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December 13, 2024
It's no secret that the Black Cats are Trekkies, and it's been too long since we showed some Star Trek here. We thought we'd do something a little unusual for our December movie night and run a classic two-part episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (our favorite series!). We will be showing "Past Tense" Parts I and II.
While on a routine visit to Earth, three Starfleet officers are accidentally sent back in time to the dark days of... 2024! They quickly realize that they are in San Francisco, but the city is not the post-scarcity communist utopia they recognize from their century. Two are mistaken for homeless people, and they are sent to the "Sanctuary District": an overcrowded, dangerous ghetto where the most economically marginalized (e.g.: homeless, unemployed, mentally ill) are forcibly incarcerated "for their own protection." The Sanctuary Districts ostensibly exist to help the needy, but are in effect a way for the elite to keep their poor people out of sight and out of mind. But a historic riot in San Francisco's Sanctuary District is about to force that society to re-evaluate its social and economic priorities, and our time-traveling heroes are about to be caught in the middle of it!
"Past Tense" I and II are also fascinating when we consider the timing of their real-world production. When these episodes premiered on television in January 1995, the city government of Los Angeles was actually considering a proposal to "clean up" Downtown L.A. by rounding up and containing its homeless population in fenced-in "Havens." Those plans had to abandoned, but the mentality is still out there. As recently as 2019, President Trump hinted at supporting a government effort to round up California's homeless from L.A. to the Bay Area and relocate them to camps.
Discussion will follow the showing.
This event is free and open to the public. The Black Cat House welcomes all ages, and is a drug and alcohol-free venue. To help keep everyone safe and healthy, we ask that all guests wear face masks in our space. We are wheelchair accessible.