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Spoilers Let’s talk about the destruction of Trek utopia…

Here's my take on it.

PIC doesn't destroy the Star Trek 'Utopia' because it's being allegorious for the wrong thing, as in, the entire set up is wrong.

It's supposed to be a commentary on "xenophobic democracy" as seen in Europe and America since the recession and Arab Spring with a mix of Trump and Farage and co thrown in there, yes?

But that's the ticker. It literally can't, not with this premise.

Earth is a veritable paradise gated community. The Romulans are supposed to be refugees and migrants we've seen on the news and maybe even in real life for the last how many years - but it doesn't work. For Americans - Central America and Mesomarerica has been in crisis for forty years, +. For Europeans - the Arab Spring saw a huge reaction and destabilization via mass movements, an ideal, then government crackdowns and civil wars, right? Other migrants came in from elsewhere for economic reasons, dreams of employment or enjoying a richer economy.

But that's not what happened to Romulus, it was destroyed by an external natural event. That changes a LOT on how you can use it for an aesop.

Romulans aren't running from a idealistic civil war that has gone nowhere/been hijacked, or a failed state due to proxy wars between Great Powers (as it was one, remember). Romulans can't even be demonized as job takers, demographic shifters, or even promoting a different culture in the Federation, compared to our real-world counterparts that are accused of out-breeding locals or promoting Islam/Catholicism or whatever the ever illusive 'Globalists' or 'Soros' or 'NGOs' did?

I don't know if there's even a good proxy for what the Romulans are - maybe if the Three Gorges Dam collapsed in China?

And, of course, no Trump or Farage has appeared, nor could they, at least not in the "core". The Federation Council isn't going to be shown as partisan to the point of near non-functionality as seen in the UK or USA, or with minute minority interests, from UKIP to the Tea Party and their Koch and corporate backers. Nor can the President be a Trump or a Farage - what, is Earth going to secede? I think Andor wanted to, but Andor isn't the focus here.

Not without extremely contrived writing.

Well, maybe it could. IF Picard dealt solely with the border zone with a new or ascending Federation member or colony. A lot of this would be believable "out there". Synths to help with a rush job? Believable, right? Not a lot of people on this world, hey, but demand for products (in this case, ships) is high...spam out some bots. Romulan refugees being a problem? Hell yea, the NZ is right there now. Pirates, scum, black marketers, intelligence agents? Yep. Jingoistic, reactionary leaders? Of course. But on the affected frontier. Not just using the Frontier as a backdrop, but living in it, staying there, being focused on a smaller picture than PIC is gearing up to. (FASA basically had this with "the triangle" and Star Trek sort of delved into this with Bajor and the Marquis, so this should be more along that vein for this paragraph to work).

If the show took place on a veritable hive, buzzing and agitated, it would be much more believable. Corrupt Starfleet, half-assed or burnt out police, maybe even a actually 21st century capitalistic economy still in motion, that stuff.

But the thing is, Picard is focused on getting a crew, zipping around space in a cool sleek spaceship, solving a mystery around these girls, people being suspicious of each other, plots on plots, the frontier again. It's a Firefly thing, and that's not the vehicle to bemoan the state of the West in the last ten years, is it?

Would a Andorian Trump be orange?
 
Allright. Icheb was a character, I grant you that, but...beloved?

Also, VOY a better series?

Well, Icheb wasn't the most beloved character, personally I didn't care much about him.

But he was still a character which many people liked and bringing him back just to kill him off in the most sadistic way is insulting.

Not to mention that it's not all about Icheb. I'm tired of those 21th century producers with their doom-and-gloom fascination who only are capable of destroying.

As for Voyager, despite its flaws it was ten times better than everything produced after 2000.
 
Gary Buechler is the rear end of an ass. I've commented on his stupidity many times. He uses a rotating number of tactics that he tries to pass off as criticism.

First, he uses canards, all of which are dismissable. 1) ST PIC was supposed to be a TNG reboot. 2) The Federation was from the beginning a socialist utopia. 3) Star Trek never before addressed social and political topics except through very vague allegories. 4) The people who have watched Star Trek since diapers have the right to dictate what is Trek and what is not.

Second, he fails to use facts and evidence when talking about what is Trek and what is not. Even if we could come to a conclusion about the nature of the universe, everything must come from the episodes themselves, not some manifesto written by some dude in his basement. He never talks about episodes. He only talks in vague principles.

ETA: Third, he enables the worst instincts of the other members of the axis of stupid (the so called Fandom Menace). Dumbcock has used misogynistic and antisemitic slurs, which Buechler lapped up eagerly.

