On the myclasses portal where this learning episode was found there were links for two texts, both from the fabulous Futurama series, as cited below. This series is invaluable for the teaching of SF with its references and these two episodes do very nicely for this age range. These texts both deal with time travel in a comic fashion, of course, with many, many references to SF texts. The episodes are almost entirely intertextual. Interestingly, this tradition continues with the 2008 Futurama release of 'Bender's Big Score' (Carey-Hill, 2007). The following text with links was offered to the students, excluding images from broadcast series, due to copyright reasons. No images from 'Bender's Big Score' are included as it has not yet been broadcast on free-to-air in Australia. Citations for the texts are available in the Readings and Further Links and Resource List.
Students attending a face-to-face class for this study watched the DVD versions of the episodes from Futurama in its two versions as noted, using the class computer and overhead projector, while students studying as flexible learning were offered a copy of the films on CD-ROM, copied under the special provisions of local Copyright laws.
| Description of the Temporal Creation task, worth 20% |
| The time travel paradox |
| The Grandfather Paradox |
| Comic use of time travel and the paradox |
| The abiding tradition - comedy in SF |
| Readings and links |
The points at the start of these notes are to be discussed in the Forum area. You are asked to jump to the Forum area, using the link here and making a comment in the appropriate Forum thread. Please remember, your participation in discussions is expected in this study, as part of your overall participation.
Forum topics for discussion: |
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What other well-known film or print texts use time travel paradoxes as a main focus? |
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How successful is 'Roswell that Ends Well' in using the familiar Grandfather Paradox for comic effect? |
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What time-changed events and sections of the dialogue in both 'The Why of Fry' and 'Roswell that Ends Well' indicate that the writers of these episodes are using well known SF texts as their bases? |
The Temporal Creation task requires students to create an humanoid creature as appropriate to our study of Science Fiction in the the Fate and Predestination theme area of the mySF Project.
The task requires students to create a human being or humanoid as might exist in the year 200,000 AD. This project asks you to consider the effects of time on humanity hundreds of thousands of years in the future. When you consider the creature that humans will become (gender, appearance, height, mental facilities and so on) you also need to consider and note down how they humans came to be as you imagine them - what forces and histories formed them into your model.
Students can work in groups of up to four or on their own, in consultation and with approval from their teacher.
The temporal creation is an actual artefact. It cannot be invisible, or microscopic, or have just slipped into another dimension for a moment. The temporal creation must be displayed and discussed so it must be seen and perhaps even able to move or be touched.
Temporal creations can be mechanical, papier mache, models or any other device that is not dangerous to other students, the school buildings or classroom furniture. Examples might be motorised cars with special features, plasticine models, or any other highly imaginative combination. Mentor examples on video are available on request from the teacher.
For students studying in this theme area online, they can create the model or artefact and then photograph or film it for submission. One good method might be to film it in construction and at the end and put the images into PowerPoint with a narrative voice over explaining the artifact, how it was made, and what made it as it is, over 200,000 years in the future!
The temporal creation must be unique. It must not resemble an human from a far distant time from our studies or from other sources. It must spring fully formed from the fertile minds of the collective or the individual genius.
The temporal creation will be displayed and discussed and it is the discussion and defence of the temporal creation that is assessed for the mySF Project unit. Full details on the marking rubric and definite guidelines for the presentation are attached as a Word document in the Files Area.
The presentation of the temporal creation will take about ten minutes per group or less for an individual. All group members must speak and present with their oral and written presentations marked according to the attached document. All presentations will be followed by difficult questions from peers and perhaps the teacher. Some presentations may be video taped and digitised with the permission of students, for internal moderation use only.
For online students, the digital file submitted for assessment should also include ten minutes of commentary from either one student working alone, or several members of a group.
The temporal creation is due by the end of learning episode eight. If there are any problems or clarifications needed please approach your teacher by email through the myclasses mymail system, or in person.
Good luck!
After the discussion of HG Wells' The Time Machine in learning episode four and Zemeckis's Back to the Future films in learning episode three, this discussion returns to the time travel paradox as seen in Robert Heinlein's short stories found in this theme area, again in learning episode three.
To show how time travel has moved into popular culture, this Learning Episode uses two short series episodes from Futurama, an American animated television series created by Matt Groenig and David X Cohen, produced by The Curiosity Company.
The most important paradox used in the two short episodes is what is known as the Grandfather Paradox. This paradox was conceived by Rene Barjavel in "The Imprudent Traveler" published in 1943. In this scenario the time traveler travels back in tome and kills his own biological grandfather before he met the biological grandmother. As a result, one of the the time traveler's parents would never have been born. This means the time traveler would not have been born so the time traveler could not travel back in time. As the time traveler could not then travel in time then the time traveler's grandfather would have met the grandmother, so the parents of the time traveler would have been born. If the time traveler was born then they could travel back in time and kill the grandfather, and so on, caught in what is called a time loop, as described by Stanislaw Lem in learning episode three.
