We were planning to start watching some Star Trek.
Lad: Do they have laser guns?
Me: Let me think. Yes, they do have laser guns of some sort. Blasters, I think they call them. And they’ve got communicator devices, and teleportation. Wait, they called them phasers.
Lad: Are they going to war with the aliens then? Did they go out to kill them?
Me: No, they go in peace. They want to explore and make peace with all alien species.
Lad: So why did they take their guns?
Me: For self defence, I suppose. Just in case they get attacked.
Lad: But the aliens won’t want to make peace with them if they take their laser guns. They’ll just get scared, and then they’ll get their laser guns, and *pew pew pew*
Ohai, six year old who sees what the world’s leaders do not. Please don’t ever change.
Categories: indigenous, Politics, violence
The 62nd Down Under Feminists Carnival 
Hoyden About Town 
A very well-made point from the Lad there!
Sweet!
One of the think that irks about the latter movies in the series is the total abandonment of this basic precept in favour of your boilerplate action movie assumptions.
Can I suggest an episode from Next Generation called “Darmok”? (Season 5, episode 2) I think it sounds right up the Lad’s alley with and could spark some good convo about comparative mythology and language. Even if you are starting with the Original Series, I think its worth watching as a stand alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darmok
Oh Amanda, Darmok is one of my favourite episodes. Patrick Stewart is just brilliant in it. It kinda reminded me of that movie “Enemy Mine”, which is also one of my favourites.
Lauredhel, you’ve got one wonderful little kid there. Everything is simple with children, but in a good way. I miss those days. Hopefully I’ll have a little one of my own in the coming years and I get to see someone else enjoy the wonder of childhood. 🙂
AT SHAKA, WHEN THE WALLS FELL! /geek
Seriously, best episode of Star Trek EVER*, especially in terms of sci-fi as tool to explore very unusual hypotheticals.
*I take that back, it’s a tiny, tiny bit behind DS9 6×19, “In the Pale Moonlight”, but that’s ’cause I like my Trek good and morally complicated.