ETA: Fourth, like other members of the axis of stupid, he tries to pass off nitpicking at criticism. Who the fuck cares if they used the Anaheim Convention Center? Is that any different than the multiple reuses of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant?

There are some critics whom I appreciate, especially Lore Reloaded, even as I disagree with them strenuously.
I watched a little of Buechler's recent videos in order to make sure that I was not being hyperbolic. The two videos I watched exhibited all of these characteristics, and one that I did not previously account for:
  • Fifth, he actively looks for things to be offended by. Buechler went down a list of things by which he judged the episode, one of which was "Did have identity politics? Did it have "womansplaining?". This conclusively shows that he views new Star Trek as an activist. He actively looks for reasons to hate each episode.
 
I just finished reading this entire thread before posting. I’d like to comment on two issues: gore and profanity and the utopian vision.

The easier, simpler issue is the level of gore on display and the profanity. I watched TOS as a high schooler, so I’m old enough to endure mature themes. Still I’m disappointed that the writers and producers are taking this crude approach to entertainment. My family has many good memories of sitting together to watch episodes of Star Trek, most NG. My kids were in middle school at the time, and I felt comfortable that they would see the types of morality plays that ST is famous for. I never had to be concerned about gore or profanity. I don’t consider ST: Picard family friendly, which is disappointing. The gore and profanity add nothing to story lines except shock value. The scene with Icheb being dissected alive was truly revolving and completely unnecessary. A couple of authors make this point with more pith than I do.

“Cursing is the crutch of an unimaginative mind.” - Rick Yancey
“Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.” - Spencer W. Kimball

If I could talk to the writers, I would exhort them to exert more creativity. They are better than this.

The second issue is more complex. First of all, I never felt Star Trek vision was utopian. It was optimistic. In fact, it was one of the very few futuristic visions that was. Almost all futuristic, science fiction in today’s market is dystopian with protagonists typically engaged in some conflict just to survive. Star Trek presented a world one would actually want to live in. Neither Starfleet nor the Federation were perfect, but both had noble ideals that the characters tried to live up to. When some actors violated those principles, the protagonists opposed them, which proposed the plot conflicts in many episodes. The broad themes of TOS, NG, Voyager, and Enterprise was of an emerging consensus of advance planets that worked together for the common good. Even DS9 with billions of people killed during interstellar war had an optimistic tone with the characters longing for the end of the war and a return to normal. Starfleet and the Federation had enemies that they worked together to overcome.

That optimistic future was Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, and I always found it very appealing. I just don’t see it in ST:Picard, and that is disappointing. It doesn’t seem like Star Trek to me. It’s just another dystopian, futuristic sci-fi series with some characters from old TV shows I used to like.

Instead of plots about how so much that was positive and uplifting old ST showing cracks and breaking down, I would much prefer the wild leaps of imagination that TNG especially was so good at. When are we going to see an episode like “Cause and Effect” that showed the Enterprise exploding in the opening scene and left you wondering, “How are they going to solve this?” Or how about “Parallels” with Worf literally jumping from one quantum reality to another?

Does anyone else miss this part of Star Trek in Picard?
 
I just finished reading this entire thread before posting. I’d like to comment on two issues: gore and profanity and the utopian vision.

The easier, simpler issue is the level of gore on display and the profanity. I watched TOS as a high schooler, so I’m old enough to endure mature themes. Still I’m disappointed that the writers and producers are taking this crude approach to entertainment. My family has many good memories of sitting together to watch episodes of Star Trek, most NG. My kids were in middle school at the time, and I felt comfortable that they would see the types of morality plays that ST is famous for. I never had to be concerned about gore or profanity. I don’t consider ST: Picard family friendly, which is disappointing. The gore and profanity add nothing to story lines except shock value. The scene with Icheb being dissected alive was truly revolving and completely unnecessary. A couple of authors make this point with more pith than I do.

“Cursing is the crutch of an unimaginative mind.” - Rick Yancey
“Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.” - Spencer W. Kimball

If I could talk to the writers, I would exhort them to exert more creativity. They are better than this.

The second issue is more complex. First of all, I never felt Star Trek vision was utopian. It was optimistic. In fact, it was one of the very few futuristic visions that was. Almost all futuristic, science fiction in today’s market is dystopian with protagonists typically engaged in some conflict just to survive. Star Trek presented a world one would actually want to live in. Neither Starfleet nor the Federation were perfect, but both had noble ideals that the characters tried to live up to. When some actors violated those principles, the protagonists opposed them, which proposed the plot conflicts in many episodes. The broad themes of TOS, NG, Voyager, and Enterprise was of an emerging consensus of advance planets that worked together for the common good. Even DS9 with billions of people killed during interstellar war had an optimistic tone with the characters longing for the end of the war and a return to normal. Starfleet and the Federation had enemies that they worked together to overcome.

