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Phase II: Blood and Fire Part 1 Released!! (SPOILERS)

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Gee, does this mean I'm now allowed to post suggestive pictures of female porn stars? I'm sure I've got some nifty Jenna Jameson pics that'll just be marvy.

:rolleyes:

And gay folks wonder why they get accused of trying to ram an agenda down our throats.

Back to the subject at hand.

Frankly, I'm not the least bit surprised to see David posting here. For one thing, he posted in one of the news threads years ago. Of course, the fact that he's still an ensign indicates that he hasn't posted much since, but that's another subject. :)

I'm sure more than a few folks around here know that my politics tends to fall somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun, but let me say that this story is long and shamefully overdue. I blame Roddenberry's lawyer, but that, again, is another subject.

There is, though, that matter of THE SCENE!!! (Cue music bit from "The Corbomite Maneuver", the one where the Fesarius arrives). Not the content, per se, but the staging of it. I'm not sure any real editing could be done without effectively gutting it, since all the dialogue is somewhat important, and it's not really the overall length of the scene. It has more to do with Freeman trying to get into Peter's jumper from the second he entered the room, which pretty much turned the entire four minute scene into a snogfest. Seriously, David, I've participated in orgies that were more subtle. Certainly Alex can show concern and affection for Peter without coming on from the get-go with an attitude of "C'mon, big boy, get nekkid and fuck me now!" At least he could've behaved himself until checking Peter's injury, and then started in with the kissyface. If nothing else, it would've kept the snogging in the last minute or so of the scene, which is a lot less awkward to watch, while still establishing the relationship and without sacrificing any pertinent information (and, let's be honest, be a lot more on par with the length of all the other love scenes we've seen in Star Trek to this point).

A good model to look at might be, ironically, the storyline they're running on "As The World Turns" with the gay characters; they're not really pulling any punches, and there's plenty of shirtless smooching for those so interested, but they also know where the line is, where if they cross it, folks start switching over to the Food Network.

So, from my standpoint, the only effective solution I see is reshooting the scene. Probably not bloody likely, but that's how I see it.
 
Gee, does this mean I'm now allowed to post suggestive pictures of female porn stars? I'm sure I've got some nifty Jenna Jameson pics that'll just be marvy.
Oh please, you can't see anything of the guy you don't see at a beach. You're just looking for a reason to say "gay agenda" and complain about it. Frankly, after endless push up bras, catsuits and Helen Noel fixations, it's about time a tiny step was made the other direction.

That said I agree "the scene" is too long. On the other hand IMHO almost every scene in that episode is too long.
 
An interesting discussion, thank you all.

We can discuss and debate the intricacies of copyright law at length and probably produce a lot of useful insight and understanding. I am not a lawyer and I appreciate the quest for accuracy. But there's a much more immediate point that I would like to make and I think it might provide another useful way to look at the whole issue.

Yes, the gay characters were put into the episode for a purpose. Multiple purposes, in fact. Most important, the love scene, the kiss, specific lines of dialog, all of it is part of a larger theme: a portrait of family relationships. Peter and Alex are beginning a family, while Peter and Kirk are an estranged family, and Kirk has a unique relationship with Spock which has elements of family, and then there's Kirk's relationship with the Enterprise and her crew -- the entire episode is about family, as you will see when Part II is released.

When some people talk about cutting those scenes, they are talking about cutting out an integral part of the story. We put them in for a purpose, not just a "political agenda" as some people have accused, but to make a much more important point about FAMILY. Taking out the heart of Peter and Alex's storyline defeats the purpose. It takes out the key element that ties all of those other separate and diverse elements together. (As you will see in Part II. If you thought Part I was harrowing....) Taking out those scenes makes the whole episode incomprehensible. Taking out that storyline destroys the opportunity for this episode to challenge the audience the way Trek is supposed to.

So now, having said that as prelude, I want to repost here something I've already posted in two other places:

I have always believed that all of us, gay or straight, black or white, Christian or Jew or Muslim or atheist or whatever, old or young or somewhere in between, American or African or Asian or whatever — all of us are alone in this together. We are human beings, on a whirling little speck of dust, halfway out the spiral arm of a mostly insignificant galaxy lost somewhere among the trillions of galaxy in a universe so vast we don’t have the language to even begin evoking its scale. We, all of us, are all we have. This is it. Just us.

What we have in common — all of us — is far more similar than any differences we think we have. We all want clean air and clean water, a warm place to sleep, and decent food. We all want to be able to take care of our families, raise our children to be good people, make sure they have excellent educations, and all the necessary health care to keep them resistant to disease and infirmity. We all want good fulfilling work. We all want security for ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation. We all want a chance to do better for ourselves and the people around us. Given that we all have so much in common, I think the two silliest things in the world to argue over are how we say our prayers and who we fall in love with.

Instead of arguing about the right way to pray, we should be thrilled that others are seeking a spiritual path. Instead of arguing about the right way to fall in love, we should be celebrating that love is possible and joyous and that so many people on this planet are able to achieve it and that so many more are hungry for it. We should be cherishing our diversities and learning from each other.

