this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
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[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 16 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The people writing science fiction were trying to make a living.

They wrote for magazines and TV shows that depended on advertising. A bunch of midcentury advertisers weren't going to have a Black wom,an President.

Another thing to consider is how much change you can put into a story and still expect the average reader to keep up.

There was an article about an early Star Trek episode. One scene involved a couple of lines about a salt shaker. The production team went out and brought a bunch of wild looking salt shakers. [1960's, remember?] None of the 'futuristic' looking salt shakers was any good for the scene, because they realized the TV audience wouldn't understand what that funny looking thing was. In the end they used an ordinary looking shaker.

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And then they repurposed the weird-looking salt shakers as medical instruments.

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 4 points 3 days ago

Read the same book...

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_World_of_Star_Trek

My favorite story is the one where a company that made automatic doors sent a letter asking how they got their door to move so smoothly...

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

A bunch of midcentury advertisers weren't going to have a Black wom,an President.

And neither did 21st century American voters.

Ba-dum tssssss