Done with Star Trek?

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I've somewhat grudgingly accepted that turkey bacon is not going to go away.

What really leaves a bad taste in my mouth is brussels sprouts. I suppose I belong to an older generation, with different values - we weren't raised with this politically correct nonsense about "childhood nutrition" and liberal nattering about an alleged "obesity epidemic." When our moms told us to "eat our vegetables" we shoved them around on our plates defiantly and filled up on white bread and gravy.

As long as we're willing to accept green shit that grows in dirt on our plates, that's what the farms will keep churning out. I hold uncritical consumers of salad responsible for the sad, low caloric state of American cuisine, because they're literally eating it up.

But what the hell, "veggies" (hate that word!) in general are aimed at a bunch of kids who know nothing about Gunther beer or unfiltered Lucky Strikes and go whining to the doctor for pills at the first hint of stomach distress. The lot of 'em couldn't deal with constipation if their lives depended on it. They're welcome to their "brussel sprouts," but it leaves me sad that future generations of kids will never experience the mature appreciation of bubble gum cigars and candy cigarettes.

 

[ST-One]

Star Trek is like bacon. It never stops being good. It just tastes funny when it has been sitting around for a while.

'Done with bacon'?

 

[Kaijima]

There are three kinds of Star Trek fans.

1. Those who see it as a vague and all-encompassing media franchise, looking to it for pure entertainment.

2. Those who see it as a deep and involved fictional universe, investing themselves to care about the niggles of how a Federation ship's EPS system functions and the politics of Vulcan-Betazoid weddings.

3. Those who see it as their personal deep and involved fictional universe, investing themselves to care about about all the people out there who have a terrifically flawed understanding of the niggles of a Federation ship's EPS system and who are even as we speak, perpetrating terrible misinformation about the politics of Vulcan-Betazoid weddings.

So generally,

Fan #1 doesn't care what the producers of Trek do with it as long as it ends up fun.

Fan #2 is a bit disappointed when the producers of Trek create a work that doesn't feature the niggly bits they find entrancing to enthuse over, but will watch it anyway if the phasers still look cool.

Fan #3 finds themselves continually "leaving the fandom" every time the correct continuity of Trek in their mind is violated, or at least starting campaigns to correct the Trek producers' assumptions about what Trek "should really be like", even if the perfect model is based entirely on a complex web of fan speculation surrounding a loose and nebulous cloud of media... most of which was scripted by writers with no clue what the others were doing, and not even really thinking about it, outside of glancing at a worn and much-photocopied Trekology bible every so often to double check whether Captain Kirk was a human guy or a Romulan.

 

[BillJ]

#4 - The ones who want it to be entertaining and fun... but also want it to say something and be true to its roots.

 

[AMQ]

#4 - The ones who want it to be entertaining and fun... but also want it to say something and be true to its roots.

Yes, IMO ST always has to say something and in a way reflect the world and send a message. I fell in love with ST because it gave me hope that humanity has a future

 

[darkwing_duck1]

#4 - The ones who want it to be entertaining and fun... but also want it to say something and be true to its roots.

Actually, I would put this between either 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 the options above...

 

[barnaclelapse]

It sucks when the world moves on without your permission.

I know.

I wish someone would have warned me.

Star Trek is one of those things I can never be done with. My ability to enjoy TOS, TNG, the movies and DS9 hasn't diminished at any point in my life, and I don't suspect it ever will. I'm always discovering new things within the shows, changing opinions on characters or episodes, and I'm still always running into people at the conventions I work at. This doesn't just apply to Star Trek, but it's still fun for me to get into one of those hopelessly nerdy, endlessly fun (under the right circumstances) about some random episode, movie or character.

And I liked enough of the new movie to want to follow the direction the next one is going in.

I can understand someone who's been a fan for thirty or forty years getting burned out, but fortunately for me I'm nowhere near that territory.

It probably helps that I have so many interests and weird little obsessions outside of Trek. When I come back around to it there's always something to grab my attention and enjoy. That's one of the things I love about Star Trek. To me the good outweighs the bad in spades, and the good will never truly get boring to me.

 

[Warped9]

#4 - The ones who want it to be entertaining and fun... but also want it to say something and be true to its roots.

Oh yeah. That would be we "out of touch" ones.

 

[number6]

Not "Out of Touch," But more "get off my lawn."

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The day that I turn to a TV show to give me hope for the future will be a sad day indeed.

 

[Warped9]

Not "Out of Touch," But more "get off my lawn."

You (and others like you) are so obvious in trying to goad me just to try and prove a point. You think you know something about me and some like minded around here. You try anything to try to discredit a viewpoint you don't like. Fact is you know squat.