Speaking directly to this episode, when the Phase II team set out to film Blood And Fire, we knew that some people would have a problem with it. We argued and debated and discussed and considered the gay characters for the better part of a year. And ultimately, we kept coming back to several key points:

First, this is a promise that Gene Roddenberry himself made, in public, more than once, to Star Trek’s gay fans. This was a promise we wanted to keep.

Second, it wasn’t enough to just have these characters say that they’re gay in a couple lines of dialog, that was a cop-out; because after we considered everything we were about to put them through, we felt that if we truly honored and respected the people these characters represented, we would give them a moment of genuine intimacy, a genuine “I love you” and a kiss.

Third, we’ve had forty years of heterosexual smooching in Star Trek, including Kirk dry-humping a green-skinned Orion girl in the upcoming movie. Given that a significant percentage of Star Trek’s fans identify themselves as gay or bisexual or having had such relationships, even 4 minutes of the “silliness” (as you characterized it) was probably not out of line.

And finally, after we made that commitment to the characters and thought about it some more and discussed it some more, we recognized the very real possibility that some viewers might be uncomfortable. And that’s when we realized that was the most important reason why we had to include the gay characters in this episode.

So to those people who squirm, let me say: WE MADE THIS EPISODE SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU. We made this episode just for you — and for everybody who thinks about gay people like you do.

We wanted you to squirm. We wanted you to be uncomfortable. We wanted you to be challenged. WE WANTED YOU TO THINK.

Hell, we wanted to kick you so far out of your comfort zone, you’d need Warp 6 for a week just to get within subspace radio distance of your comfort zone again.

WE WANTED YOU TO SEE THAT THERE ARE OTHER POSSIBILITIES. AND THIS WAS THE WAY WE CHOSE TO DO IT.

Some people have assumed that we had an agenda in making this episode. They’re right, we did. But it’s not the agenda people have presumed.

Our agenda was to have you stop and consider a possibility — just consider it — for only four minutes, that’s all — that gay people are human beings too, loved by God, equal in the eyes of God, cherished by God, and given the same gifts from God as you — the ability to love and connect to another human being.

We’re not asking you to agree. We’re not asking you to turn gay. We’re not asking you to attend a same-sex wedding. We’re not asking you to do anything except CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT GAY PEOPLE HAVE REAL LIVES TOO. Lives of joy and wonder and love, just like everybody else.

Some people have said that the gay scene made them squirm, so they had to look at their own feelings in the matter. They’re the ones who figured it out why we put that scene in the episode.

To those people who got it, thank you. To those who still haven't gotten it, and who might still be shaking their heads, that's okay too. Thanks for watching. Thanks for being part of the process. Thanks for your passion for Star Trek.

David Gerrold

To David Gerrold: I think you just became my new hero. I just wanted you to know.

In regards to Brent Corrigan needing to hit the gym: I strongly disagree.


J.
 
Gee, does this mean I'm now allowed to post suggestive pictures of female porn stars? I'm sure I've got some nifty Jenna Jameson pics that'll just be marvy.

There is a nice thread going in TNZ. You are welcome to post them there.

And gay folks wonder why they get accused of trying to ram an agenda down our throats.

Swallow it!

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Well. After I 'unno how many years of being disillusioned with Star Trek in general, I got sucked back in by a little thing coming up in 2009 known as a movie...but whatevz. I was hungry for more Trek, and I thought watching some NV/P2 would be a nice, if poor substitute.

I hereby apologise for the phrase 'if poor'. I loved it. Went on an archive binge and still wasn't disappionted. Not much else I can say that hasn't already been said, so I'll only say this...

When I think of Star Trek moments that shove a message down our throats, what comes to mind is that episode with Mr. Blackandwhiteface and Mr. Whiteandblackface. Always has, always will. Two guys in love with each other, showing affection for each other...not so much.
 
There are quite a few "suggestive" photos of porn stars and even mainstream actresses posted all over this board, Captain April - more than a few in avatars, in fact.

Simmer down.
 
Not sure if you're still looking at this thread, Mr. Gerrold, but I really want to thank you for writing so many things I've enjoyed over the years. Your book on "The Trouble With Tribbles" remains my favorite book about writing, and is one of the things that made me want to be a writer; and The Man Who Folded Himself is the single best thing I've ever read on the subject of time travel.

I haven't been able to view "Blood and Fire" yet, because of computer problems at home, but I look forward to seeing the whole thing once I've got things up and running again. From the comments on here, it sounds like something I'm really going to like.

Thanks for all the wonderful writing over the years, and please keep it coming!
 
Very much on Topic, though, as it demonstrates the sad reason why scenes such as the one in question are important, even in this day and age.
 
And why it doesn't help when the side trying to make advances lives down to the worst stereotypes.

Are you now talking about the BaF or us posters here?

Because I can't see in the fact that a loving couple wants to get married anything even resembling to 'living down to the worst stereotypes'.
 
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