Foundation: The First Season

A couple of months ago, I provided a preview of this new show: Foundation, a television adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic series. Now that the first season is done, I will give this update with very mild spoilers -- stuff that should be evident early on in the season.

Overall, I'm impressed, and I'm happy to hear that Season 2 has been green-lit. This first season covers the first two sections of the first book (also called Foundation), covering roughly the first 50 years of the 1000. It also hints at later happenings. If you would like a quick overview of the plot, you can check out my preview, but otherwise, I'm just going to keep on going.

As I stated before, the Emperor clones (Dawn, Day, and Dusk) are just not in the book at all. These people are 99% created in addition to what Asimov wrote. At one point I was concerned, but in the end, I don't think it detracted at all from the main story. It's because Goyer and company did a good job at keeping it interesting. As the Empire begins its decline, we can explore how they react -- should they believe Hari Seldon's predictions? Should they try to stop the decline? Should they ignore it? We watch as four generations of emperors progress, all reacting differently.

The events around Terminus are also mostly fabricated (that is, they are not in the book), and some main actors are in the wrong place, but I didn't mind too much. Some events did get some eye rolls, but on the most part it was interesting. The main thing that's supposed to happen -- the First Crisis -- pretty much happens as it's supposed to.

But there is one glaring error -- or maybe not an error -- that I think would anger many Asimov fans. I'm still hoping there's an explanation. Very early on, we learn that a robot has the ability to harm a human, or allow a human to be harmed. And I'm not understating this -- this is a VERY BIG ISSUE.

The Foundation series and the Robots series happen in the same universe, and all robots are instilled with the three Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In the TV series, the robot explains that it must harm humans because it's ordered to do so. But wait just a minute, Dr. Eggman. The Second Law states that no one can order a robot to harm a human.

And I know -- Asimov fans know that there are a couple of exceptions to these laws -- under extenuating circumstances. It could be that this robot has a very good reason for hurting that person -- but I'll go ahead and let you know now -- this is NOT resolved in Season 1.

But hey -- I'm actually looking forward to Season 2. This is evidently one of these shows where it's best to sit back and relax, divorce it from the book, and enjoy it as its own entity. The parts that so happen to match the books are added bonuses. I strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a different and interesting perspective on the Foundation series.

Don't Look Up

Do you want to watch an end-of-the-world comedy satirizing the handling of the coronavirus in the United States while having gigantic words thrown at you? Then "Don't Look Up" from Netflix might be the movie for you. Then again, most people I know are so tired of the pandemic, so they probably wouldn't enjoy this movie. I suppose I was also a little tired of it, myself, but after having followed the pandemic like crazy this was required watching.

Warning: mild spoilers follow, but it's not like you don't already know what's going to happen.

A team of scientists discover a gigantic comet heading straight toward Earth. When they try to tell the world about it, they are largely ignored. Even the president is skeptical and slow to adapt their plan to divert its path. Already, this may sound strangely familiar -- how many in the US remained particularly skeptical about the coronavirus, and if you watch, you're likely to also recognize several parallels.

Overall it was somewhat enjoyable, but I thought it was a little too much over the top, soaking in its own self-righteousness. It hits some items directly on the mark, but then I got the sense that this movie really represents what liberals *think* of how conservatives handled the pandemic rather than the actual truth. It also conveniently omits some of the (smaller) roles liberals played in exacerbating the pandemic. Well -- except for a couple of scenes where the protagonists lose their cools and go psycho, losing their audience -- possibly intentionally capturing the strident overreactions of many on the left.

The music was somewhat fun to listen to, with some hints of Philip Glass.

Where the movie hits 

When the comet gets closer, people can see it in the sky. At first, people recognize it as a real threat and start taking it seriously. So, the "good guys" say, "All you have to do is Look Up." Immediately, the President (Meryl Streep) counters with a "Don't Look Up" campaign. 

This is of course parallel to the coronavirus data, of which when people see, they can see beyond a shadow of a doubt that the vaccines are working remarkably. But then others come along and obfuscate the data with errant numbers and saying, "Don't believe data from the source. It's all doctored by liberals for the sole purpose of taking political control." 

