In 'Quantum Leap,' Time Travel is Not Just For White People

Raymond Lee stars in the new 'Quantum Leap' reboot as Dr. Ben Seong.


I cannot express how I excited I am for NBC's upcoming restart of Quantum Leap. Not only was a huge fan of the hit 1990s time travel drama, I'm pretty psyched to see Raymond Lee in the starring role as the titular leaper.

The original show centered Dr. Samuel Beckett, who unwillingly finds himself "leaping" through space and time into the identities of individuals, helping history along the way before leaping into the next life. In the update, Lee stars as quantum physicist Dr. Ben Seong, who sets the reboot in motion when he makes an unauthorized leap into the past. His team begins searching for answers, scrambling to bring him home before he gets in too deep."

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive preview on the new show, including some insightful background information on Dr. Seong from Lee and the showrunners:

Described as a spiritual scientist, quantum physicist Dr. Seong has a specific approach to time travel. "He is compelled over and over again to make the right decision, even if his own life is at stake, so he is a much better person than I am in real life. He's something to strive for," Lee says. Dr. Seong immigrated from Korea with his mother, which will be integral to the story Quantum Leap is telling. "We're telling an immigrant story at its core, and it is how Ben is experiencing life moving forward," Lilien explains.

More here: Quantum Leap bosses preview thrilling new chapter

Call for Submissions: Time Traveling is Not for Everyone

Let's face it: time travel is for white people.



I love time travel stories. Whether it's Back to the Future or The Terminator, The Time Traveler's Wife or friggin' Hot Tub Time Machine, I'm a sucker for narratives about what happens when you travel through time.

But let's face it: time travel is for white people.

For people from underrepresented and minority communities, time travel could be more of a disaster than an adventure. Imagine, as an Asian American person in 2015, going back in time and landing in pretty much any era of our nation's brief history. I have to imagine it would be less than awesome. Just imagine it.

This is the founding idea behind Time Traveling is Not for Everyone, an anthology conceived by writers Heidi Durrow and Koji Steven Sakai who are accepting proposals for short stories featuring a character from an underrepresented community traveling to some time period before this one.

Here are some more details:

Time traveling photographer encounters her younger self

Chino Otsuka inserts her present self into old photos from her childhood



Been seeing this make the rounds today, and it's just too charming not to share... Time travel is possible, if only in photographs. London-based photographer Chino Otsuka took old photos from her childhood and adolescence and digitally inserted her present self, circa 2005, in them.

Photographer Travels Through Time By Inserting Herself Into Her Childhood Photos

Her series, "Imagine Finding Me," are wonderful little snapshots of a life folding over to meet again at two points, like she traveled back through time to encounter her younger self. In a poem accompanying the series, Otsuka says, "If, again I have a chance to meet, there is so much I want to ask and so much I want to tell."