My pals inform me that if one consumes enough LSD, alternate realities can be seen. I’ll have to take these “friends” of mine at their word. I wouldn’t know anything about using psychedelic drugs. Okay, I attended a couple raves back in the ’90s and may have “experimented” a bit. I never visited another reality, but flying green orbs with blades attacked me from above. I’d call that a tad strange.
Variations of parallel universes have been featured in film and television for years. The notion of other worlds besides our own is fascinating fodder for writers. The only thing wilder than jetting off to Tahiti on a whim would be jetting off to an alternate Tahiti. That’s what I call getting away. Of course, it would really suck if the “other” Tahiti was like Seattle. Rainy, dreary, a Starbucks at every beach access. Horrifying.
One of my fave new shows of ’08-’09 was Fringe. Its inaugural season was admittedly hit or miss, but when it hit, it landed a bulls-eye. The finale ventured into the realm of parallel realities. To recap, we learned Dr. Walter Bishop snatched another version of his son Peter to replace the “real” one who died at age seven. Crazy. In addition, FBI agent Olivia Dunham walked into an elevator and ended up inside the office of the mysterious William Bell. An office located in the World Trade Center. Whoa.
According to Fringe logic, there is more than one of everything. Portals can be accessed to move into another plane of existence slightly different from the one in which we dwell. So, in the other existence, the White House was destroyed by terrorists, not the Twin Towers, and Peter didn’t die as a child. That’s all well and good, but I have a few questions.
Is the William Bell in the WTC the only William Bell? If not, where the hell is his double? When Olivia passes over, does that mean there are two of her running around? What would happen if she ran into her parallel self? Could they co-exist? How many worlds are there, anyway? One? Ten? Infinite? If Walter did grab the other Peter as I surmised, is he wanted for kidnapping? I’m sure all my queries will be answered next season. Fringe could go several directions with its parallel universe angle.
Films such as It’s a Wonderful Life and Back to the Future II delve into different realities, but they aren’t truly parallel, due to the character’s inability to co-exist in both. Marty McFly can jump from 1985 to 2015, but he can’t live in both times. George Bailey can view Pottersville, but he can’t stick around. Different pasts or futures are not the same as a parallel universe.
Now, the Land of Oz in The Wizard of Oz is an excellent representation of a parallel world. Oz is full of magic and yellow brick roads and flying monkeys, while Kansas is bland and dusty and colorless. The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion are all alternate incarnations of Hunk, Hickory and Zeke. Dorothy, similar to Agent Dunham, is able to cross into this other universe and converse with versions of people she already knows.
Finding a bona fide parallel universe in film and television is rare. The one developed for Fringe hasn’t been fully explored yet. So far, so good. Time travel has been done to death, but the concept of another world operating in unison with our own is really cool and really wack. I can’t wait to see what other secrets lie on the “fringe” of reality.
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Jun 30, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
They are making a huge mistake with not allowing Hulu to show all the episodes of the season. I’d love to get into this show but it’s not something I want to pick up midseason and wonder what happened in the first 11 episodes. I’m sure it’s to sell DVD’s but they are overestimating people’s desires to pick up something new, even if it’s well reviewed. Free = I’ll watch and probably tune in for the ratings bonanza but make me pay and I’ll skip this one.