Salutations,
This is my first post on this forum and I joined to express this reaction and insight subsequent to viewing First Contact for the first time since I was in highschool when I lacked mindful vision.
I started at the beginning of the timeline with First Contact to prepare for Enterprise. I have my criticisms, but from what I recall of the other films First Contact is the best. Afre Woodard was the best actor. The Borg made it a Horror flick that starkly clashed with the hagiographic hijinks by the wanton Away Team. The interview with Brandon Braga said First Contact is useful as an introduction to Star Trek, but the Away Team undermines hundreds of episodes that agonize over the suffering required to adhere to the Prime Directive. There were no Borg anyways and no reason to think Dr. Cochrane wouldn't have aggro'd Vulcan Jedi who also have no use for the Prime Directive. In fact, one gets the sense that humanity only achieves utopia, not because of a warp drive prototype, but only because it initiated global species manipulation via jedi mind tricks. Come to think of it; it is macabre irony that the Federation exerts the Prime Directive on inferior civilizations given the Federation only exists because their own Golden Rule was not applied to themselves. Fits in with evolutionary psychology theories and gamesmanship with gene pools. Next to these apostasies the countless temporal paradoxes are minor issues to be fixed by some agency, etc. The Borg flung into the inner solar-system are mind-bending loose ends. Ok, enough, now let's focus on Dr. Cochrane for he isn't a Great Man, yet I will make the case he is an Old Guard Burner comparable to Elon Musk crossed with Hunter S. Thompson.
First, let's define terms. Burning Man has been around for 30 years so it's around in 1996 when First Contact was made. Burners are creative artists who participate in their orderly immolation of voodoo-doll like giants while chasing a retro-tribal, neo-bohemian aesthetic bolstered by a chivalric code some of them follow sometimes. So, like the rest of us, but wearing creative threads and regularly committing strange acts with weird people they have never met nor will meet again. My, doesn't this sound a little like our Dr. Cochrane?
Dr. Cochrane. Review how this guy is attired; his hat alone is worth a thousand words. We are introduced to his eminence while he is carousing with abandon. He plies Troi with what leads her to believe is "Tequila" and consent isn't a priority for him as he attempts to grope her while making overtly sexual advances. Burners are known libertines and perhaps Counselor Troi is stimulating behavior from the highly compromised pre-frontal cortex of Dr. Cochrane who is unable to control his actions. She, at least initially, can. It is very possible he is blackout wasted. So, as in real life, these things can be complicated. Graciously assuming Troi was offered Tequila (she's never had it before so is at the mercy of a white-girl wasted Dr. Cochrane's accuracy and charity); I don't think its fair to assume at all anything about the contents of what is in that double-fifth containing brown-hued liquid. Dr. Cochrane ingenuously calls it "stuff", his "best stuff". Given Dr. Cochrane's mood swings, varied speech patterns, shifting levels of coherence - I wonder at all that could have been in that container. Troi was tipsy after maybe three shots of 'tequila'. It took less than five seconds to get white-girl wasted from the brown-hued substance. She blacked out mid-sentence.
Here, I feel compelled to succintly detour in recognition of virtue. Strangely, a Galileo-like demonstration of the Enterprise is chosen to convince Dr. Cochrane that the orbital salvos which just decimated his gang-affiliate was delivered by aliens when clustered in Geordi's hands is a device incorporating three future centuries of scientific advances. I must conclude that only Geordi gave enough of a rat's behind to shield forbidden knowledge from our poor Doctor. Geordi's maturity stands out from the rampant disregard his compatriots hold for prudence. Now, I return to the matter.
Yes, despite Dr. Cochrane's possibly criminal licentiousness; I feel for this Burner. He was wracked with a severe hangover, nausea, likely memory impairment; forced to accept a delusional implausible reality. He doesn't want to be objectified. He pales at the thought of fame and turns to his drink before absconding aimlessly. Riker, subconsciously ridden with jealousy and father issues if I may be so bold; tazes a fleeing unarmed Dr. Cochrane who falls hard in a ditch.
After this ignoble and dehumanizing revenge that I thought might very well lead to hostility and bad blood the film endulges in a major 'BAMF' for all concerned. We can never know what heights of charisma the Away Team tapped to 180 degree shift Dr. Cochrane's plot trajectory. He seems jovial and at peace with his fate when he returns to the untested Titan rocket assured by Federation temporal outlaws of his success. He sees an button ominously turn red, but in fact reassures Riker and Geordi because he has his Rock and Roll. In good spirits Dr. Cochrane corrects the record and imparts his motivation that far within drove him and his set for years to the illustrious endeavor. He first says he is aware he stands to gain incredible wealth with his invention, but then admits and makes clear that he would leave his riches behind if he could ascend to a planet where awaits beautiful willing females, and he can only mean alien females; a planet committed to satisfying his bottomless lust. It takes a big man to admit that such truths and when factors are taken into account what he asks in return is trivial compared to what he offers. The more so because such a planet is to his him, pure fancy. He cannot know of Risa, though do not doubt this knowledge is precisely what Riker keeps to himself for he is still jealous. It is now that I will make you aware that among the chivalric beatitudes that Burners champion is Gift-Giving. This evidence connects with common-sense so I move on.
