Fiction can be a valuable tool in waking folks up to climate change, so I complained to the BBC!

Fiction can be a great way to tune out the troubles and trials of our everyday lives, I've certainly abused it as such. But, altogether more importantly, it can also be a valuable tool to help people tune in to greater and more pressing issues. This country (America) has a growing majority that are casting off their blinders, placed there with the help of our political and media powers, and paying attention to the dire consequences of climate change. Not that a head in the sand isn't inviting, mind you, but our quickly diminishing natural resources and predictable patterns of weather and ecosystems are now at an undeniable point. And the majority of Americans polled now believe it, damn what the politicians and talking heads don't (and sadly, do) have to say about it.

The BBC produced a wonderful show called "Outcasts" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x8fw4), written by Ben Richards, about a tiny, fragmented community of humans struggling to begin a new life on a planet unspoiled by greedy and over-consumptive human activity.

Besides a compelling plot and cast, this show painted a grim but probable outcome for our planet, quickly nearing a point of no return for the climate we are now struggling with. This undeniable change in climate is Mother Nature's way of telling us that we've shit the nest and desperate space flight to more hospitable worlds, now a common trope in science fiction, is becoming an increasingly valuable way to get folks to tune in.

"Outcasts" ran for one season before being cancelled. The Beeb decided that it didn't have a "mainstream audience" like "Doctor Who" or "Torchwood". I beg to differ and went through the BBC procedure for lodging a complaint. It was a bit of a process, in that interestingly British way that their organizational needs demand. It wasn't unlike American bureaucratic plodding along , just a different flavor...

Here is the text of my complaint:

"Re: The cancellation of the show "Outcasts"


Outcasts was a wonderful show! Not only did it offer compelling characters, story, and conflicts, it is a valuable part of the media that is actually helping us Yanks to remove our blinders and face the facts about global warming and climate change. I don't know how things are on your side of the pond but a slowly growing majority of Americans are disregarding the American political and media whitewash of this gravest of issues. In no small way, programmes like this make it easy to engage those otherwise oblivious, ignorant, and in denial about the horrific effects of unchecked human greed and over-consumption. And now that it's on Netflix and other replay venues, Outcasts' audience is only growing. And don't give me that "mainstream audience" crap- with these growing numbers of fans asking themselves infinitely more important questions, the introspection and contemplation inspired by Doctor Who (love it by the way) pales in comparison! Think about it- would you rather inspire someone to invent the sonic screwdriver or would you rather help voters, through offering a chilling but realistic and probable possible future view, to see through the insane lies and motivations of the seemingly improbable yet horrifyingly real Romney/Ryan campaign? YOU can vote for Cthulhu and forgo this lesser of two evils nonsense but we can't!
On a different level, while we try hard to not panic, keep calm, and carry on, we need more Amy Manson, Michael Legge, and Gary Lewis!

Cheers from Houston!"

Figured out who you're voting for? Every race, at all the levels, are worth looking at.