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What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

I do think it's simply the truth, though. I think it's simply impossible to be a major power facing opponents that are willing to play it dirty, and always keep your own hands entirely clean, and you'll need some people to do the dirty work. But section 31 went too far in that.
I don't think 'Star Trek morality' is that naive. Kirk went into the Neutral Zone to steal a cloaking device, Picard went on a mission to invade a Cardassian lab, Sisko went undercover as a Klingon... and did that whole thing with the data rod... and poisoning that planet. There's the Omega Directive. Starfleet Intelligence exists.

Starfleet operates in shades of grey, Section 31 operates in black.
 
The stupid thing is - the good guys HAVE an intelligence agency: Starfleet intelligence. They also do clandestine shit, like sending Picard, Beverly & Worf on black-ops missions into Cardassian space. And know intricate Romulan policy interna. And do war recon.

Section 31 is, like, an authocratic conspiracy within said agency.

Like - in MARVEL there exists the S.H.I.E.L.D agency. Then Captain America finds out that inside Shield there is a secret Nazi conspiracy group called "Hydra".

And now imagine that from now on, EVERY TIME the writers want to do spy stuff, they say "this is agent Hill, from Hydra". "Iron Man, you have to go on a secret mission for Hydra". "Hydra informed us the Atlanteans plan an attack on Wakanda"... and so on and so forth.

THAT'S how stupid this whole shabang is.

And the only reason is - everyone forgets Starfleet Intelligence exists, because it has a boring name, and no one dares to invent anything new in Star Trek anymore, so they always use "Section 31" - because it has a name that people know, and vaguely fits the "shady spy stuff" description.
 
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a "controversial opinion" that I have about the Star Trek universe is that the Orion bad guys in Discovery they look way too goofy for green Star Trek aliens. the main female Orion and her nephew they look really weird. its their faces that look weird in my opinion. They look like skinny Hulks instead of sex slave Orions yada yada
 
a "controversial opinion" that I have about the Star Trek universe is that the Orion bad guys in Discovery they look way too goofy for green Star Trek aliens. the main female Orion and her nephew they look really weird. its their faces that look weird in my opinion. They look like skinny Hulks instead of sex slave Orions yada yada
Fully agreed.
Interestingly enough - on ENT the Orions looked perfectly fine! It helped that they cast just enormous dudes.

The problem with Osyraa's make up was that it wasn't just paint, but also a latex mask. And that was somehow really visible, presumably because it was so smooth (compared to, say, again - ENT's Suliban - the yellow aliens, which aesthetically looked pretty fine).
 
I'm not sure there's anything controversial about saying the Orions in Discovery looked weird. In fact you might have stumbled upon the one subject that all Star Trek fans can agree on.
 
The problem with Osyraa's make up was that it wasn't just paint, but also a latex mask. And that was somehow really visible, presumably because it was so smooth (compared to, say, again - ENT's Suliban - the yellow aliens, which aesthetically looked pretty fine).

I really liked the look of Suliban. So much more interesting than just another rubber forehead. The hasn't-aged-at-all-well CGI morphing is another issue, but the makeup/prosthetics were top notch there.
 
The look of the Orions has always been a little off. Even going back to the TOS pilot, the green makeup doesn't really look natural. But, in some ways, I think it does make it look alien and weird.

I'm gonna guess another issue with the green makeup is getting that shade to work and pop with that particular color on film in a particular lighting scheme, especially if the actress is in an environment where they're using greenscreens to add in visual effects.
 
a "controversial opinion" that I have about the Star Trek universe is that the Orion bad guys in Discovery they look way too goofy for green Star Trek aliens. the main female Orion and her nephew they look really weird. its their faces that look weird in my opinion. They look like skinny Hulks instead of sex slave Orions yada yada

Considering the history of all the topics you started on this forum, you find just about anything in Star Trek weird.
But I will agree that I wasn't sold on the Orions, both in Enterprise and Discovery. In terms of looks, that is. I suppose the entire analogy was that they were a reflection on how brutal humans have been and still are when it comes to slavery. Sometimes I wonder if making Orions human colonists who grew so detached and decided to call themselves Orions (for whatever reasons) would have been more interesting.

I mean, think about it. Early 2100's. Warp drive has developed enough that people are leaving Earth because they belong to groups that find themselves no longer belonging on Earth because it is uniting, and they want to go to other worlds and build lives according to their own believes. After a few hundred years, these colonies would feel as alien to (for example) 26th century humans as actual aliens.
 
I'll find something that you and I agree on someday!!

Sometimes I wonder if making Orions human colonists who grew so detached and decided to call themselves Orions (for whatever reasons) would have been more interesting.
There are plenty of rubbish and failed human colonies in Star Trek, so there's room for Orions and human pirates.
 
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After nearly 50 years as a fan, I've come to the conclusion that the original Star Trek is the only one with any real meaning to me. Everything else just feels like variations on a theme.
 
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