Prompted by a discussion on another message board, I ask what is your favorite fictional culture?
Mine would be the Rihannsu – Romulans – of the Star Trek universe even though I no longer watch any of the series set in that universe. I’m not entirely certain what exactly appeals about the Romulans but I have been enchanted with them since the very beggining of my Trekkie phase. Part of the reason was that the aggressive styling of the D’deridex Class Warbird (and, later, of the Valdore Class Warbird) appeal(ed) to my aesthetics and another being that I have some sort of strange fascination with pointed ears – seriously, elves just do it for me and are easily my favorite mythical creature – but those alone are not enough reason to be as fascinated as I once was and still am to some small degree. Back when I was still huge into Trek fandom, I would devour anything and everything pertaining to them and still consider some of the Diane Duane fiction on them and their forebears, the Vulcans, to be some of my favorite books.
Favourite fictional culture? The Culture, of course. (As in, Iain M. Banks.) The advantages of living in a hyper-technological utopia seem fairly obvious …
Uh, is it bad to say Brave New World? Yes? Okay, I know it’s wrong, but sometimes I just want to take a soma, play some Centrifugal bumblepuppy, watch a feelie and get laid easily.
I wouldn’t mind New New York from “Futurama.” You get to ride dinosaurs, get talking tattoos, and the new pest is owls. Owls! Annoying, but way better than roaches.
I’d have to give my vote to the culture of Pern. Probably wouldn’t be huge loads of fun and an easy life to be there, but as a writer I can’t help but admire how compellingly the world has been portrayed.
The world of Harry Potter, but only if I could be a witch. It would suck something awful to have to watch people do all kinds of cool magic stuff and be stuck as a Muggle.
I’m not asking what culture do you most admire or want to live in, for what it’s worth, just which one is most interesting. There’s no way I would ever want to live in a police state but I find the Romulans fascinating regardless.
I also want to be a witch in the Harry Potter universe, only my parents are witches/wizards too (how come no warlocks?) so no angst over using magic.
I also wouldn’t mind being an officer in Star Fleet, and if I could find me a big old red-haired Scot like Jamie Fraser, I’d be happy to go back to pre-Revolutionary War North Carolina…mmmmm.
Funny you should put it like that, An Gadaí. I said something very similar in the thread that spawned this on the board mentioned in the OP here and here.
Probably Medieval Christianity/Catholicism. I know the reality is very different, but the idea of one, moral overgovernment, not tied to any particular region, nation, or people looking out for the good of all, with the ability to force agreements from the subordinante governments? Waaaay cool.
Again, I know the reality is much different from that. But the fictional idea is still neat.
The Kender from the Dragonlance world of D&D. Being prone to having things “fall in my pockets,” I sympathize with them. (Seriously, I don’t intentionally steal things, but I have almost on many occasions and even done so a few times accidentally because I honestly was looking at something and absentmindedly put it in my pocket. :smack: ) Plus, they just have the complete attitude towards life I have to a small degree, but wish I had more of. Want to do something? Just go do it! Screw responsibility, screw commitments, just go have fun and do what you want when you want.
How about Boomtown from Lexx? Basically all they did was have sex.
Similar might be that planet that was going to execute Wesley Crusher. Am I the only one who noticed that everyone there was white and blonde-haired? I called it the Aryan Paradise Planet.
Probably wouldn’t be huge loads of fun and an easy life to be there, but as a writer I can’t help but admire how compellingly the world has been portrayed.
