What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[Unicron]

For TOS, I would have preferred a simple scan and remastering and keeping the original intent intact. I can't stand some of the CGI they added because it really sticks out like a sore thumb.

I've often wound up feeling this way about the TOS-R version of "Ultimate Computer" because I feel like the new combat scenes just don't really fit as well. I do like the idea of the Enterprise being shown as more maneuverable, in keeping with Chekov's dialogue about the battle, but I agree it does tend to stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I agree with pretty much everything @Lord Garth said above except about "The Empath" working. I've always found that episode to be a slog.

 

[Sci]

If we're now talking about headcanon, here is one:

Starfleet is not the official quasi-military of the United Federation of Planets. It's more of a large NGO with a space fleet which happens to be headquartered on Earth.

The problem with this is that has canonically been established to be an agency of the Federation government, especially in DS9 and TUC. Its ships are described as Federation property, its officers subject to Federation authority, the Federation President is described as their commander-in-chief in "Paradise Lost," etc. It is clearly a government organization subject to the authority of the civilian government.

This helps to explain some of the inconsistencies across Trek - most notably how the Federation is supposed to be this multi-species alliance with no discrimination, but everything is HQed on Earth and 90%-95% of Starfleet officers are human. We know that some races (the Vulcans in particular) have their own fleets and training academies after all.

I would maintain that Humans do not make up a majority of Starfleet and that the crews we see in the canon represent only a tiny minority of total Starfleet membership, with the canonical crews just happening to mostly be Human as a conceit of TV storytelling. The Federation Starfleet inherited the infrastructure of the United Earth Starfleet and is headquartered on Earth because Earth's status as "honest broker" led to it becoming the Federation capital. And Federation Members retaining their own fleets is no more of a problem than the existence of the Ohio Naval Militia or the Maryland Defense Force.

 

[cooleddie74]

Starfleet isn't an NGO. It's just as much a part of the Federation central government as the Federation Council in San Francisco. It may not be a purely military organization the way the U.S. Navy is but it's sure not some quasi-private, nonprofit business organized to defend Federation borders from outside threats.

 

[Vger23]

Starfleet isn't an NGO. It's just as much a part of the Federation central government as the Federation Council in San Francisco. It may not be a purely military organization the way the U.S. Navy is but it's sure not some quasi-private, nonprofit business organized to defend Federation borders from outside threats.

Controversial Opinion: I hate the "is Starfleet a military organization" argument

Controversial thing to do after making that statement: I'm going to say that Starfleet is certainly whatever a "military organization" might look like 300 years from now in a more advanced, peaceful society which has not only the role to engage in the interests of the government, but also to police and defend it while at the same time having the mandate to explore and discover things.

You can't compare it to today's military organizations, because there's really not much left on Earth to explore and discover....at least in a macro sense.

And I only bring that up here because my willingness to engage in the 9,437 page long "Is Starfleet a Military" thread is equal only to my desire to repeatedly smash my crotch with a meat tenderizer...which is to say it is non-existent.

 

[cooleddie74]

In a post-World War III world where humans have active, regular contact with aliens and then get involved in a bloody interstellar war with the Romulans I imagine what constitutes "a military" changes pretty significantly, especially since said war sees the use of the same weapons that almost destroyed human civilization over a century earlier. At some point between 2063 and 2161 there's probably a moment when it's decided that humans on armed spaceships can't be running around like sailors on Earth warships in the years before we almost blew ourselves up.

 

[XCV330]

And I only bring that up here because my willingness to engage in the 9,437 page long "Is Starfleet a Military" thread is equal only to my desire to repeatedly smash my crotch with a meat tenderizer...which is to say it is non-existent.

That thread is close, very close, to deciding once and for all whether Starfleet is a Military organization, just a few thousand pages more. Then everyone involved will settle the matter of money's existence in the Federation.

 

[cooleddie74]

I'll give you credit for that post.





I'll go now.

 

[Vger23]

I'll give you credit for that post.





I'll go now.

 

[1001001]

That thread is close, very close, to deciding once and for all whether Starfleet is a Military organization, just a few thousand pages more. Then everyone involved will settle the matter of money's existence in the Federation.

Your Four Favorite Shows' Military Ranked According to Budget.

Animated Trek doesn't count.

 

[XCV330]

Your Four Favorite Shows' Military Ranked According to Budget.

Animated Trek doesn't count.

Duck Tales (woo ooo): Scrooge McDuck's vast private air force, navy and land operations were seldom seen on camera, but his ability to control seven Latin American countries on behalf of United Toon Fruit Company, as well as a stranglehold on OPEC made him easily the worlds most powerful duck.

Babylon 5: There were as many ships as their Commodore Amiga 500 could clone on screen before running out of hard drive space. Then they had to buy another Commodore Amiga. This killed the budget and then Commodore went out of business.

Teh Star Treks: Star Trek has no money so their military is free. Some would say it's priceless. But it also doesn't have a military.

MST3k: Gizmonic Institute was able to launch a giant dog-boned shaped space station, hidden inside a building until it was put into orbit. While the Institute, and later Deep/Moon 13 have never displayed military, or any other kind of prowess, they are able to kidnap people and make them watch bad movies, which is something that no one else has been able to do.

 

[Lord Garth]

Now that it's December: whenever I see the acronym SNW, I think of snow.

 

[cooleddie74]

So you're saying...you're an Informer?

 

[Farscape One]

A Trekkie boom boom down...

 

[eschaton]

Starfleet isn't an NGO. It's just as much a part of the Federation central government as the Federation Council in San Francisco. It may not be a purely military organization the way the U.S. Navy is but it's sure not some quasi-private, nonprofit business organized to defend Federation borders from outside threats.

Again though, this has big issues. Why are 90%+ of the Starfleet crew (and cadets) we see human? Why do the Vulcans seemingly have their own fleets?

 

[cooleddie74]

The Federation is kind of a federal republic of sorts with individual member planets having a large degree of control over their own local affairs, which would include immediate planetary security and enforcing laws within their own jurisdiction, which could spread out for light-years beyond said homeworld. That would necessitate the need for fleets of their own for things Starfleet is either unable to do or unwilling to do.

I'm sure the President of the Federation has more than once had to tell a member world: "Your local issue. When it reaches the space of another Federation world or that of our enemies that's another matter."

 

[Farscape One]

One thing to consider that might not have been mentioned before.

Other races in the Federation might not be quite so ready to go out and explore like humans are. Space is really dangerous, and many people within those member worlds simply aren't that interested in putting their lives on the line daily like that, particularly when you've got one of the founding member worlds having a population, in this case humans, that's REALLY dead set on exploring.

Think of the Vulcans. They have had a fleet for hundreds of years before humans even discovered warp, and they weren't really very exploratory.

And look at the practicality of it, too. Why risk your own people if you've got another that is more than willing to take up the danger mantle?

 

[cooleddie74]

I could see the Vulcans around 2161 thinking that this Federation should be more of a human, Andorian and Tellarite thing and we'll just keep doing more or less what we've been doing for centuries. Membership will bring a united defense against external threats but we're just not into the whole...fly around, set things right and blow stuff up way of doing things. So we'll gladly join...just don't expect us to be the first ones to grab our disruptors if you guys see something weird out there in deep space.

 

[XCV330]

I'd like to think the creation of Starfleet allowed Andorians to finally focus on the Andoranan Mining Consortium, which as we all know, runs from no one.

 

[Farscape One]

And it's founding member... Shran.