MovieChat Forums > The Martian Chronicles (1980) Discussion > Count the stars in the American Flag

Count the stars in the American Flag

posted 20 years ago by jeffyoung1
11 replies | jump to latest

The American Flags worn on the upper left sleeves of the Earth NATO expedition members show the stars not in the usual alternating pattern of the 50 states, but of the non-alternating type of the old 48 states prior to 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii entered the Union as the 49th and 50th states, respectively.

When I first noticed this aberration during the 1980 intial airing of, "The Martian Chronicles", I presumed that there were now more than fifty states in the U.S. and so the stars had to be re-spaced. I could not count the stars since the actors were always moving.

I purchased the DVD edition and was able to pause the action many times to count and recount the stars. I counted 48 stars. I am absolutely certain of this. At several points in the action I froze the screen and definitely counted 48 stars.

Does anyone have any explanation as to why the show's producers opted to display 48 stars instead of 50 stars? Was this meant to be an optical illusion to depict more than 50 states? But if so, the producers could have simply added more stars to begin with. How are we to understand that the United States of the near future would divest itself of two states? This is a mystery and I hope someone out there has an answer. It's difficult for me to explain why I feel this way, but now knowing the show's producers sewed 48 states flags on the costumes does not sit right with me. Were they making a subtle political message here? Someone out there with the inside scoop let me know.

[–] jphn37 20 years ago

I think that the answer is in your question. The Martian Chronicles were written in the 40s, so when they were written there were only 48 states. I wouldn't take it as disrespect, but as an interesting take on science fiction from the past.

[–] jeffyoung1 15 years ago

True, the Martian Chronicles were written in the late 1940s, but the television mini-series was filmed in 1979. The director would have known better than to commit an anachronism.

One theory I read somewhere was that the intent was actually to insinuate the United States had more than 50 states by the early 21st century. By using those 48-star American flags on the astronauts' uniform upper sleeves, it might be intended for the viewer to 'assume' an American flag with more than 50 stars. The logic was that the typical television viewer in 1980 would presume the old, pre-1959 American Flag was not being used, therefore it HAD to be assumed a new, 21st century American Flag with more than 50 stars was being used.

Don't forget, this was 1979-80 television science fiction, so the year 2010 was thirty years away. For those of us watching this television miniseries back in 1979-80, the year 2010 seemed like a century away. Anything could happen between 1980 and 2010. Heck, many of us actually anticipated with deep dread, a real World War III sometime in the late 1980s to the late 1990s, when strategists predicted the Soviet Union would decay far enough for internal collapse to begin. Then the fear was the Soviet political leadership, goaded on by the military, would embark upon conquest of Western Europe as a means of re-energizing the aging Soviet Empire. THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES' plot of an upcoming World War III in the early 21st century between NATO and the world's other adversarial nuclear powers had everyone thinking.

[–] trekkiedane 19 years ago

I think jphn37 is right, as a matter of fact I think it was done so as a kudos to Ray Bradburys original Martian Chronicles. (and wrongly thought of as a goof)

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[–] toddhisattva 15 years ago

Maybe the Virginias and Dakotas reunited.

[–] alioth4 15 years ago

Or Texas and Alaska seceded....

[–] jeffyoung1 15 years ago

Ray Bradbury may written, "The Martian Chronicles" before 1959, the year that Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the United States. I understand that.

But the television series was produced in 1979. The producers should be using the 50-state flag.

My speculation is that the director was trying for an 'optical illusion'. The 48-state flag shown on the sleeves of the year 1999 astronauts looks like there are more than 50 states, hence the flag had to once again redesigned for this fictional future, which ironically, has now caught up to us in 2010, and still, NO Mars expeditions.

SIDE NOTE: Few people know this but it's not good. Reportedly some of the white supremacy extremist groups are thought to display the 48-state flag as a not-too-subtle symbol of the all-white, continental, 48 continguous states. That is, Alaska and Hawaii are not truly accepted because those two places are inhabited originally by non-white indigenous peoples.

[–] idn82 14 years ago

"But the television series was produced in 1979. The producers should be using the 50-state flag."

In 1979, everyone knew that Mars had no breathable atmosphere, yet the Mars in this mini-series was depicted as having one. Should "the producers" have changed Mars into a inhabitable planet as well??

[–] scribe1270 14 years ago

It could be that it's an alternate reality type of Science Fiction story as they depict it. A parallel world so to speak where the Martians do exist and where Alaska and Hawaii (the 49th and 50th states) didn't join the United States. I mean they have the Viking probe landing on Mars so some of the storyline follows reality but then some variations pop up. Martians do exist, the air is thick enough (though thinner than on Earth) for the humans to breathe without suits, the sky is bluish rather than reddish in color, etc.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] omega2064 13 years ago

The simplest, yet weirdest possibility is that the props department had some patches from the 48 states era and just used what they had. Its even possible no one noticed it was 48. They could well have been drawing from 50s era older props in the warehouse.

[–] ryansassy1 13 years ago

^ that's what came to my mind when I realized the flag disparity: simple sloppiness combined with corner cutting= using old props.
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