Just remember to vote and make it canon!I just died.
What If: Voting on which fan films are officially canon
- Thread starter Matthew Raymond
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This is a fallacy. This kind of franchise is created from the works of many author, directors and even many producers. There is no guarentee that any one person's work won't be ruined by a corporate committee. Just look at the Alien franchise. Furthermore, no one is prevented from creating their own works, or dictated as to what should be in them. This process only decides if these works will be included in canon.
Professionals know this. Because, they're professionals. The "corporate committee" is usually the next set of professionals to tackle the franchise.
That's not the same thing. Those people are hired to provide a specific contribution based on their unique talents. It's a collaborative effort often done to best realize the writers' or director's vision. And it isn't a democracy. The hair stylist doesn't get to change lines. In fact, many sets forbid even the actors from improvising or changing lines.
You're really just making my point for me. When there's too many cooks in the kitchen, especially when those cooks aren't actually cooks, it fucks up the soup. In the case of a studio meddling, there's maybe a small handful of meddlers. What you're proposing is literally letting Planet Earth dictate what happens in Star Trek.
Okay, but as soon as the fans say "Yea verily, this piece of fan fiction is now official Star Trek canon," then the people who actually hold the creative rights to the franchise basically have to adhere to these fan-set standards. That is creatively suffocating and ripe for confusion. The writers and directors will have to figure out what new bit of information The Fans have dictated must be acknowledged. It's just so nonsensical and ridiculous it's actually difficult for me to type out.
It's hard enough for people like Michael and Denise Okuda to keep the canon straight in stuff like the Star Trek Encyclopedia, much less letting the tyranny of a presumptuous majority open up the floodgates.
EDIT: Also this is the second time I've used the phrase "too many cooks in the kitchen" and still no one has posted the Too Many Cooks video. I'm beginning to think I'll have to do it myself.
I'm just going to state this bluntly. Fans have absolutely no right to dictate to the content creators what they should or should not do, or what they should and should not include in their works. Creators make the art they want to make in the manner in which they want to make it. Consumers of that content, the fans, can choose whether or not that content is worth their time. But it is not up to us, and it shouldn't be up to us. It should be up to the artists.
That all depends on the process. I would advocate that films must meet certain criteria before they can even reach a vote. The Star Trek Fan Film Guidelines, for instance, already have provisions that forbid pornography and
sexually explicit content. (I'm not saying we have to do that. I don't have a problem with Trek porn. That would be a more interesting conversation to have, in my opinion.)
First of all, the hypothetical scenario presupposes that the copyright holder has either blessed the process or the copyright has expired and the content is in the public domain. However, assuming the copyright hasn't expired, they would still hold the copyright under a CC BY SA license, so they could just fork their own canon and start making their own episodes again.
It's not any more confusing that keeping track of canon using official materials from franchises like Star Trek or Star Wars. Any submission will take months to go through the process and will undergo through review. Criteria can specifically reject material that places extreme limitations on the franchise before it even reaches a vote, and all voters will be well informed as to the strengths and weaknesses of each submission. New canon would not happen suddenly, and would not fundamentally "break the universe" because it's already been qualified prior to voting.
Except that Michael and Denise Okuda would probably be on the panel that determines if films get voted on in the first place and writing the initial requirements for qualification.
I don't know what you mean. In this hypothetical scenario, what prevents you from taking official-but-non-canon Star Trek novels and voting for them to be canon? Canon status doesn't determine value, it's the other way around.
Canon status doesn't determine value, yes, but it's not the other way around. Value does not determine what is or becomes canon. Even the movies and shows that individual Trekkies see as "not valuable" are still canon.
But that's the whole point: I'm proposing a system where canon is determined by a film's value to the majority of fans (and I'm throwing in some preemptive quality control to boot). It's the current system that's arbitrary from the standpoint of value.
Let each fan determine the value of each product. "Quality" is subjective and shouldn't be put to a vote. Every poll I've seen of Favorite....anything, results in people saying "That's number one?"
