Searching for the Black Future Industry

Have you heard of The Starlost? Don’t feel bad if it doesn’t leap to your mind. The series ran for a single season from 1973 to 1974. You should remember the lead actor Keir Dullea. He was Dave Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Along with Gay Rowan and Robin Ward, Dullea brought the strange tale of The Starlost to life. Created by Harlan Elison and produced for Canadian television, the show tells the story of a huge generational colony spacecraft called Earthship Ark. Some unspecified accident killed the crew hundreds of years ago and the descendants of the original crew and colonists are unaware they are aboard a ship.

The Starlost is not well regard in science fiction history. Yet, from an Afrofuturist perspective at least one episode, “Circuit of Death” might be considered an example of a proto-Afrofuturist tale. The definition of Afrofuturism was coined in 1994, but much of the early Afrofuturist writing has pointed to figures producing work in the 1970s, such as Sun Ra’s Space is the Place album or Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred. The Afrofuturism on display in these works is well documented. Yet, the 1970s offered television wrestling with possible black futures as well.

Percy Rodriguez (Percy Rodrigues) was a Canadian-born actor with numerous stage, film, and tv credits. He has a face you will recognize. In the forgotten episode of The Starlost, he played a scientist who decides to blow up the ship! His reasoning for doing so worth considering, but the premise of the episode introduces an almost MATRIX-like electronic interface he must use to correct the mistake he caused. As a bit of escapist television from the past, the special effects are poor, but the idea of a black scientist and former political leader placed in a metaphysic context in a far future capture Afrofuturist ideas. You can watch the episode below. You tell me, is it Afrofuturist?