President Obama loves sci-fi – not necessarily for the tech, but for what it can tell us about humanity.
In an interview with Wired, Obama talked about his favorite show growing up: “Star Trek.”
“What made the show lasting was it wasn’t actually about technology,” he said. “It was about values and relationships. Which is why it didn’t matter that the special effects were kind of cheesy and bad, right? They’d land on a planet and there are all these papier-mâché boulders. But it didn’t matter because it was really talking about a notion of a common humanity and a confidence in our ability to solve problems.”
Obama put together a list of his eight favorite sci-fi movies and series that “will expand your mind” as part of a Wired special issue the president guest-edited for the magazine.
Here they are:
No. 8 — 'Cosmos: A Personal Voyage' (1980)
Reason: "It fed my lifelong fascination with space."
No. 7 — 'The Matrix' (1999)
Reason: "It asks basic questions about our reality-and looks very cool"
No. 6 — 'The Martian' (2015)
Reason: "It shows humans [are] problem solvers."
No. 5 — 'Star Trek' (1966-69)
Reason: "It uses science fiction to promote a humanist ethnic."
No. 4 — 'Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope' (1977)
Reason: "It was fun and revolutionized special effects."
No. 3 — 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977)
No. 2 — 'Blade Runner' (1982)
Reason: "It asks what it means to be human."
No. 1 — '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)
Reason: "It captures the grandeur and scale of the unknown."