There are in fact ten Chivalric Commandments, which Burners call 'Principles' as if there is a difference. One such Principle is named "Immediacy". I feel the Burner's own definition is worth repeating in full as you will see how it applies seamlessly to the BAMF thru to the Titan Launch:
"Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience."
I hope and wish that now we can now acknowledge the abundant light residing within Dr. Cochrane. He is just a man, but First Contact conveys throughout how richly complicated we non-Great humans are.
Old Guard Burners have a penchant for inordinate vehicle tinkering with surreal results they call Mutant Vehicles. There are a legion of examples extant, but trust that none before Dr. Cochrane appropriated a nuclear weapon of mass destruction so as to convert it into a prototype for inter-galactic transit. The equivalent of many Bothans surely perished to scavenge so much rocket-graded fuel not to mention materials allowing for multi-stage capacity to break-away from Earth's gravity, nacelles, and so on. Federation capital ships are modelled off a Mutant Vehicle prototype and this is why I mentioned the comparison with gilded-tinkerboss, Elon Musk, who has participated in the massive Burner conclaves.
Finally, I wish to address the unfair, yet inarguably accurate, maligning of Dr. Cochrane by film writer, Brannon Braga. He defames the Doctor as a "Creep", diagnoses him as an "alcoholic" after a single night's binge following the inexplicable shelling of his comrades courtesy of death from the sky. I do not discount that some among Dr. Cochrane's gang-affiliate, perhaps even the man himself, contracted some measure of PTSD. Mr. Braga is scapegoating Dr. Cochrane to use as a foil to deflect attention from the Manchurian Starfleet Captain of the Enterprise. Picard is enwrapped in primeval urges leading to violence, sadism, mansplaining, machismo, and Never does he reveal that his demons run riot because his mind is compromised telepathically by the Borg. I think with proper perspective we can acknowledge that Dr. Cochrane, simple man as he sees himself, was creepy AF with Troi and cannot be trusted in the company of women no matter how utterly crucial his Gift to Humanity and Countless Other Alien Allies and Dependents. Clearly, Burners are capable of darkness as well as light, but I would love to read what the respected experts on this forum think of my theory and I can only hope I am the first one to propound such assertions else all my effort is in vain.
This is my first post on this forum and I joined to express this reaction and insight subsequent to viewing First Contact for the first time since I was in highschool when I lacked mindful vision.
I started at the beginning of the timeline with First Contact to prepare for Enterprise. I have my criticisms, but from what I recall of the other films First Contact is the best. Afre Woodard was the best actor. The Borg made it a Horror flick that starkly clashed with the hagiographic hijinks by the wanton Away Team. The interview with Brandon Braga said First Contact is useful as an introduction to Star Trek, but the Away Team undermines hundreds of episodes that agonize over the suffering required to adhere to the Prime Directive. There were no Borg anyways and no reason to think Dr. Cochrane wouldn't have aggro'd Vulcan Jedi who also have no use for the Prime Directive. In fact, one gets the sense that humanity only achieves utopia, not because of a warp drive prototype, but only because it initiated global species manipulation via jedi mind tricks. Come to think of it; it is macabre irony that the Federation exerts the Prime Directive on inferior civilizations given the Federation only exists because their own Golden Rule was not applied to themselves. Fits in with evolutionary psychology theories and gamesmanship with gene pools. Next to these apostasies the countless temporal paradoxes are minor issues to be fixed by some agency, etc. The Borg flung into the inner solar-system are mind-bending loose ends. Ok, enough, now let's focus on Dr. Cochrane for he isn't a Great Man, yet I will make the case he is an Old Guard Burner comparable to Elon Musk crossed with Hunter S. Thompson.
First, let's define terms. Burning Man has been around for 30 years so it's around in 1996 when First Contact was made. Burners are creative artists who participate in their orderly immolation of voodoo-doll like giants while chasing a retro-tribal, neo-bohemian aesthetic bolstered by a chivalric code some of them follow sometimes. So, like the rest of us, but wearing creative threads and regularly committing strange acts with weird people they have never met nor will meet again. My, doesn't this sound a little like our Dr. Cochrane?
