No One Dies In Science Fiction

It's true, really.  I freely admit that I take a swipe at writing fan fic and original stuff every now and then.  It's purely for my enjoyment.  I seldom put it out there for public consumption (mostly to preserve my meager ego when it comes to the written word).  As I updated a chapter tonight of a story I'm brewing, the whole psychology of it kind of hit me.  I was in control of that universe.  And maybe that's why other people write, too.  It's strictly a matter of control.  And who doesn't like being in control?  I mean, you're the Play-Do CEO when it comes to writing.  You can make things happen with just a few keystrokes.  You hold the balance of life and death in the palm of your hand.  You are almighty!  You are omnipotent!  You are a god!  Not THE God, mind you, but A god.

I got into a discussion with one of my co-workers about the end of the world in 2012.  With the way things are going, I'm thinking 2012 is a round year for the EOTWAWKI, or the End Of The World As We Know It.  Personally, I want a front-row seat for it.  I want to be like Rockhound in Armageddon, giddy that I can see it coming.  I've heard everything from the Bible to the Koran to the Torah and Eddie at the coffee shop on the corner is predicting 2012 to be the year it happens.  This, as you can well understand, has pushed my control timetable to full throttle.  I have a story universe to control, dammit.

The way I figure it, it takes me a while to hammer out a chapter to a story as it is.  Therefore, I need to step up my game if I'm to resurrect and fix all that has gone wrong in the sci fi universe, particularly the early demise of our beloved Captain Power gang in syndication.  To keep myself focused in this endeavor, I have made a list of things that apply to the CP world, as well as sci-fi in general.

1.  PowerSuits CAN be removed. 

Okay, so we figured this one was probably true after Hawk spent the evening in a cave with Vi, who was curiously better groomed than her doggie teammates.  Aside from this little snippet of dungeon love for our aerial hero, we're led to believe that the suits never come off because they are so valuable.  Like, once you put one on, that's it - you're Spandexed for life.  Nay, I say!  Nay!  There's gotta be a zipper somewhere on those things.  And if no zipper, scissors certainly exist in the future.  Cut it off if you have to.  No one should be a lifer in Spandex.  That's just too much to ask, even of superheroes.

2.  Lord Dread is just an old softie who needs a group hug.

Bite me.  You don't get to be supreme evil guy in the world by petting puppies and kissing babies.  You get it by sheer tyrrany and terror.  In my universe, Lord Dread is despicable.  He does all kinds of terrible things.  He's supposed to do terrible things.  There were moments when he yearned for love lost, like A Fire In The Dark, where he regretted blinding his one true love.  Oh, boo hoo.  We're talking about the demise of the world, and this guy caused it!  Let's make him the bad guy he really is!  He doesn't like kittens, he doesn't eat his vegetables.  Oh, yeah - and he's out to destroy the world.  Minor point, I know, but let's up the adult factor here and really imagine what Dread would have to do to make that happen.  It ain't a pretty picture.

3.  The best defense is a good offense.

You would think that Power's team would have hauled in and dissected Biodreads at every opportunity to see what made them tick. But nooooo.  They left Blastarr and Soaron to be resurrected to fight another day.  Well, not in my world, babeeee!  Those bad boys get hauled in every now and then for some rebel maintenance!  Of course, they don't go willingly, as no upstanding Biodread would.  Every action has an equal and opposite reaction in the universe, and it rings true in mine.

4.  Captain Power ain't the only rebel game on the planet.

This, you would think, was a no-brainer.  However, it appears that, aside from the Wardogs, CP's gang is the only group really taking a stab at Dread and his cronies.  Not true!  I have to believe that the human race would not go quietly into oblivion and a world of machines.  Okay, so governments are corrupt, and technonerds are on the verge of revenge against everyone who tormented them.  It doesn't mean those contingents aren't still outnumbered.  I say they would be organized and ready to roll, even if they didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against the machines.  I'm even willing to concede that Captain Planet would at least throw himself in front of a machine for the good of global warming induced by catastrophic attacks.  Planet wore Spandex.  He had a calling, too.  I'm seeing a theme.

5.  Call it like it is.

No one can look at the Dread Youth and not see shades of the brown-shirted Nazi ugliness that reared its head during World War II.  The underlying themes were done with purpose, I believe.  However, I don't think they were pushed to the limit they could have been because Captain Power was touted to be a children's show, complete with toy marketing and birthday hats.  Dread was looking to make the perfect race that would ultimately result in a machine empire.  It's a contradiction to gloss over the immeasurable loss endured by the human race when we finally catch up with our heroes in their current state of rebellion.  I have read a number of really great fanfics that concentrate on characters that did not appear in the show.  The writers used the foundation of the show as the basis for the state of the world, but they told stories about people outside the realm of the characters that appeared on Captain Power.  Seriously, how fun is that???  You couldn't ask for more in terms of writing than to have the basic rules handed to you on a platter.  It's like inheriting your grandmother's recipe book.  It's now up to you to add your own touches to the dish.   In my writing world, I think it's important to take the gloves off and call things like they are.  The extermination of the human race is ugly business, and it should be portayed as such.  The good news is that it makes for some great drama.

And finally....

6.  No one dies in science fiction.

So true, so true.  And we're glad it's true.  So are the actors who realize they aren't in THAT much demand when they leave a sci-fi show, if only for the reason that they were involved with a sci-fi production in the first place.  You may think I'm talking about the CP world, but I'm not.  I'm looking at the sci-fi genre as a whole.  Here's the rub - we know sci-fi has some terrific actors.  In fact, I think some of the greatest actors are the ones who can convince you that the gobbledegook they're spewing is real science.  We also know said actors probably feel like bugs in a jar, being hauled to conventions for show-and-tell in the off-season.  I'm telling you - I've been to one of these conventions.  It's a hard pill to swallow to look out and see people who rabidly love something enough to have it tattooed on their bodies.  (For the record, I work with a guy who has the Jedi symbol permanently etched on his arm.)  The "craft" suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.  I don't blame actors who want to bolt from sci-fi.  It's a damned scary world.  On the other hand, the good news about working in the sci-fi genre is the ability to resurrect anyone from any situation.  Spock melted to a puddle by the warp core while attempting to save the ship?  No problem!  We'll make him a born-again Vulcan!  Tasha Yar slimed to death by the puddle of Metamucil and black printer's ink?  No problem!  We'll make her a Romulan and bring her back... in another timeline, of course.  (Let's not be picky.)  Daniel Jackson dead... again?  For good this time?  Are you sure?  No!  He's baaaack!  If any show has proven this last point time and time again, it's Stargate.  Any production that dabbles in alternate timelines and space-time rips can do it.  Sure, the nerds will come out in droves and tell you why it can't be done (think "I'm My Own Grandpa"), but they're inevitably drowned out by the legions of fans who are just happy to see their favorite actors reprise roles that had been eliminated, seemingly for good.  The bottom line is that it's good entertainment.  Look at the ratings when dead characters are reprised.  The numbers go through the roof, which is probably why the whole resurrection thing will never go away.  It also give actors time to reconsider moves that may have been impulsive, a door that swings both ways.  It is an indicator to come back to sci-fi (or at least to not reject it outright) or to keep moving forward and fast away from the genre to avoid being pigeonholed into certain roles.

It's a nice problem to have when you think about it, really.  Not many jobs have such a barometer.

Speaking of jobs, I better get back to mine.  After that, I'll get my sci-fi world in order, before the real one comes to a glorious end.  I only have a few years left to right the wrongs in my writing universe.  After that, we'll see if the Big One is anywhere close to what Hollywood was thinking!