Le Captaine Corsaire

I have to preface all of this by confessing that I am by no means a big sci-fi guy. I’ve forced myself throughout the years to watch the likes of Star Wars (original 2 trilogies), and the 2 recent Dune movies, but in general, the whole concept of life spanning multiple planets and solar systems does not appeal to me more than anything we already have in the real world. How about, before smoking more tax money on ships to nowhere, we figure out how to best take care and enjoy the many cultures and biomes we have on Earth, our only home? The fact that such a statement can be even remotely controversial is a joke, and a shame on our collective consciousness.

But I digress. As I grew up watching french television, the usual suspects in terms of cartoons and animes were on the menu day after day: your average fighting shounens, some nice romance animes aimed at boys, etc. The two notable exceptions were Cobra and Albator, which, in their own distinct ways, told a very gritty, adult sci-fi stories which broke a lot of the hollywood slop and formulaic movie.

A space odyssey

This show predates me by over a decade. First aired in 1978, it wasn’t until the mid 2000s that I got the chance to watch it on French TV. Back then, the intricacy of the plot and the whole concept of a doomed Earth spawning Space Pirates was all lost on me. All I could think about was the call to adventure, the general sense of anxiety accompanying this crew on their mission to nowhere.

The Crew

It would be an interesting journey of self-discovery to analyse how and why I used to appreciate seemingly adult and complex stories as a kid, seemingly from a very ignorant perspective as to the actual messaging behind the piece of art. Yet, that appreciation had something of the magical and whimsical within it, to the point where I yearn for an opportunity to dive back into that mindset, appreciating old and new media as an innocent child would.