Spoilers Variety Article on Patrick Stewart's Return

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Picard' started by Tuskin38, Jan 8, 2020.

  1. Tuskin38

    Tuskin38 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    https://variety.com/2020/tv/features/patrick-stewart-star-trek-picard-cbs-all-access-1203459573/

    There are also some new tidbits about the setting in here, which is why I have a spoiler tag.

     
  2. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Space Brexit? United Federation of Trump? Called it! (as did about a half dozen others here)
     
  3. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    My two favorite parts are when his friends are talking about him.

    Ian McKellen:

    “He had had a distinguished career doing Shakespeare, and he was a leading young actor here doing the classics,” McKellen says. “He said he had been asked to go do ‘Star Trek,’ and I said, ‘Do be very careful. You’re having such a wonderful career here; to stop it to go off and do a telly that might not work is a very dangerous step.’ Thank goodness he didn’t take my advice.”
    Jonathan Frakes:

    “Patrick has become sillier as he’s gotten older,” Frakes says. “His sense of humor is wild. His ability to be playful and more vulnerable makes him and his work more layered. He’s 79 and has a very full résumé, so his confidence in his work allows him, I think, to be confident in his personal life. And he’s at ease. It’s a great ease to be with him. Anybody who’s in this business as an actor could look to that career and say, ‘That’s a success.’”​
     
  4. Cake

    Cake Captain Captain

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    I really prefer Star Trek portraying a better future and not just reality with better technology. If I want reality, I watch the news. Going the "dark and gritty" route is really getting tired and Star Trek is losing its unique selling point.
     
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  5. Tuskin38

    Tuskin38 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Star Trek has always done reality with a sci-di twist.
     
  6. Cake

    Cake Captain Captain

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    They never turned the Federation into current day USA and UK though. The Federation was always clearly better than any real world country, especially the humans living in it were better. They used mainly aliens when it comes to criticizing something humans in the real world do. But now it is all about how humans as a whole will never change and how they will be in the future just like they are in the present.
     
  7. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Mmmm... the Federation was the modern day (1960's) United States when it was conceived. And I would suggest "A Private Little War".
     
  8. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    I don't mind dark themes in Star Trek, I do mind if they aren't handled well.
     
  9. Reanok

    Reanok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I don't mind dark themes if the stories are well written in Star Trek if it's for an important purpose.When it comes to some of the Ds9 Dominion war stories it was pretty dark and some of the Enterprise Xindi shows in season 3.
     
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  10. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    There was a point in that article that gave me a little concern and that was turning Star Trek into Marvel. I don't want Star Trek to be Marvel. I want it to be Star Trek, with it's own identity. Heck, Star Trek had a cinematic universe way before Iron Man came along.
     
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  11. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    That is likely CBS' wet dream, and end goal. This isn't about creativity or being true to Trek, it is about making money.
     
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  12. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's called drama, brah. A TV show needs it in order to be watchable.

    And the Federation was always the USA.
     
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  13. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, hopefully I can live with it. I'm not one of those who say this or that isn't star trek, since Star Trek means a lot to so many people, but the over-reliance on action is a little dis-heartening. You can make a great dramatic sci fi, character oriented show. I get the feeling Picard won't be that based on some of the comments in the article. I am still enthusiastic for it to get going though.
     
  14. Cake

    Cake Captain Captain

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    Not really. Uhura and Chekov on the bridge is proof of it already. Not sure if even the discrimination of Japanese Americans had already stopped by then completely. It might have been at best the USA though rose colored glasses of people living back then in the USA. People who thought the USA was the good guys in Vietnam and that spraying millions of liters of Agent Orange and other herbicides around was a good thing though even today huge number of people are still suffering because of it.

    The Federation wasn't like real 1960s USA. At best a very idealized version of it was its model, a dream version you could say.
     
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  15. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    So, the USA? Idealized or not, it was the framework the show/franchise Federation was built on. Right down to meddling in affairs of others.

    Star Trek was an American show made by Americans. It is going to reflect our values and way of life, both good and bad.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2020
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  16. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's why the scifi model was used. It allowed for such commentary within the world, without the direct one to one analogy being clear. I mean, the US was definitely the Federation, and Russia Klingons, etc. They just also tried to acknowledge more positive sides too.
     
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  17. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm not sure how anyone can say the Federation isn't the USA when its ships all have USS in their names.
     
  18. Cake

    Cake Captain Captain

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    I think it makes a big difference if you use as a template a much better not really existing fantasy version of a country for your future series or be true to the source material and make your future human society just as shitty as the original real life version. The first choice will result in a series portraying a better future with better humans. The second will just mean you get the same shit like in the news just with more tech and aliens. Nothing nice or inspiring about it.
     
  19. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Star Trek humans were never great people to begin with. I suggest you seriously look at some of the choices they made across all the series. How they looked down at others not as sophisticated as they are, how they violate whomevers space they like in the name of "exploration".

    DS9 was right. You take away the creature comforts, and paradise is going to devolve into fighting pretty quickly.

    There is the popular notion of what Star Trek is, but the reality really doesn't match up.
     
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  20. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Federation has never lived up to those ideal, we've seen it doing questionable things pretty much since day 1. And it sounds like the whole point of this story point is that the Federation has moved away from what it's supposed to be, so it's not like they are portraying this as a good thing. A big part of the show is also Starfleet turning it's back on Picard and vice versa, and that isn't going to happen if it was still the same place that Picard represented back in the TNG era.