With each new revelation this election cycle is bringing, you probably couldn’t blame President Barack Obama for wanting to ride out his remaining days in the White House watching movies, and letting everyone else sort out the current political nightmare. And while his schedule is no doubt busy until the New Year, when he’ll finally have to get his boxes packed and move, he’s taken some time to sit down to create an essential list of sci-fi viewing.
Wired were lucky enough to get the Commander-In-Chief to name his faves (along with guest editing the November issue), and it has everything you’d expect, so don’t go looking for any obscurities. Still, the choices are wide ranging, from the groundbreaking (“2001: A Space Odyssey“) to the populist (“Star Wars“) to the educational (“Cosmos“). Clearly, Obama likes his sci-fi to lean toward the hopeful and awe-inspiring, so, sorry, he’s not recommending “Ex Machina” to anybody.
Check out the list below and Obama’s full comments on each entry over at Wired.
TOMORROWLANDS, A Sci-Fi Viewing List to Expand Your Mind to New Horizons
By President Barack Obama
01 “2001: A Space Odyssey” because “it captures the grandeur and scale of the unknown.”
02 “Blade Runner” because “it asks what it means to be human.”
03 “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” because “it is fundamentally optimistic.”
04 “Star Wars” because “it was fun and revolutionized special effects.”
05 “Star Trek” (original series) because “it uses science fiction to promote a humanist ethic.”
06 “The Martian” because “it shows humans as problem solvers.”
07 “The Matrix” because “it asks basic questions about our reality—and looks very cool”
08 “Cosmos” because “it fed my lifelong fascination with space.”