You've called me sad and pathetic among other things. But every time you try anyone can see what's really going on. And that's sad for you.

 

[number6]

Not "Out of Touch," But more "get off my lawn."

You (and others like you) are so obvious in trying to goad me just to try and prove a point. You think you know something about me and some like minded around here. You try anything to try to discredit a viewpoint you don't like. Fact is you know squat.

You've called me sad and pathetic among other things. But every time you try anyone can see what's really going on. And that's sad for you.

What's so obvious is that you started a thread stating how "done" you are with Star Trek, and yet you're still here blubbering on and on about it.


Sounds more like a cry for attention to me.

 

[BillJ]

But more "get off my lawn."

Not so much "get off my lawn", more like respect the lawn you're playing on.

 

[number6]

But more "get off my lawn."

Not so much "get off my lawn", more like respect the yard you're playing on.

The problem is that they are respecting the lawn, while others continue to accuse them of polluting it.

 

[BillJ]

But more "get off my lawn."

Not so much "get off my lawn", more like respect the yard you're playing on.

The problem is that they are respecting the lawn, while others continue to accuse them of polluting it.

It really depends on what your perspective is on the newer material produced by Paramount. I can see how alot of fans and supporters of Star Trek feel left behind as Paramount continues to gear the franchise more and more towards general audiences. When I walked out of Star Trek 2009, I didn't feel like I walked out of a Trek film. Sure it had a Star Trek skin... and used elements familiar to fans... but it lacked the heart that Trek normally embodies. Of course, that's my perception.

People say that this film was a great success (and it was financially), but was it a success because it was Star Trek or because TV was plastered with wall-to-wall ads showing cool explosions and space monsters? Was it simply a summer blockbuster or does it have the legs to be an 'enduring' success?

 

[number6]

Hey.. I liked it. All of my friends who are ST/Sci-fi fans liked it and the theatres packed to see it when I did seemed to like it as well.

The sequel will be telling.

 

[FordSVT]

The day that I turn to a TV show to give me hope for the future will be a sad day indeed.

I dunno... it sounds quaint now, but I've heard fans of TOS say that quite often. Not just on this board, but fan docs, etc. The 1960s was a turbulent time, and Trek gave some people a glimpse at what our future could be like if we kept working at it, and people were inspired by it. That's the very definition of "hope".

Now a 25 year old saying that about Enterprise would definitely be odd.

 

[Dukhat]

People say that this film was a great success (and it was financially), but was it a success because it was Star Trek or because TV was plastered with wall-to-wall ads showing cool explosions and space monsters? Was it simply a summer blockbuster or does it have the legs to be an 'enduring' success?

If you even have to ask that question, then you're vastly underestimating the amount of fans that Star Trek has.

I truly believe that it was as successful as it was because it was a Star Trek film. I see commercials for movies all the time that have explosions and monsters, yet I have no desire to see them because I'm simply not interested in whatever subject matter the movie is about.

 

[number6]

And what of the same group of people who hated the new film before it was ever made, kept coming into the BBS telling anyone who would listen that this film would be a huge failure and Trek will be dead forever and then moved the goalposts for success once the film was successful? Is it some strange coincidence that those same people are still here trolling people who liked the film and now are predicting the failure of its sequels?? Sounds a lot like "get off my lawn" to me. I suspect these are the same people who were upset about Spock dying in TWOK, the 1701 destroyed in TSFS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT and protested at every turn. this is nothing new and those people will never be convinced, even if GR had come back to life and invented a time machine so that he got to produce TOS' Third season.

 

[Shatnertage]

I liked the lawn analogies a page back...very Chauncey Gardner.

And I missed the discussion of ENT season 4, but I find all of it re-watchable, with the exception of the Storm Fronts and Daedelus. Bound is fun, and Observer Effect is one of my favorite episodes in all of Trek. This is coming from someone who pretty much ignored the show when it was on, and only started watching it last year or so. I think the shows got strong points and weak points, like pretty much everything else I've watched outside of The Wire.

I find that I'm not as into Demons/Terra Prime as most other fans, but that's OK. TATV...I've got nothing to say that hasn't already been said. I liked the ending with all of the captains doing the monologue.

------

The thing is about those who are determined to dislike new Trek is that, no matter what happens, they can feel good about it. If the sequel is a financial failure, they'll say they were right, that the new approach is creatively bankrupt. If it's a financial success, they'll say it only proves that the fans are creatively impoverished, and that its success is a sign of its mediocrity.

Truly the gift that keeps on giving.