Re: If Star Trek Beyond Is The Last Film Should They Start NuTNG or Re
Yeah, Trek is for everyone...
No, it's not. It's for people who enjoy the basic premise of the show, ie the target audience. If you don't like the basic premise of the show, there are hundred of other shows to watch instead. Not everyone liked Buffy, or 90210, or Cops, or Pinky and the Brain. Those shows weren't made for "everyone" they were made for a particular audience, just as Trek was. If you're not part of the target audience, don't watch. It's really that simple. Trouble is, Abrams changed the target audience. There's some overlap between the original target audience and the new target audience, but don't kid yourself. There's no such thing as a show, franchise, movie, or novel that's "for everyone".
If the general idea for Star Trek was "entertainment" as Gene Roddenberry put it, then yes, Star Trek is meant for everyone and anyone who will appreciate it. Not everyone will like it....but those who remain, well, Roddenberry caught quite a few fish in his net.
Same thing with Abrams' take on Star Trek. (And he caught a lot more fish in his net....including more than plenty of fish that would've been caught in Roddenberry's net.)
Any show, regardless of its "intended" or "target" audience is still going to try to go for the largest catch possible. And it's all thanks to that one all-encompassing word: "Entertainment."
Look, lots of folk love Star Trek for various reasons. Even in its original run, Star Trek had a bit of something for everyone.... action, adventure, social commentary, intellectual enticement, romance, comedy, tragedy, drama, curiosity, titilation, etc. Even with all of those factors going for it, no, you're not going to catch everyone....but even those who only grasped or embraced a couple of the many aspects of Trek can love it as much as someone who can appreciate everything that Trek encompasses. It makes them no more or no less a fan or admirer of Star Trek. When a certain group of folk start deciding that Trek is only meant for them (kinda like religious zealots and radicals), then
they are the ones who do not get what Star Trek is about.
I love Star Trek for lots of reasons, especially those listed above. Action and adventure are the big hooks for me, but it doesn't mean that I also cannot appreciate stories like "Far Beyond the Stars" (DS9), or "City on the Edge of Forever" (TOS).
However, if either of those were made into "big screen" films, their appeal would be limited, and their box office would suffer. It's not a question of the audience's intellect. When folk spend their hard earned money for two hours at the movies, well, their gonna want a reason for seeing that film on the big screen...and that usually translates into "bang for the buck"... as long as there is also a good story behind it. I think it is a foregone conclusion that pretty much everyone knows that whiz bang visual effects alone do not tell a story.
Neither Trek 09 nor STID were lacking for story....and they went over like gangbusters. I'm not talking about box office. We all know that big box office still does not necessarily mean "good movie".... but if one enjoys a film, and many times many others agree that the film was enjoyable...well, the film must have been good on a general level.
But a good movie or show is also an individual taste. For all its many flaws (and indeed there are many), I loved Star Trek Nemesis...it is my favorite of all TNG films....with First Contact taking a close second...we're talking razor's edge, fell behind by a nose hair second. It (Nemesis) was not widely accepted by Trek fandom, or the general movie going public, but guess what, neither was Star Trek The Motion Picture. And yet, there are plenty of folk who love both movies.
Star Trek is as varied as the fanbase and casual movie goers/show watchers that follow it. Star Trek is as varied as life itself.
Respectfully,
Martok212