Many critics argue that the “dumbing down” of America’s popular culture is pushing us to a modern-day “Idiocracy.”  And yet, any experience can be a learning opportunity, even watching TV.

Like Alice in Wonderland, I’ve fallen down a wormhole into the world of Stargate SG-1.

I entered into this with good intentions.  Looking for another way to inspire my son’s curiosity about ancient civilizations, we recorded an episode of Stargate on the Sci-Fi Channel. 

A Stargate movie spin-off, this science fiction series posits the idea that Earth’s ancient civilizations were created by evil aliens who seeded multiple planets with human beings to be used as hosts for their parasitic race.  The show follows the adventures of an American SG-1 team that uses a stargate portal to travel between planets, fighting these evil aliens while seeking technology and cooperation from new allies.

After seeing a couple of random episodes, I decided that we should try to see the first episodes to better understand the storyline.

And that’s how we found ourselves tangled in story that seems to have no end.

Have you ever read a gripping page-turner that kept you up into the wee hours of the morning, unable to put it down until you know how the story turns out?

Fortunately, even the thickest mega-novel can be read in just a few days.   Stargate; however, is an ever-expanding world of un-ending storylines.

Once we started watching the first few episodes of Stargate, rented from Hollywood Video, I discovered that this series aired for ten seasons.  At approximately twenty hours per season, there are two hundred show hours, and it’s not finished.  A straight-to-DVD movie was just released, and more are anticipated annually.

And, that’s not all.  There are published novels, and Internet-only, publications developing various story lines.   And, like the stories of The Arabian Nights, one story leads to another.

Stargate Stories

Internet Movie Database - Take a look at a search result on the IMDb to get an overview of the magnitude of the Stargate world which includes movies, TV shows, animated cartoons, audio books that have been in production since 1994.

Stargate SG-1 - The Complete Series Completion All 9900 minutes of the 10-year Stargate SG-1 series.  Beware!  Once you start watching, it’s almost impossible to stop.

The Ark of Truth - This is the first of the direct-to-DVD continuation of the Stargate SG-1 saga.  It completes the Ori storyline that was introduced in the ninth season.

Stargate Atlantis - Another Stargate spin-off that follows the story of the lost city of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy.

Stargate: The Audio Adventures This series of one-hour audio dramas feature stars from the original series reading new adventures.

Stargate Worlds - A massive, multi-player online role playing game that will be available Fall 2008.

Stargate Infinity - The “complete” 26-episode animated series that has die-hard Stargate fans cringing.

Stargate Fan - Links to a plethora of archives of unofficial Stargate stories that range from “missing episodes” to novels.

Stargate Literature - Wikipedia lists many, many published novels based on Stargate storylines.

Stargate Learning

Why would anyone want to spend so much time in the Stargate world?

My first inkling that there was more to this show, was that I had to translate the language - defining words like “sycophant,” “self-determination,” and “isolationist” -  for my 8-year-old. 

Not only was I defining words, I also had to explain complex ideas about government and international relations.  Many episodes introduced scenarios where a society’s development was influenced by decisions regarding politics or technology.  Individually, each show is an interesting intellectual exercise.

Ever more engaging, each sequential episode adds new cognitive demands as the storylines proliferate and twist into a complex, difficult to follow whole.  At some point, in this 10-year series, it becomes almost impossible to keep track of this show without recourse to one of the various Internet sites that are dedicated Stargate resources. 

Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good For You, argues that there is an upward “Sleeper Curve” in television programming, that requires collateral learning, analytical skills, and the ability to make sense of complex, and sometimes missing, information.

To follow the Stargate story, the viewer is called upon to follow multiple story threads and also to continuously think about how new information plays into the ongoing stories.  I’ve been sucked into this show, not just because I like the characters and the plotlines, but also because now I’m a participant seeking meaning from every element and analyzing - not just how this affects the fictional Stargate story of human survival - but also how this influences my understanding of real-world human struggles.

This started out as another attempt to inspire a child’s interest in social studies, but I ended up tangled in a web of learning.  Then, again, this is just another example of the plethora of learning opportunities that exist around us. 

What are you, or your children, learning from TV?  Please share your suggestions in a comment.

Amazon Links

Stargate SG-1 - The Complete Series Collection: Stargate Sg1: Movies & TVASIN: B000TJBNHQ

Stargate - The Ark of Truth: Ben Browder,Amanda Tapping,Christopher Judge,Michael Shanks,Claudia Black: Movies & TVASIN: B0010YSD7M

Everything Bad is Good for You: Steven Johnson: BooksISBN: 1594481946 ISBN-13: 9781594481949

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