Star Trek Meme: Day 19
Jun. 23rd, 2015 01:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakDay 19 - How did the Star Trek reboot affect you?
It sent me on my most recent (as in, several years ago) TNG, DS9 and Voy rewatch binge. Which sounds as if I didn't like it, but actually I did. Not without complains, but that's certainly true for any ST incarnation. I enjoyed the first movie, and while I had some problems with the second, I didn't hate it the way a lot of vocal online fandom seems to have done. (My original reviews of the reboot movies, each written before I read anyone else's review, are here and here. ) I like the new cast, and since ST is an old hand in going for the multiverse concept of time lines - i.e. there isn't just one - when Nero and Spock Prime arrive in the past, a new time line starts, but the old one still exists, and isn't blotted out of existence - , I thought the reboot concept as done in ST IX was a clever way of on the one hand avoiding the decades of continuity burden for new watchers without, on the other, insulting old ones by declaring the stories they've been following and are attached to don't exist anymore.
However, one thing the reboot movies reminded me of and clarified for me was that Star Trek, as a concept, simply works best on tv, and isn't really made for the cinema. A tv series doesn't have to end in a big space battle or a hero/villain showdown of another type in every single episode. In a movie, unfortunately, producers seem to believe this has to be the case. (With the glorious exception of ST IV: The Voyage Home, where the big dramatics at the end are they save the Earth by having saved the whales.) In a tv show, you can give the spotlight to different characters in different episodes. You can switch between dark episodes and comedy episodes, and in a 90s onwards series, you can do long term character development, not within two hours but within many more. There are some villains show show up for dramatic showdowns, yes, but recurring ones don't have to be defeated in a final way 90 minutes after they've shown up, and you can even investigate their pov thoroughly. All of this is quintessential Star Trek to me.
The movies - and here I'm not just talking about the reboot movies -, otoh, are going for the big Defeat The Bad Guy/Save The Planet/Federation formula in every installment, with the above mentioned exception (oh, and also ST: TMP). The reboots are reasonably good in giving all ensemble members something to do at different points (just compare how poor Beverly Crusher fares in the TNG movies!), but there won't be a Chekov and Sulu centric reboot movie. There can't be. There'll never be a movie equivalent to a "day in the life" episode like Data's Day, or a "breath of air before the storm/feel good" episode like In the Cards. What's more, the demand for dramatic combat scenes at least in executive minds has grown rather than lessened, so I doubt something as charming yet utterly ST like as whale saving will be on the agenda of any Reboot movie any time soon. And then there's the part where the production team all have a Star Wars complex: Star Trek is different from Star Wars, and should be. (There is room for both franchises.)
All this being said? The first reboot movie got a lot of people watching who never were into Star Trek before, and this in turn led to a lot new fanfiction. It revitalized some old school fanfiction writers, too. And I loved reading a lot of those stories - one about Uhura and Gaila, Lunch and other Obsceneties, immediately became one of my favourite ST stories. And, as mentioned earlier, the reboot inspired a massive rewatch on my part, which led to posts on various episodes, which led to discussions with other fans. So as a fan, I definitely benefited from the reboot in various ways.
Day 1 - Which Star Trek series is your favorite?
Day 2 - Who is your favorite character?
Day 3 - Who is your least favorite character?
Day 4 - What was the first episode/movie you watched?
Day 5 - What was the first Star Trek series you watched?
Day 6 - Your favorite canon pairing? (Canon being the series and the movies, including the reboot.)
Day 7 - Your favorite non-canon pairing?
Day 8 - Your favorite actor/actress? (Not the same as character.)
Day 9 - What's your favorite episode?
Day 10 - What's your favorite species? (Humans are a species as well.)
Day 11 - What's your least favorite species? (See question 9 about species.)
Day 12 - What's your favorite funny moment?
Day 13 - What's your favorite dramatic moment?
Day 14 - What's your favorite Star Trek quote?
Day 15 - How did you get into Star Trek?
Day 16 - Are you involved with Star Trek fandom?
Day 17 - Have you read any of the books? If so, which ones?
Day 18 - If you could be any species in the Star Trek universe, what would you be?
Day 20 - Of the minor characters (one shots, not the recurring ones) who’s your favorite?
Day 21 - Which Star Trek food would you want to try at least once?
Day 22 - Which Star Trek world would you want to visit at least once?
Day 23 - Is there anything you'd want to change about Star Trek? Why?
Day 24 - Is there anything about Star Trek that has disappointed you?
Day 25 - How has Star Trek changed you?
Day 26 - Lots of Star Trek Parodies out there. Which do you dig?
Day 27 - What would you cross over with Star Trek?
Day 28 - Your favourite friendship in Star Trek?
Day 29 - If you could tell Gene Roddenberry one thing, Star Trek related or not, what would it be?