A typical example of the Grandfather Paradox was discussed in looking at Zemeckis' Back to the Future films in learning episode three where Marty McFly is also disintegrated because he almost blocked his parents falling in love and conceiving him.
There are two solutions to the time loop and the Grandfather Paradox. The first solution is called the 'self-consistent' solution where reality actually prevents the paradox from occurring. In this solution the nature of all events is such that no time paradox can be allowed due to the governing rules of the universe. This is not a very satisfying solution to many, so as we have seen with the Back to the Future, Part II film, the second solution of parallel universes can be used.
As Doc explains to Marty, the universe's timelines can split or fracture into different worldlines with many different alternative realities. This must mean that when someone travels in time they would necessarily enter a different, parallel universe that would have a different history from the time of the time traveler's entrance into the worldline. This is seen in Back to the Future, Part II as Marty's family actually improves their lot retrospectively due to Marty's time travel. This must also mean that on a different worldline, Biff is still the richest man in the world and a terrible dictator. Again, many might find this solution unsatisfactory.
The two short stories by famous SF writer Robert Heinlein 'All you zombies' and 'By His Bootstraps' are comic stories. It is as if the author has wondered how a time machine could be used to make a time traveler his own mother and father. The resulting story 'All you zombies' is quite silly and has a major flaw of a hermaphrodite giving birth, but nevertheless the story solves the time loop problem with the solution of making the main character his own progenitor!
The second story 'By His Bootstraps' also uses a time loop where the main character plays many roles at different times, all intersecting through one worldline. In this less impressive story the main character is quite unlikable and the story rests on an alien civilization creating and then abandoning a time machine, but it also creates a time loop without using either the Multiverse of parallel worlds or a self-controlling universe that excludes a paradox.
The two episodes from Futurama also use comedy to discuss the time loop and again, neither the Multiverse nor a self-controlling universe is needed. In both cases, Fry changes his own (and the world's destiny) without reference to another reality.
The solution for 'Roswell that Ends Well' is simply that Fry becomes his own grandfather. Both episodes from the very popular and cult SF cartoon Futurama won awards for their handling of the time travel paradox and they are presented here in the fate and predestination theme area as evidence of the widespread understanding and dramatic use of time travel in fiction.
Futurama is used quite frequently in the mySF Project as it is highly 'inter-textual'. This means that many of its episodes have very strong connections to other texts. In fact, there are several SF jokes in each episode and many actors from famous SF shows such as Star Trek are used for guest voices, again displaying the inter-textuality of the animated series.
In both Futurama episodes used here there are several, obvious links to the Grandfather Paradox so well known to the time travel story of the SF genre.
The mySF Project presented here in these theme areas is only one, simplistic way of looking at the genre of Science Fiction in modern culture. While there are examples of the comic use of SF themes available found in many excellent texts (like Coneheads (Barron, 1993), GalaxyQuest (Parisot, 1999) and Serenity (Whedon, 2005), this study focuses more closely on the way SF is used to criticise society or to make comments about society, science and culture, as will be seen in an analysis of Timescape (Twohy, 1999) in learning episode six.
Archer, W. (Director). (2002). 'The Why of Fry'. Futurama. Season 4, Episode 4. Number 4ACV10. Written by David X Cohen.
Barron, S. (Director). (1993). Coneheads. Written by Tom David and Dan Akroyd. DVD Version Warner Home Video, 2004.
Brooks, M. (Director). (1987). Spaceballs. Written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Mehan. Paramlunt Home DVD Version.
Carey-Hill, D. (Director). (2007). 'Bender's Big Score'. Futurama. Written by David X Cohen and Ken Keeler. 20th Centtury Fox Home Entertainment, DVD version.
Moore, R. (Director). (2001). 'Roswell that Ends Well'. Futurama. Season 3, Episode 51. Number 3ACV19. Written by J Stewart Burns.
Parisot, D. (Director). (1999). Galaxy Quest. Universal Home Videos, DVD Version.
Twohy, D. (Director). (1999). Timescape. Overseas Filmgroup & Channel Communications. Wild Street Pictures. DVD Version, Wild Street Pictures, 2003.
Whedon, J. (2005). Serenity. Written by Joss Whedon. Universal Home DVD Version.
Further readings and links: |
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'Time's Arrow' by Arthur C Clarke |
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'A Sound of Thunder', by Ray Bradbury |
| Complete text of 'All you zombies' by Robert Heinlein | |
| Complete text of 'By his bootstraps', by Robert Heinlein | |
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ends
| enemy within | brave new world | fate and predestination | the shape of things to come | ghost in the shell |
 mySF Project is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License. |
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