The popularity of time travel in contemporary media: Being Erica and time travel as individualised consumer choice

This article is concerned with the growing presence of time-travel narratives in popular culture. It explores the ideological function of this popular sf trope through a close examination of a generically hybrid time-travel/dramedy series, Being Erica (Canada 2009-11). With its protagonist Erica repeatedly sent back in time by her therapist to confront and fix her regrets from her past, the show explores, playfully, the integrity and reliability of personal memory and identity. However, this article argues that time travel also serves another and more significant function in the show: it responds to the two highly powerful discourses of contemporary living, namely individualism and consumerism.