It sent me on my most recent (as in, several years ago) TNG, DS9 and Voy rewatch binge. Which sounds as if I didn't like it, but actually I did. Not without complains, but that's certainly true for any ST incarnation. I enjoyed the first movie, and while I had some problems with the second, I didn't hate it the way a lot of vocal online fandom seems to have done. (My original reviews of the reboot movies, each written before I read anyone else's review, are here and here. ) I like the new cast, and since ST is an old hand in going for the multiverse concept of time lines - i.e. there isn't just one - when Nero and Spock Prime arrive in the past, a new time line starts, but the old one still exists, and isn't blotted out of existence - , I thought the reboot concept as done in ST IX was a clever way of on the one hand avoiding the decades of continuity burden for new watchers without, on the other, insulting old ones by declaring the stories they've been following and are attached to don't exist anymore.
However, one thing the reboot movies reminded me of and clarified for me was that Star Trek, as a concept, simply works best on tv, and isn't really made for the cinema. A tv series doesn't have to end in a big space battle or a hero/villain showdown of another type in every single episode. In a movie, unfortunately, producers seem to believe this has to be the case. (With the glorious exception of ST IV: The Voyage Home, where the big dramatics at the end are they save the Earth by having saved the whales.) In a tv show, you can give the spotlight to different characters in different episodes. You can switch between dark episodes and comedy episodes, and in a 90s onwards series, you can do long term character development, not within two hours but within many more. There are some villains show show up for dramatic showdowns, yes, but recurring ones don't have to be defeated in a final way 90 minutes after they've shown up, and you can even investigate their pov thoroughly. All of this is quintessential Star Trek to me.
The movies - and here I'm not just talking about the reboot movies -, otoh, are going for the big Defeat The Bad Guy/Save The Planet/Federation formula in every installment, with the above mentioned exception (oh, and also ST: TMP). The reboots are reasonably good in giving all ensemble members something to do at different points (just compare how poor Beverly Crusher fares in the TNG movies!), but there won't be a Chekov and Sulu centric reboot movie. There can't be. There'll never be a movie equivalent to a "day in the life" episode like Data's Day, or a "breath of air before the storm/feel good" episode like In the Cards. What's more, the demand for dramatic combat scenes at least in executive minds has grown rather than lessened, so I doubt something as charming yet utterly ST like as whale saving will be on the agenda of any Reboot movie any time soon. And then there's the part where the production team all have a Star Wars complex: Star Trek is different from Star Wars, and should be. (There is room for both franchises.)
All this being said? The first reboot movie got a lot of people watching who never were into Star Trek before, and this in turn led to a lot new fanfiction. It revitalized some old school fanfiction writers, too. And I loved reading a lot of those stories - one about Uhura and Gaila, Lunch and other Obsceneties, immediately became one of my favourite ST stories. And, as mentioned earlier, the reboot inspired a massive rewatch on my part, which led to posts on various episodes, which led to discussions with other fans. So as a fan, I definitely benefited from the reboot in various ways.
Day 1 - Which Star Trek series is your favorite?
Day 2 - Who is your favorite character?
Day 3 - Who is your least favorite character?
Day 4 - What was the first episode/movie you watched?
Day 5 - What was the first Star Trek series you watched?
Day 6 - Your favorite canon pairing? (Canon being the series and the movies, including the reboot.)
Day 7 - Your favorite non-canon pairing?
Day 8 - Your favorite actor/actress? (Not the same as character.)
Day 9 - What's your favorite episode?
Day 10 - What's your favorite species? (Humans are a species as well.)
Day 11 - What's your least favorite species? (See question 9 about species.)
Day 12 - What's your favorite funny moment?
Day 13 - What's your favorite dramatic moment?
Day 14 - What's your favorite Star Trek quote?
Day 15 - How did you get into Star Trek?
Day 16 - Are you involved with Star Trek fandom?
Day 17 - Have you read any of the books? If so, which ones?
Day 18 - If you could be any species in the Star Trek universe, what would you be?
Day 20 - Of the minor characters (one shots, not the recurring ones) who’s your favorite?
Day 21 - Which Star Trek food would you want to try at least once?
Day 22 - Which Star Trek world would you want to visit at least once?
Day 23 - Is there anything you'd want to change about Star Trek? Why?
Day 24 - Is there anything about Star Trek that has disappointed you?
Day 25 - How has Star Trek changed you?
Day 26 - Lots of Star Trek Parodies out there. Which do you dig?
Day 27 - What would you cross over with Star Trek?
Day 28 - Your favourite friendship in Star Trek?
Day 29 - If you could tell Gene Roddenberry one thing, Star Trek related or not, what would it be?
no subject
Date: 2015-06-23 03:58 pm (UTC)“I will not fear reboot blunders. Reboot blunders are a buzz-kill. Reboot blunders are the nit-picks that brings total misery at the cineplex. I will face the reboot blunders. I will permit them to pass over me and through me. And when they have gone past I will turn the inner eye to see their path. Where the blunders have gone there will be nothing. Only my fannish squee will remain.”
no subject
Date: 2015-06-23 04:31 pm (UTC)