That optimistic future was Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, and I always found it very appealing. I just don’t see it in ST:Picard, and that is disappointing. It doesn’t seem like Star Trek to me. It’s just another dystopian, futuristic sci-fi series with some characters from old TV shows I used to like.

Instead of plots about how so much that was positive and uplifting old ST showing cracks and breaking down, I would much prefer the wild leaps of imagination that TNG especially was so good at. When are we going to see an episode like “Cause and Effect” that showed the Enterprise exploding in the opening scene and left you wondering, “How are they going to solve this?” Or how about “Parallels” with Worf literally jumping from one quantum reality to another?

Does anyone else miss this part of Star Trek in Picard?


No, if I wanted more TNG I'd watch more TNG.

I want something that forces to face uncomfortable realities.

Also, cursing has been part of Star Trek, as much as censors will allow, since the start. The only new word is "fuck", otherwise the hand ringing is shallow and betrays ignorance and double standards.
 
dystopian
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I don’t consider ST: Picard family friendly...

Star Trek was never necessarily meant to be family-friendly programming. Gene Roddenberry wanted to make an intelligent and adult science fiction series that pushed the limits. Roddenberry tested the limits of the censors in both the original series and the Next Generation.

The gore and profanity add nothing to story lines except shock value. The scene with Icheb being dissected alive was truly revolving and completely unnecessary. A couple of authors make this point with more pith than I do.

I agree at the scene with Icheb was a little on the extreme side, but it was PG-13 level violence at its worst. And again, this is not something that is new to Star Trek. In 1987, this was extreme...

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“Cursing is the crutch of an unimaginative mind.” - Rick Yancey
“Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.” - Spencer W. Kimball

Science disagrees...
https://achnews.org/2019/07/22/psyc...happier-healthier-and-more-honest-damn-right/

Swearing on Star Trek...

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That optimistic future was Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, and I always found it very appealing. I just don’t see it in ST:Picard, and that is disappointing. It doesn’t seem like Star Trek to me. It’s just another dystopian, futuristic sci-fi series with some characters from old TV shows I used to like.
"Dystopian"? In what way? Just because the Federation made a bad decision? It's still the same world we saw in the Next Generation era for the most part. If you live on Earth there is no want or hunger. We saw in Picard that even someone living in what's considered a slum had more than sufficient shelter and power and even a replicator.

There are no downtrodden masses or evil overlords. Largely no persecution for being different, the unfortunate decision about the Romulans notwithstanding. And you know what, even if I don't agree with the decision Starfleet made about the Romulans, I certainly can understand it. It's a complex issue with no clear-cut right or wrong. That's what I like about it.
Instead of plots about how so much that was positive and uplifting old ST showing cracks and breaking down, I would much prefer the wild leaps of imagination that TNG especially was so good at. When are we going to see an episode like “Cause and Effect” that showed the Enterprise exploding in the opening scene and left you wondering, “How are they going to solve this?” Or how about “Parallels” with Worf literally jumping from one quantum reality to another?
Because Patrick Stewart said he had no interest in doing the same kind of stories he had done before?
 
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It’s just another dystopian, futuristic sci-fi series with some characters from old TV shows I used to like.
Except, it's not dystopian. For the average Earth inhabitant, there is no fear, no scarcity no danger. Picard is happening out in the wilds, in the wake of a great tragedy that occurred to the Romulan Empire. It is a very human exploration of that fall out.

That is not dystopian unless we are mangling that definition.
 
Yup...SPS said, unequivocally, that he would NOT return to playing Picard if all that was going to happen was a sequel and the same character and such from TNG/Movies.

I can't blame him, he played Picard, in basically the same capacity, for a time span of 15 years across two TV series (technically DS9 because of being on Emissary) and four major motion pictures.
 
Except, it's not dystopian. For the average Earth inhabitant, there is no fear, no scarcity no danger. Picard is happening out in the wilds, in the wake of a great tragedy that occurred to the Romulan Empire. It is a very human exploration of that fall out.

That is not dystopian unless we are mangling that definition.

Nope...you see...what you didn't see is that the Federation is now not the Federation of Star Trek...

But the Federation from Starship Troopers

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