A very special petition regarding the STXI sequel!

Hi all,

As a fellow Star Trek fan and also a science buff, I have recently led the charge to try to get planetary scientist Carolyn Porco a cameo appearance in the sequel to the 2009 film. Carolyn was asked by JJ Abrams to be a science consultant on the 2009 film (which she was); you can read more about the collaboration and her contributions to the film in the discussion here: http://ciclops.org/view_event.php?id=109 Many of the people who follow Carolyn's work with NASA, however, think that in the next film, she should not only advise Abrams about actual space science but she should be allowed a small cameo role on screen. A bunch of us started a petition this week:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/dr-carolyn-porco-deserves-a-star-trek-cameo

So far it has been signed by the likes of some pretty cool people, including Ann Druyan, widow of the late Carl Sagan, and cognitive scientist and popular science writer Steven Pinker. But we're trying to get to 10,000 signers, so please help us out: sign and spread the word! It would be a great nod to real scientists and space explorers if we could *make it so*...

Thanks, 20tauri

 

Isn't it up to JJ to decide and invite her to be in the film...?

Rather than some meaningless petition talking about how she "deserves" to be in the film, that the producers et al won't exactly look to kindly on? Why should they feel forced to include someone. If she does a good job, let her ask JJ, if he says yes, great, if not, oh well.

 

Well, obviously it is up to Abrams, but we are hoping to sway his opinion on the matter

 

Is a petition really needed for this? I'm sure they are closely-enough affiliated to make this happen without one?

 

Hard for me to say! All I know is that we thought this would be a fun way to drum up support for the idea.

 

Instead of being concerned about whether this person makes a cameo appearance in the sequel, it's more important that we get an original, decent storyline, instead of the nonsense that we got in this movie.

 

Worst science consultant ever. Or Abram's just didn't pay any attention.

 

She's on the staff and can likely breeze through with such a role if she put herself forward... I don't see the need for this action.

Petitions are for causes that aren't likely to meet with success because TPTB continually stonewall and don't do the right thing...

Abrams on the otherhand seems like a caring kind of guy, based on who he gave cameos to the last time.

 

If she wants to be in it, she can just go ask Abrams herself. Besides, if you think about it, walking into his office armed with an online petition would more than likely just make her look like a freak.

 

Exactly.

Another pointless, and in this case rather silly, online petition.

 

Agreed.

 

I don't care if this would work or not, but I always show support to fellow scientist, especially someone as cool as Carolyn Porco.

 

Although I disagree with you whole heartedly about the content of this movie--which I found neither nonsensical or ridiculous--I do agree with you about this petition thing. This is the sort of stuff that fandom does that makes me cringe. I don't want to influence any of the creative processes and I don't want those in charge pandering to any one segment of the audience. Why does this person need to have a cameo in a movie? She's a scientist, right? Sure it would be cute or whatever. But it's not necessary. And in my case, not wanted.

 

[sarcasm]I am waiting for the "reset the timeline" petition.[/sarcasm]

 

If she was a science adviser on the movie, isn't it pretty likely that she was already invited to appear in a walk-on role? In which case maybe she simply declined?

Has anyone asked her?

 

Online petitions are... cute but almost always unsuccessful. I do have to wonder whether or not this woman actually wants to appear in the film.

 

my question is has she been asked what she feels about this petition.

some people might appreciate it.
others might cringe that is being done in their behalf.

 

Theres one thing I've noticed about online petitions........They never achive the desired result!

 

No, they sure don't. All they do is end up getting ignored and then deleted.

Apparently, some people need a reminder in how to drum up support for something from the movie industry: Clueless Morons

Please read this, and take it to heart.