Producer Akiva Goldsman on SNW Season Two...
- Thread starter Mudd
- Start date
I love the fun that he is trying to have with it.
Exactly.Of course, if characters are put together in SNW who were not previously "canonically together..." they are now canonically together.
I prefer flexibility to rigidity in storytelling.
It's where fun goes to die.
Yeah, I want this right now.
It's funny, I kind of like to have my cake and eat it too. I like that there's an established canon with a "history," and all that entails. it gives the universe a more real and lived-in feeling. It's also fun to obsess over apocrypha and small details! But to me there always comes a point where it flips...the canon becomes a weighty albatross that stops good stories from happening, and it would be better to just ignore or change the canon (retcon). There are plenty of examples of what Goldsman calls fun and challenging just being weird and kludgy.
Here's one: the fan outcry at the fact that the DSC/SNW 1701 didn't look like the TOS one. The creators heard this and decided to make this weird storyline where Pike was some kind of Neo-Luddite and the tech wasn't working properly or whatever the hell and they wasted time that could've dedicated to other things to de-develop the neo1701 so that it was less out of line with TOS. It felt inorganic and kind of dumb.
I realize this might make me a hypocrite. I guess that for me, I am ready and willing to accept new/retconned canon if it's well made and well done (The Rule of Good), which is why I didn't care much about the neo1701.
Here's one: the fan outcry at the fact that the DSC/SNW 1701 didn't look like the TOS one. The creators heard this and decided to make this weird storyline where Pike was some kind of Neo-Luddite and the tech wasn't working properly or whatever the hell and they wasted time that could've dedicated to other things to de-develop the neo1701 so that it was less out of line with TOS. It felt inorganic and kind of dumb.
I realize this might make me a hypocrite. I guess that for me, I am ready and willing to accept new/retconned canon if it's well made and well done (The Rule of Good), which is why I didn't care much about the neo1701.
I don't think that makes you a hypocrite; just human. Humans are unique in our ability to have ideas and beliefs that can be contradictory, or seem so, until we explore them more in depth. Which, few people understand or find value in much less actually engage with in knowing themselves.
But, on the topic of canon, I personally thing it is a tool. It can become a hammer, or a straight jacket, or an opportunity. The goal is how you approach it, and are you willing to put aside personal assumptions around the art to engage with it. For me, Strange New Worlds strikes that balance between acknowledging newer understanding of technology and past interpretations of the tech or characters.
I welcome new interpretations because that challenges my own preconceived notions about these characters. A prequel shouldn't confirm what I believe; it should give me the opportunity to go "Oh, I didn't know that."
But, on the topic of canon, I personally thing it is a tool. It can become a hammer, or a straight jacket, or an opportunity. The goal is how you approach it, and are you willing to put aside personal assumptions around the art to engage with it. For me, Strange New Worlds strikes that balance between acknowledging newer understanding of technology and past interpretations of the tech or characters.
I welcome new interpretations because that challenges my own preconceived notions about these characters. A prequel shouldn't confirm what I believe; it should give me the opportunity to go "Oh, I didn't know that."
i feel the same way