Jesus titty-fucking Christ.
I love it when fans seek to impose their views on others.
That is a terrible idea. Determining canon based on what "the majority of fans" think is good? Nothing about that is logical, consistent, or respectful to the people who work on those shows and films. I think The Perfect Mate is a garbage episode but my personal opinion of its quality does not and should not influence whether it's canon. Quality is no way to determine canon. It's subjective and fluctuates. Would we just throw out the first two seasons of TNG because "most fans" think it's bad, even though it informs several episodes that come in later seasons? That doesn't make any sense.
Art is not a collaboration between artist and audience. The artist creates. The audience consumes, experiences, etc.
To me, the 2nd and 3rd episodes of New Voyages, all of STC, Gods and Men, and Renegades, are all officially part of canon.
They're only "officially" in your head canon.
Well of course... this whole thread is voting on your head canon.
That is my answer / opinion to the OP's question.
There's already is a way for 'fans' to 'determine' the official canon. It's the method used by fans such as Ron Moore, Bryan Fuller, Peter David, Roberto Orci, the Okuda's et al, to etch their place in the franchise.
Like most responsibilities, it's a power you have to earn.
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While not number one, "The Omega Glory" is one of my favorite episodes of Star Trek. Across all the series.
Turning what counts in Star Trek over to a committee is a terrible idea in my opinion. What next? We ban the Ferengi, because open greed is not to be criticized because of the current US administration?
Plus, wouldn't we see a terrible precedent of things being canon, non-canon, then canon again based on what fans think at any given time?
Who's stopping them? I value Star Trek Continues, and it's not canon.
I'm not proposing they be voted on relative to each other, and I'm not suggesting that content be put to a vote without vetting, and I'm not suggesting a quick vote without adequate time for both sides to make their case. Given that, your argument seems like an anti-populist appeal to emotion.
Yeah, heaven forbid that canon be established by your peers instead of an unelected corporate monarch.I love it when fans seek to impose their views on others.
First of all, I fail to see what is illogical about putting decisions to a vote, unless democracy itself is on trial here (and it sure feels like it). A consistent process is applied to determining canon under my model, whereas in real life it's basically left up to the whims of whoever holds the purse strings on that particular day, so I don't see how it's less consistent. As for respect, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of fan films that will never be considered for canon under the current model no matter how good they are. How is that more respectful to the people who work on those films?
You have yet to give ANY criteria by which canon should be determined. Your entire argument boils down to "trust whatever producer is in charge today".
Look me in the (metaphorical) eye and tell me that you honestly thing most Star Trek fans, who have gone through the trouble of registering to vote on the franchise, would vote down the entire first two season of TNG, against the recommendations of an expert panel consisting of long-time Star Trek writers, directors, producers and other personalities. Not that it matters, because I've already proposed the concept of a "core canon", which would basically cover this scenario.
Elitist nonsense. Members of the audience create art all the time. They put millions of hours of video on YouTube. They put drawings and other art work on sites like Deviant Art and Pinterest. They write millions of volumes of fan fiction, and they've created all kinds of amazing props and costumes for conventions. Furthermore, many of the people who work on fan films are employed in the industry. (Star Trek Continues in particular is stuffed to the gills with professionals volunteering their time.)
Are we to presume that CBS and Paramount are strict meritocracies, and that no one with enough talent and determination could possibly fail to land a Star Trek series? Do they even promise as much?
What is seen in the shows and the films. That is the canon. It could not be any simpler.
People would vote out the first two seasons of TNG and probably all of ENT and VOY. And STID.
Yes, they create their own art, according to their own vision. They aren't taking votes on how their work should be expressed. They have a vision, they execute that vision.
Have you ever actually created anything yourself? Like, written stories, your own music, shot a short film, that kind of thing? Now, imagine you being forced to take a poll on the content and style of your own idea, and having no say in the matter whatsoever. That is complete nonsense.
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