By Joshua A. Johnston FAIR WARNING: there are spoilers here of various science fiction and fantasy movies and novels. In general, I’ve tried to avoid spoilers from less than 5 years from the time of this post (2012 and later) but if you’ve never watched Star Trek or read Lord of the Rings, expect spoilers. “Well, look on the bright side. We’ll all have high schools named after us.” – a crew member of the spaceship Messiah in the 1998 film Deep Impact, after the crew realizes they all have to die to save Earth. Whether you’re a Christian or …
The Races of Star Trek: Vulcans and Klingons
When Star Trek: The Original Series made its debut on NBC in 1966, it didn’t take long for aliens to make an appearance. Gene Roddenberry’s first attempt at a pilot, “The Cage,” featured telepathic beings that could concoct realistic hallucinations. (Although NBC rejected that pilot, footage from that episode was later incorporated into the two-part story arc, “The Menagerie.”). The first aired Star Trek episode, “The Man Trap,” centered around a shapeshifting alien that drew the salt out of unsuspecting victims. Fifty years, hundreds of TV episodes, and nearly a dozen movies later — to say nothing of the books …