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President Obama Names His Essential Sci-Fi Movies
Barack Obama has been one of the hippest U.S. presidents ever, from his taste in music to his sense of humor, and he’s also one of the geekiest, too. He loves science, and he loves science fiction. Last year, he named The Martian his favorite movie of 2016, while this week he talked about humans making the trip to Mars by the 2030s. Now he’s got more for us on the fictional front, as he recently discussed his essential sci-fi movies and television shows with Wired, for whom he guest edited their November issue.
Here is “the viewing list to expand your mind to new horizons” as chosen by the current President of the United States:
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): “It captures the grandeur and scale of the unknown.”
Blade Runner (1982): “It asks what it means to be human.”
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): “It is fundamentally optimistic.”
Cosmos (1980): “It fed my lifelong fascination with space.”
The Martian (2015): “It shows humans at problem solvers.”
The Matrix (1999): “It asks basic questions about our reality—and looks very cool”
Star Trek (1966-1969) “It uses science fiction to promote a humanist ethnic.”
Star Wars (1977): “It was fun and revolutionized special effects.”
Watch him discuss the original Star Trek series and The Martian in the Wired interview below.
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