Yo! New member here. I did a search for this topic, and if there's a discussion already on it, please let me know....If not...I'm amazed no one has talked about this yet.
The Space Laundry. The second it came up, I paused the show, burst out laughing, and asked my partner "Why can't they get out the ink?" Because here on 21st century Earth, there are laundry pens that remove ink stains. You'd think a galactic empire with light speed travel and space elevators could match us in that. Even for those in third class on slow boats to Terminus.
Of course, my partner's response to this question was even better: "Why are there ink stains?" Well, that's a puzzler. Because Hari uses a quill to jot down his calculations?
Look, I get the idea of a scene to show how down-to-Earth Hari is and how venerated he is by the humble lower classes who, on their four year journey to another planet, are working to get clothes clean with washboards and wooden tubs (or maybe just a coin operated Laundromat?)...but this was the best the writer of this show could come up with to demonstrate that? A space laundry and ink stains? 🙄
To give it credit, this ludicrous scene got me hooked on the show...I'm watching every episode in hopes of more absurdities and laughter. So far, it hasn't disappointed.
More space laundry 🧺
The palace looks dim because that's how the Emperor likes to show it to his subjects, obviously.
For that matter, why is there so much torchlight in the Palace & the Library? The palace is so dim. They are sacrificing good sense for "making things look atmospheric". Are they trying to copy GOT?
Episode 3-
Cleon XI (Brother Darkness) carries a lamp/lantern, I'm assuming they would have the tech to create "hover" lamps that would levitate beside or slightly in front of an individual. Personal force-fields (yes) Hover lamps (no). I can't imagine a future without hover lamps.😏
THE LAUNDRY VENTS, THOUGH, WHERE DOES THE EXHAUST GO? THIS IS AS THOUGHT PROVOKING AS A PAINT CLEANER ON THE WALL OF THE EMPEROR'S PALACE. WHY IS THE PIGMENT DEGRADING? WHAT KIND OF POLLUTION DOES TRANTOR HAVE? I USE CAPS FOR ACCESSIBILITY.
I get that there is a tradition of showing that nice leaders are nice even to the cleaners, but yeah, I agree it's a clumsy scene. Especially if you have ever talked with any cleaner. Once a cleaner told me that they had started doing performance reviews at her place of work and they asked her silly questions like "Where do you see yourself in five years time?" She was rolling her eyes.
Ink stains I find a little more reasonable. Clearly in the Galaxy they're still using pens to write important maths on paper, look at all the paperwork in the library. Maybe it's a cultural tradition to have a hard copy of those things, and Hari Seldon was actually jotting his equations on paper. And also, it makes sense for the Foundation to have such backups, in case that at some point they are no longer able to manufacture computers.
Well on the international space station they don't clean their clothes, just trash when they get too dirty. It would take too much water to clean them.
But 20,000 years from now (that is how far in the future it's supposed to be, right?) in the galactic empire, one would assume they'd worked out something better than a commercial laundry down on the spaceship's lower decks. I half expected Hari to ask for starch in his collars. 🙄
Lol! I never even thought about a "laundry" in space. Really how DO astronauts get their clothes clean? I imagine just some UV chamber or something.