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Guinan in Trek 12?

Should Guinan make an appearance in Trek 12?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 14 42.4%
  • No.

    Votes: 19 57.6%

  • Total voters
    33

SVD

Captain
Captain
I've posted my wishes for an appearance of Guinan before in a thread somewhere (reiterated: I'd love it), but I thought I'd post a flip poll for this idea, since Orci and company are supposedly watching places like this.
 
I went with yes. But I don't think a major role would be the way to go.

A cameo or small role would be nice.

And Whoopi could certainly play the part. She was in Time's Arrow, which was near 500 years before TNG, so her looking the same in Kirk''s era wouldn't be a stretch.
 
Wouldn't she be in an insane asylum or something after 25 years of jabbering about the timeline being "all wrong", like she did in "Yesterday's Enterprise"?
 
"I would have to say... yes."

Don't give her too big a role, and write it skillfully enough that the uninitiated can walk out of the theater without being confused by her presence while the TNG enthusiasts smirk enthusiastically at every word she says.

If you can pull that off, you're a talented writer.
 
No.

Whoopi has already gone on record blathering about how Battlestar Galactica was miles better in quality than anything ever done in Star Trek.

She was never an essential part of the TNG cast, and has nothing at all to do with the mythos of the original TOS Trek.

Let her do a cameo in a Galactica story.

If the script really needs a wise Obi Wan to provide advice, then let it be Pike.
 
Yes.

But there would have to be a re-casting of the role, Whoopi is the size of a refrigerator. And don't actual identify her, just be a black woman in a big hat with some sage advice.

Let it be a easter egg.
 
...
If the script really needs a wise Obi Wan to provide advice, then let it be Pike.

She dont have to be a sage character, just...

...
Don't give her too big a role, and write it skillfully enough that the uninitiated can walk out of the theater without being confused by her presence while the TNG enthusiasts smirk enthusiastically at every word she says.

And presto!
 
Whoopi has already gone on record blathering about how Battlestar Galactica was miles better in quality than anything ever done in Star Trek.

Oh dear. Are we punishing actors now for having opinions?

No, but if she really has been saying stuff like that, she will obviously not want to appear in Trek XII anyway, so what's the point?

As for Guinan thinking the timeline is all wrong: Since this is an alternate universe (not just an alternate timeline), I don't think she'd notice.
 
Whoopi has already gone on record blathering about how Battlestar Galactica was miles better in quality than anything ever done in Star Trek.

Oh dear. Are we punishing actors now for having opinions?

No, but if she really has been saying stuff like that, she will obviously not want to appear in Trek XII anyway, so what's the point?

Oh, that's nonsense. These are people who do this for a living, not fans. That she may like something else a great deal better than Star Trek is hardly scandalous - she's certainly not the only person who's worked on Trek who does - and wouldn't have much bearing on whether she'd like to play a role in a movie.
 
Still, I'd prefer to have an actor there who actually *wants* to be there and who enjoys what they're doing. I always thought Whoopi was a Trek fan... :sigh:
 
As for Guinan thinking the timeline is all wrong: Since this is an alternate universe (not just an alternate timeline), I don't think she'd notice.

She only gained sensitivity to temporal wrong-ness after getting caught in the Nexus, which is 40 years yet to happen.
 
Still, I'd prefer to have an actor there who actually *wants* to be there and who enjoys what they're doing. I always thought Whoopi was a Trek fan... :sigh:


And yet there are plenty of people on this very BBS who are Star Trek fans, but sing the praises of BSG and B5 and other shows as being better than Trek.

Woopie is an actor. Actors stive to get work. It has nothing to do with being a fan..That's a bonus.
 
Whoopi has already gone on record blathering about how Battlestar Galactica was miles better in quality than anything ever done in Star Trek.

Oh dear. Are we punishing actors now for having opinions?

Since Whoopi has expressed no interest in the role, it can hardly be regarded as punishment. To be punished you have to be denied something you want.

Harlan Elisson apparently does want in on the new Trek,

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/12/01/sci-fi-author-harlan-ellison-wants-in-on-star-trek-2/

but considering some of the notoriously unflattering things he's had to say about Trek, I wouldn't let him on either. In his case, I do support punishment. He's not needed and he is a jerk - so why do it?

Of course, if I truly believed that Whoopi or Elisson would be essential to making the next film great, I'd be all for it.

In the case of Guinan, however, I do not see the character offering anything of value to the narrative. If anything, she would be a vestigial distraction which would take moment out of the story.

But I'll be generous and assume, for the sake of argument, that Whoopi reprising Guinan in the next film would not hurt the film, that her presence would be negligible. That is, the film would be as good with her or without her.

Since filmic quality would no longer be the governing criterion, we would have to look to other factors to determine whether she would be in or out. Does she need the money? No. Would people really be bummed if she were not in the film? No. Add to this list (which we could expand considerably) the fact that she has stated that the stuff that was done on Star Trek was no where near the quality of the storytelling done on BSG (an unintended diss, but one that shows how she feels about the show) and how do I feel about her inclusion? All things being equal, I say no.
 
Just because Whoopi Goldberg thinks the new Battlestar Galactica was better than anything she's seen in Trek, that doesn't mean she's suddenly scornful of the whole franchise and she resents having ever voiced a desire to be a part of it. It just means she sings praises for something else. People in this franchise can be so... so... one-track.

Hell, I happen to think BSG is better than any Trek show, but DS9 comes damn close and might eclipse it upon my coming rewatch. Apparently, I'm an RDM fan.
 
She's still likes Trek. She just likes BSG more. And actors do stuff they dislike all the time. It's their job.
 
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