That Star Trek rant
Nov. 21st, 2008 07:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakRegarding the impending Star Trek movie: I've got people on my flist who loved the trailer and people who were horrified. Me, I'm somewhat amused by the concept of troubled teen Kirk, but willing to wait for the execution to see whether or not this is the most groanworthy retcon in ST since Spock aquired a half brother and his father Sarek a previous marriage (with "a Vulcan princess", no less, never mind the Vulcans don't do royalty) in ST V. However, what genuinenly ticks me off are the following quotes in the Empire article I've read on the train:
"How do you watch Galaxy Quest and then go make a Star Trek movie?" - Way to fail realizing the point of Galaxy Quest, JJ and reporter James Dyer.
"Mention Star Trek to the avarage man on the street, and their immediate thoughts will likely stray to overweight fanboys waring prosthetic foreheads and taking evening classes in conversational Klingon." Not if that man is Patrick Stewart, whose classy smackdown of this type of journalistic cheapness can't be bettered (on page 2 of the article I linked).
"Star Wars was everything to me when I was a kid. It was this mind-expanding, visually stunning emotional ride. Like with Star Trek, though, I think the original films are what Star Wars really is. With the prequels, the endless books and now the tv series, it's diluted what Star Wars means in much the same way as what's happened to Star Trel. (...) Star Wars was always full of action. If I had one criticism of the original Star Trek, it's that the show was often a lot of discussion about things that were happening and not a lot of action depicting it. That needed to change." - Leaving aside my different opinion about the SW prequels for the moment: what made Star Trek what it was, in various incarnations, was that no, it wasn't like Star Wars. That "seeking out new life and new civilisations" bit in the freaking opening narration of both TOS and TNG? Was actually a big part of the appeal. And when the format changed, in DS9, which took place on a space station instead of a ship, the writing staff used this to explore different alien societies in ways the shows set on space ships couldn't because they were in a different place each week, but again, those Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi were quintessential to the appeal. And yes, there was a lot of talk. That would be why moments like Spock, in The Naked Time, talking about his human mother, or Picard in Measure of a Man (aka the one about whether Data is a toaster or a sentient being) pointing out that they were talking about slavery, or Garak telling Sisko the cost of his alliance ("four lives, and the self respect of a Starfleet officer") are the ones that are engraved in the fannish mind. If you take that away from Star Trek, it becomes a generic space opera. You want to talk about "diluted"? That's diluted. Not the post-TOS shows. I have my own preferences there, but each of them tried to capture this about ST - new life, moral dilemmas, and absolutely, talk.
And now excuse me. I'm going to get my Galaxy Quest dvd out and will watch this film again. Which is, among other things, an absolute love declaration to those uncool, weird fans whom the "avarage man on the street" so looks down on. And a great sci fi adventure, mixing character exploration, humour and action. Never once believing its audience to be dumb. Which, you know, is what "Star Trek really is".
"How do you watch Galaxy Quest and then go make a Star Trek movie?" - Way to fail realizing the point of Galaxy Quest, JJ and reporter James Dyer.
"Mention Star Trek to the avarage man on the street, and their immediate thoughts will likely stray to overweight fanboys waring prosthetic foreheads and taking evening classes in conversational Klingon." Not if that man is Patrick Stewart, whose classy smackdown of this type of journalistic cheapness can't be bettered (on page 2 of the article I linked).
"Star Wars was everything to me when I was a kid. It was this mind-expanding, visually stunning emotional ride. Like with Star Trek, though, I think the original films are what Star Wars really is. With the prequels, the endless books and now the tv series, it's diluted what Star Wars means in much the same way as what's happened to Star Trel. (...) Star Wars was always full of action. If I had one criticism of the original Star Trek, it's that the show was often a lot of discussion about things that were happening and not a lot of action depicting it. That needed to change." - Leaving aside my different opinion about the SW prequels for the moment: what made Star Trek what it was, in various incarnations, was that no, it wasn't like Star Wars. That "seeking out new life and new civilisations" bit in the freaking opening narration of both TOS and TNG? Was actually a big part of the appeal. And when the format changed, in DS9, which took place on a space station instead of a ship, the writing staff used this to explore different alien societies in ways the shows set on space ships couldn't because they were in a different place each week, but again, those Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi were quintessential to the appeal. And yes, there was a lot of talk. That would be why moments like Spock, in The Naked Time, talking about his human mother, or Picard in Measure of a Man (aka the one about whether Data is a toaster or a sentient being) pointing out that they were talking about slavery, or Garak telling Sisko the cost of his alliance ("four lives, and the self respect of a Starfleet officer") are the ones that are engraved in the fannish mind. If you take that away from Star Trek, it becomes a generic space opera. You want to talk about "diluted"? That's diluted. Not the post-TOS shows. I have my own preferences there, but each of them tried to capture this about ST - new life, moral dilemmas, and absolutely, talk.
And now excuse me. I'm going to get my Galaxy Quest dvd out and will watch this film again. Which is, among other things, an absolute love declaration to those uncool, weird fans whom the "avarage man on the street" so looks down on. And a great sci fi adventure, mixing character exploration, humour and action. Never once believing its audience to be dumb. Which, you know, is what "Star Trek really is".
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Date: 2008-11-21 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-21 07:56 pm (UTC)