He says how far he traveled to Earth, and it’s about the distance to Venus or Mars (ballpark, at least-- It depends on where each is in its orbit).
Got it. Thanks.
Returning to my OP, I have not seen many replies regarding whether or not TDTESS was considered controversial at the time of its release. Any thoughts or comments?
I can only provide childhood impressions but I think it was more startling as sci-fi than controversial as such. I was too young to have a good read on those issues and topics. I suspect the majority of people on SDMB from that same period would be in a similar boat. Most of the real sources for opinions and reactions from those days would have to be in print somewhere. Either that or the notions of how things were perceived and received by the general public would have been formed years or decades later. Much the same way we have of knowing how the general public thought and felt about Nazi Germany.
Just my opinion, but those who can answer you with any kind of “authority”, would be folks who saw it at the time of its release, and who would, at that time, have known it to be controversial and wouldn’t they have to be members of our bulletin board? As far as age goes, ouside of myself and a few others, there aren’t many who post regularly, which may be why you’re not getting many responses, Waterman.
Personally, as far as making a statement about war and MAD, yes, definitely it was controversial. At least as much as Failsafe, which I was required to watch in high school.
Disclaimer: Not much of what I write makes sense these days, so please excuse me if I misunderstood the intent of the question.
Quasi
It came out before I was born. My Dad saw all of these classics in theater (The Day The Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, This Island Earth, etc…) and most of what he passed on to me was more about the thrill of seeing these ideas on screen instead of just in books or magazines.
He said he and his friends used to discuss the Jesus aspects of many of these stories for hours on end. Dad was not mainstream, so this data point is likely of little value to your question.