The Novelist Portent
Johnny E. Mahaffey
December 10, 2017

[photo cut out of two people wearing hooded jackets looking to the right.]
IF KELLY WILLS IT

On Thursday, my little 13" Hiteker TV screen was pitch black. And then, quite suddenly, at approximately 9 o'clock Bible-belt time, Kelly said: "Let there be light!" And there was.

In the form of a backlight against liquid crystals, but still.

And I thought of my daughter, Michaila, wondering if she too was watching Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) on The Orville, as she tried to undo her goddessness. The episode brought up an interesting idea: what would happen if an advanced human from the future somehow showed up on Earth? Say around two millenea or so ago, give or take, some decades? He or she would put on a robe, let their haird down, and share some wisdom before the locals burned them or hung them up for some perceived crime. Or simply for disturbing their little way of life. You'd end up with a martyr and maybe a cult following that could spread like a virus coast to coast, and eventually around the globe. Billions of lives taken, or wasted, in the martyr's name and ideology.

That would SUCK if something like that happened on Earth. People would be judge not as humans but as being inside or outside the cult collective. I'm soooo glad that's not the case on Earth.

The Orville has turned out to be a great show. The only episode I completely disliked was the one with the the egg, but maybe my dislike of that particular episode is a byproduct of an Earth martyr. But that can't be right. We're not in THAT universe, are we? Statues all over, with eyes in the sky watching us all the time, ready to punish us for misbehavior...

At least the show ended the nightmare martyr scenario and let the world embrace science, put Kelly behind them, and move on to a more productive future that included everyone.

Happy birthday, Michaila. If you're not watching The Orville, check it out. You'll probably like it.

M.