Dr. Cochrane. Review how this guy is attired; his hat alone is worth a thousand words. We are introduced to his eminence while he is carousing with abandon. He plies Troi with what leads her to believe is "Tequila" and consent isn't a priority for him as he attempts to grope her while making overtly sexual advances. Burners are known libertines and perhaps Counselor Troi is stimulating behavior from the highly compromised pre-frontal cortex of Dr. Cochrane who is unable to control his actions. She, at least initially, can. It is very possible he is blackout wasted. So, as in real life, these things can be complicated. Graciously assuming Troi was offered Tequila (she's never had it before so is at the mercy of a white-girl wasted Dr. Cochrane's accuracy and charity); I don't think its fair to assume at all anything about the contents of what is in that double-fifth containing brown-hued liquid. Dr. Cochrane ingenuously calls it "stuff", his "best stuff". Given Dr. Cochrane's mood swings, varied speech patterns, shifting levels of coherence - I wonder at all that could have been in that container. Troi was tipsy after maybe three shots of 'tequila'. It took less than five seconds to get white-girl wasted from the brown-hued substance. She blacked out mid-sentence.
Here, I feel compelled to succintly detour in recognition of virtue. Strangely, a Galileo-like demonstration of the Enterprise is chosen to convince Dr. Cochrane that the orbital salvos which just decimated his gang-affiliate was delivered by aliens when clustered in Geordi's hands is a device incorporating three future centuries of scientific advances. I must conclude that only Geordi gave enough of a rat's behind to shield forbidden knowledge from our poor Doctor. Geordi's maturity stands out from the rampant disregard his compatriots hold for prudence. Now, I return to the matter.
Yes, despite Dr. Cochrane's possibly criminal licentiousness; I feel for this Burner. He was wracked with a severe hangover, nausea, likely memory impairment; forced to accept a delusional implausible reality. He doesn't want to be objectified. He pales at the thought of fame and turns to his drink before absconding aimlessly. Riker, subconsciously ridden with jealousy and father issues if I may be so bold; tazes a fleeing unarmed Dr. Cochrane who falls hard in a ditch.
After this ignoble and dehumanizing revenge that I thought might very well lead to hostility and bad blood the film endulges in a major 'BAMF' for all concerned. We can never know what heights of charisma the Away Team tapped to 180 degree shift Dr. Cochrane's plot trajectory. He seems jovial and at peace with his fate when he returns to the untested Titan rocket assured by Federation temporal outlaws of his success. He sees an button ominously turn red, but in fact reassures Riker and Geordi because he has his Rock and Roll. In good spirits Dr. Cochrane corrects the record and imparts his motivation that far within drove him and his set for years to the illustrious endeavor. He first says he is aware he stands to gain incredible wealth with his invention, but then admits and makes clear that he would leave his riches behind if he could ascend to a planet where awaits beautiful willing females, and he can only mean alien females; a planet committed to satisfying his bottomless lust. It takes a big man to admit that such truths and when factors are taken into account what he asks in return is trivial compared to what he offers. The more so because such a planet is to his him, pure fancy. He cannot know of Risa, though do not doubt this knowledge is precisely what Riker keeps to himself for he is still jealous. It is now that I will make you aware that among the chivalric beatitudes that Burners champion is Gift-Giving. This evidence connects with common-sense so I move on.
There are in fact ten Chivalric Commandments, which Burners call 'Principles' as if there is a difference. One such Principle is named "Immediacy". I feel the Burner's own definition is worth repeating in full as you will see how it applies seamlessly to the BAMF thru to the Titan Launch:
"Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience."
I hope and wish that now we can now acknowledge the abundant light residing within Dr. Cochrane. He is just a man, but First Contact conveys throughout how richly complicated we non-Great humans are.
Old Guard Burners have a penchant for inordinate vehicle tinkering with surreal results they call Mutant Vehicles. There are a legion of examples extant, but trust that none before Dr. Cochrane appropriated a nuclear weapon of mass destruction so as to convert it into a prototype for inter-galactic transit. The equivalent of many Bothans surely perished to scavenge so much rocket-graded fuel not to mention materials allowing for multi-stage capacity to break-away from Earth's gravity, nacelles, and so on. Federation capital ships are modelled off a Mutant Vehicle prototype and this is why I mentioned the comparison with gilded-tinkerboss, Elon Musk, who has participated in the massive Burner conclaves.
Finally, I wish to address the unfair, yet inarguably accurate, maligning of Dr. Cochrane by film writer, Brannon Braga. He defames the Doctor as a "Creep", diagnoses him as an "alcoholic" after a single night's binge following the inexplicable shelling of his comrades courtesy of death from the sky. I do not discount that some among Dr. Cochrane's gang-affiliate, perhaps even the man himself, contracted some measure of PTSD. Mr. Braga is scapegoating Dr. Cochrane to use as a foil to deflect attention from the Manchurian Starfleet Captain of the Enterprise. Picard is enwrapped in primeval urges leading to violence, sadism, mansplaining, machismo, and Never does he reveal that his demons run riot because his mind is compromised telepathically by the Borg. I think with proper perspective we can acknowledge that Dr. Cochrane, simple man as he sees himself, was creepy AF with Troi and cannot be trusted in the company of women no matter how utterly crucial his Gift to Humanity and Countless Other Alien Allies and Dependents. Clearly, Burners are capable of darkness as well as light, but I would love to read what the respected experts on this forum think of my theory and I can only hope I am the first one to propound such assertions else all my effort is in vain.