In a brief collage, we get to see several such conspiracy theories about the comet -- clearly paralleling the several common coronavirus conspiracy theories floating around today.

And my favorite: one guy is being interviewed. He's wearing a button with both Up and Down arrows. And he says, "Look Up, or Don't Look Up. We're all free to believe what we want, but why can't we just get along?" Don't you just hate those guys? I mean -- I'm all for mutual respect and having discussions, but if there's a planet-killer rock on its way, it's not going to care whether people look up or not.

Where the movie misses

They really get Republicans wrong. I suppose Meryl Streep is supposed to be Trump, but she said things I've never heard Republicans say -- such as "God thanks you" or invoking "Jesus Christ" rather than the generic "God." I do not believe I've heard a sitting president wish blessings only on people from their own party. I also do not believe in the lack of caring. Even Trump had concern and sadness as the pandemic progressed, and even today he is trying to persuade his followers to be vaccinated. I have also never heard anyone in any office give thanks to the White Man. (Of course I'm always open to examples of this in real life -- please send these examples my way if you come across any.)

And -- did the movie really need to have all the obscenities and nude scenes? The plot is PG-13 at most. I mainly mention this because this movie will have near zero power convincing conservative audiences. But then again, I don't think that was the purpose of this movie -- rather, it really is a self-righteous (yet mostly justified) "let's make fun of the Republicans" indulgence. 

BTW, this movie is covered by Vid Angel, the company that distributes "The Chosen." If you'd like to watch this movie with obscenities and nude scenes filtered out, then check it out.

I suppose many liberals would eat this stuff up, but no one is really learning anything from this movie. I hope this doesn't get some kind of misguided "Best Movie of the Year" award. It's technically a 2021 movie, so we may see shortly if it gets anything. It had its good moments, but it really wasn't that great of a movie on the whole.

There were some funny parts, and some successful gimmicks. And I personally thought the closing line was hilarious -- my kind of humor. If you survived my review, then give it a try.

Ode to 2021

2021 is over -- yay! And we survived. We had thought the coronavirus was going away, but then two notable mutations brought it back -- mainly among those who weren't prepared. But for me it's over, and I'm pushing ahead.

As far as blog writing is concerned, overall my output has increased slightly. 

The Econo-Mel went down in post counts after I stopped producing the weekly coronavirus updates -- and I just got bored with the whole Trump v. Biden thing. I figured my energies were better spent elsewhere (though I'll be back soon enough -- maybe some midterm coverage).

The Music of Mel got a couple more posts this year -- a 100% increase. Woot woot! I have plans to bring it back even more this next year.

The Mormon Mel had its biggest year -- breaking 2020's record. I've dropped the spiritual messages to just one a month, so I expect volume to drop, but I've introduced my new short story series and will continue pushing forward on other projects.

Always Be Better is my new blog -- opening strong with 30 posts. A lot of time went into this video/blog series. The sister video series is here. (The videos start off pretty rough at the start, but they get better.) This next year will see 20 more installments.

Last but not least, The Word of Mel had an increase (all reviews) -- but nowhere near what I used to do a decade ago.

My favorite posts from 2021:

The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: The Lonely Man: the first of my new fiction stories based over 90% on actual experiences from my mission in South Korea. In this episode, I meet my new companion as we start five months of adventure together.

We Like Sheep: amidst the name calling -- sheep and sheeple, doesn't Christ ask us to be like sheep? And how can we be good sheep instead of following blindly?

The Drake Equation: If there are other civilizations in the universe, why have we not seen them? Could it be that most of them destroy themselves before they can be seen? And can we survive?

Changer Book: Gödel, Escher, Bach: This book on strange loops, brain maps, music, art, and Zen changed my life for good.

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame: A true story of how I beat the odds and experienced a real 15 minutes of fame.

Can the Republican Party Survive?: The Party appears to be showing signs of dying. Can they turn things around and remain a force? (Written in early February 2021, but still pertinent today.)

Now that 2022 is here -- it's onward and forward. This year I'm going to be working on wiser decision making. I can take the momentum that I built in 2021, focus it with better prioritization and execution to make more of a dent -- become more of an influence, and get that much closer to changing the world.

How did you do in 2021, and what do you see going forward?