“Movies are a form of escapism” said someone probably at some point. And when have we all wanted to escape our lives more than right now? Sometimes you’ll want to escape into something comforting and familiar. Sometimes you’ll need to escape into a world new to you. In this series, I shall guide you through the genres of film & tv escapism so we can all experience something, anything, else.
I’ll take my sci-fi with a big dose of fantasy, thank you very much. You may want to escape into the future of Interstellar and ponder real space-time travel possibilities, but I’d rather travel through space and time with The Doctor in the TARDIS.
If you’re new to Doctor Who, I urge you to start at the beginning (of the 2005 series, not “Classic Who” although by all means go for it if you can find it) and know that, like every show, it has its ups and downs throughout the series (some seasons are better than others) and throughout each season (some episodes are just filler, let’s be honest) but throughout it all you’ll get some incredible storytelling, you’ll be staying up past your bedtime saying “just one more”, and you’ll have a lot of fun.
I’m obsessed with The OA. If you like your sci-fi to feel less like science and more like magic, this is for you. I started watching The OA with no idea what it was about except the genre and that it was by/starring Brit Marling, whose film Another Earth I had loved (and I also recommend for some sci-fi escapism). Going into this story knowing absolutely nothing was a gift. What a ride. I don’t want to give anything away, but I can tell you that it deals with the fantastical science of near death experiences, captivity, and the desire to escape...
If you like your sci-fi grounded in the real world with maybe-real science, I suggest Orphan Black. If you’re not already a member of #CloneClub, you should know it’s a drama about several women who find out they are indeed clones and go on to investigate what the actual fuck is going on. The series unfolds conspiracies within mysteries within complications. I don’t mean it to sound like it’s just too much, rather that it will keep you interested season after season because there are new layers to uncover. And you know the science isn’t just bullshit because they have a real-life science consultant on the show. Do I even need to mention the awe of watching Tatiana Maslany play multiple characters in the same scene? You will forget that all these characters are the same actress. The subtleties of voice and mannerisms… She can even act as the characters acting as each other. Incredible.
Maybe you’re more into classic space wars sci-fi and you just want to watch never-ending Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Firefly movies and series. Or maybe you actually find comfort in watching dystopian and/or apocalyptic sci-fi because you see, well, it could be worse. Whichever science fiction avenue you choose, you can be sure it will help you escape your current reality, and maybe learn some science! They say now’s a great time to learn something new, right?