror-image version of the original (and I'd have to say slightly better) version, but the two together make the experience richer.
Underpinning most slipstream is a natural desire to believe that if you're screwing up your life in this version, you might be making it a lot better in another parallel universe. For me, part of the 'darkness' in the film is perhaps the unspoken irony that most probably, if we screw up here, we screw up everywhere. But this is a Hollywood movie, and it's Star Trek, so you know it's going to come out alright. In any case, the film has a tribble in it, so you have to watch the movie just for that, right?
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