Levar Burton aka Geordi La Forge criticizes Star Trek 2009

[Opus]

BillJ wrote:

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Well, Burton has a vested interest as he's trying to get another paycheck out of the franchise.

And that's the bottom line. It's sad to say because I like Burton a great deal, but he's coming off as desperate and pathetic.

[KirkusOveractus]

BillJ wrote:

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Well, Burton has a vested interest as he's trying to get another paycheck out of the franchise.

While that's all well and good, note to Burton: You're an actor! Get another job! Do conventions! Do a Time-Life Music infomercial! Stop sucking off the teat of TNG! It's over! Put down the visor and walk away!

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

BillJ wrote:

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But even if the story is true, isn't that human nature? When I was single and was with someone, I wanted to be so good that she couldn't remember her name much less the guys/gals she had been with before me.

That is true!

[Set Harth]

DalekJim wrote:

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Reminds me of on Star Wars forums how people would reply to anybody that didn't gush about The Phantom Menace with posts like "Did George Lucas rape your childhood or something!?

You mean the Star Wars forums where anyone not seething with rage and butthurt over the prequels was accused of actually being paid off by Lucas?

Those Star Wars forums?

[Kruezerman]

BillJ wrote:

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It just something people tell themselves so they feel their opinion carries more weight than it actually does.

I thought so. So really, if there is no such thing as a "smart" movie, why criticize Star Trek for not being one?

[TorontoTrekker]

BillJ wrote:

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Well, Burton has a vested interest as he's trying to get another paycheck out of the franchise.

Perhaps, but as I recall, he and Michael Dorn were the two biggest TOS fans in the TNG cast. He may also be having a legitimate emotional reaction to seeing something he loves being changed.

[Ovation]

But where has Abrams ever said that there is no other Trek than his that's of any validity? That's the most puzzling thing. If Burton truly believes Abrams has said something like this, I can understand his being upset. But has anyone actually said this?

[The Mirrorball Man]

Ovation wrote:

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But where has Abrams ever said that there is no other Trek than his that's of any validity? That's the most puzzling thing. If Burton truly believes Abrams has said something like this, I can understand his being upset. But has anyone actually said this?

Well, lots of people have said it in this thread. So which one of us is LeVar Burton?

[SalvorHardin]

Not me, I'm Gates McFadden.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

I'm Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner.

[chardman]

So basically this thread could be called "Guy who used to be in Star Trek is critical of newer Star Trek incarnation where his participation is not needed or desired"?

Gosh.

[SalvorHardin]

Hmmm

Q: Having been part of the first major Star Trek reboot, how do you feel about the new J.J. Abrams films?

FRAKES: I think it’s spectacular. I’m a huge J.J. fan and I think they were wise to give him the reigns. I think that what he’s done is exactly what needed to be done. I’m really excited about the second one. I visited the set, actually, and it’s going to be amazing.
Without being bitter, they didn’t shortchange them. The visual effects are spectacular, nothing like the original. It used to be that the ships were models (mounted) on a stick, little glued-together plastic models that they would run in front of black velvet and that would be the spaceship. Times have certainly changed.

BURTON: When you’re handed the keys to Daddy’s Cadillac, you better know what you’re doing. Having said that, I think J.J. did an amazing job.
I’m really looking forward to what he has to offer this time, because I think in the tradition of all Star Trek movies and certainly all of the best Star Trek movies, they’re actually about something. They’re about more than just entertainment. They communicate the intrinsic value in the human journey. In Star Trek it is the best of us out there, the best aspects of who we are. That’s hugely inspirational for a lot of people, myself included. I come honestly to Star Trek, as a fan. I watched Star Trek growing up and it had a very serious impact on the development of my own self-identity, seeing myself represented as part of the popular culture, the idea that we could eventually live in a time, and would evolve to a place, where we had resolved all these nonsensical issues that separate us.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...eneration.html

[M'Sharak]

SalvorHardin wrote:

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Hmmm

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment...eneration.html

Just skimming over the text, but I'm not seeing anything about disquieting "things [heard] coming out of [the Abrams] camp" or citing Abrams' alleged (but as-yet-unsourced) "There should be no Star Trek except the one I make" statement. Could those have been an invention on the part of the Toronto Sun interviewer and not something Burton ever in fact said?

[JarodRussell]

Well that's for certain, Abramstrek isn't shaking anything up, nor does it break any new ground. TOS on the other hand had a huge impact on society, especially on racial issues. Abramstrek is just pure entertainment, it doesn't provoke anyone (except hardcore trekkies), and it doesn't give you any food for thought. They could have done it, by introducing a new crew, or rebooting complete, introducing homosexual, religious and whatever issues. But they went for a film were the most controversial idea is that Uhura makes out with Spock.

[The Mirrorball Man]

JarodRussell wrote:

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Well that's for certain, Abramstrek isn't shaking anything up, nor does it break any new ground. TOS on the other hand had a huge impact on society, especially on racial issues.

Nah, not really. The original Star Trek was a well-made series, it was memorable and it had slight ambitions beyond entertainment, but no, it didn't have a huge impact on society or racial issues. For starters, I Spy was on air one full year before Trek, and its stance on racial issues was much more spectacular.

Abramstrek is just pure entertainment, it doesn't provoke anyone (except hardcore trekkies), and it doesn't give you any food for thought. They could have done it, by introducing a new crew, or rebooting complete, introducing homosexual, religious and whatever issues. But they went for a film were the most controversial idea is that Uhura makes out with Spock.

When people portray Star Trek as a thought-provoking series, which admittedly is not a complete fabrication, they keep mentioning the same couple of episodes again and again and again, barely enough to fill a night of television entertainment. Yeah, some episodes were somewhat clever, but lots of them were not, and it was the kind of "clever" which seems much more impressive when you're thirteen.