River Song, Science fiction, and the effect of “Spoilers”

In Doctor Who, one of the more recent popular characters is River Song.  Originally introduced to us as a mysterious figure who has a time-travelling history with past and future versions of The Doctor, she has gone on to be a character with mysterious future/history and far more importance than we could have every expected,  We really want to know more about Song and her history, especially since she has a special book that is a record of all of her crossings  and engagements with the Doctor.   We first meet her at the end of her life, and then in the middle of her life.  This crossover causes her to be told about her future.  Since she’s a traveler with The Doctor, she understands the importance of not revealing the future, and the linear nature of time progression.  As she would say, “Spoilers,”.

This unique story of River Song is a grand story, and a unique character development for any time traveler.  It explores one of the most interesting ideas science fiction’s understanding of time and time travel;  how would a person react if they had the ability to know their future?  Could they change it?  Or would they unknowingly walk into it?  Foreknowledge is also a fascinating exploration of the theological debate between Free Will and determined future.

A great recent example of this was the recent TV action drama Fast-Forward.  Even though this show’s concepts decayed as they reached the finale, the original concept of the show explored this in great detail.  The entire world received a flash forward towards a set point in time that revealed their future actions.  Many of the flashes revealed actions that people are ashamed of(I.E. Alcohol Abuse, Sexual Affairs, etc), while others don’t receive flashes at all.  What does this mean?  Can this future be changed?  In the end, the series does eventually put the characters into a position that they regret knowing about.  But that is only one answer of the time.  Time travel is a cornucopia of unique possibilities and probabilities.  I’ve only been able to get a basic understanding of time travel complexes, theories, and ideas that surround this reality-changing idea. But I’m enjoying every bit of it.  I just don’t want spoilers about my own life