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Into Darkness: Why not use "real" Caitians?

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Is it that big of a deal? No. But, like I said, it was a bit of a lost opportunity to do just a drop of commentary that would have also added a neat moment for Prime fans to enjoy.
Again, I ask: for which Prime fans? I'm sure you're aware that Prime fans are anything but a monolithic group. There are many such opportunities to throw tidbits to this subset of Trek fandom or that, but if one tries to take advantage of every single opportunity, one ends up with an unwieldy seventeen-hour marathon of a movie. Of necessity, the filmmakers need to pick and choose which opportunities to use and which ones to pass up. The question becomes: what makes this one opportunity so special, to the exclusion of all others?

ETA : doing it the way they did was cynical and manipulative on the part of the filmmakers. They get to name drop in the promotional materials, but they don't have to give it the full, respectful treatment that would have been a true nod to Prime continuity.
I think calling it "cynical and manipulative on the part of the filmmakers" might be overstating the case just a wee bit. And why is it that the clause "they don't have to give it the full, respectful treatment that would have been a true nod to Prime continuity" seems to carry here a sense of "the filmmakers failed to approach the material with the necessary reverence"?

It does do one thing though, it firmly establishes that this is NOT a "split timeline" as originally claimed, because the Caitians are physiologically different. It's a near parallel timeline with close history parallels.
I'm not convinced it establishes anything of the sort, but YMMV.


EDIT:

A bald Caitain, multicoloured Gorn and Vulcan comedian walk into a bar...
"Multicoloured Gorn" suddenly reminds me of this guy.
 
If Kirk is desperate enough to need to shag space hookers then they should have played up to his sense of loneliness and isolation a bit more but I suppose womenisers are more heroic? If he'd been in bed with a female AND a male, I might have let it pass because at least then they would have been showing something new and interesting :P

Otherwise yes, I don't want modern Trek to take a step backwards in its portrayal of alien species and I don't want them to feature bumpy-headed alien race 693 in a throwaway scene. They should make better use of established races IMO and I'm fine if they want to give them a modern gloss of special effects. Shaving them to make them look sexier is not my idea of a modern gloss. What's next? Pink Andorians with no antennae so they look sexier? Heresy!

Galaxy Quest pokes fun at the silliness of alien sex the best and Babylon 5 has a couple of episodes where they imply that sex with a Centauri is probably not going to be all that pleasant for a human. Apparently Narn are 'compatible' with humans but why would you?
 
So they have to be hookers? Now there's some enlightenment. :lol:

They might not be but then they might be... either that or he took advantage of some vulnerable girls in a catnip den. It's part of my personal history for nuKirk :techman:
 
If Kirk is desperate enough to need to shag space hookers then they should have played up to his sense of loneliness and isolation a bit more but I suppose womenisers are more heroic? If he'd been in bed with a female AND a male, I might have let it pass because at least then they would have been showing something new and interesting :P

Otherwise yes, I don't want modern Trek to take a step backwards in its portrayal of alien species and I don't want them to feature bumpy-headed alien race 693 in a throwaway scene. They should make better use of established races IMO and I'm fine if they want to give them a modern gloss of special effects. Shaving them to make them look sexier is not my idea of a modern gloss. What's next? Pink Andorians with no antennae so they look sexier? Heresy!

Galaxy Quest pokes fun at the silliness of alien sex the best and Babylon 5 has a couple of episodes where they imply that sex with a Centauri is probably not going to be all that pleasant for a human. Apparently Narn are 'compatible' with humans but why would you?

A couple of questions that I have:

First of all, are they actually referred to as Caitains in anything official? For all we know, they are a new race, an offshoot or a hybrid, and not full blooded.

Secondly, why is Kirk's womanizing being questioned now? It seems to indicate his loneliness as the top feeling and almost isolation from the crew. His whole meeting with Pike in the bar is indicative of this, in my opinion.

Finally, why is alien-human sex in question? That is a trope of science fiction in general, Star Trek in particular, for as long as I can remember it. Suddenly it is questionable because it was done in 2014, rather than the 60s, 80s, or 90s? :confused:

I have no love for this particular scene and think it is unnecessary, but it is doing nothing different than has been done in Trek before. :shrug:
 
First of all, are they actually referred to as Caitains in anything official?

Nope. Just Damon Lindelof saying that was the intent. But there's often a difference between the original intent and the final product (like how the kid playing Kirk's brother in the 2009 film was changed in editing to some random kid named Johnny, because the scenes establishing the relationship were cut).


Secondly, why is Kirk's womanizing being questioned now? It seems to indicate his loneliness as the top feeling and almost isolation from the crew. His whole meeting with Pike in the bar is indicative of this, in my opinion.

It's also important to note that this is a younger, wilder Jim Kirk than the more seasoned and disciplined officer of TOS.
 
Remember who the target audience is. Using TAS Caitians would have changed the scene from:

"Kirk is so alpha. He fucks all the bitches. *brofist*"

To

"Kirk is such a beta. He can't score a real chick. Bet he has a small dick. *brofist*"

The tails made them exotic without making Kirk look "beta" in the eyes of the all important dudebros.
 
Would this be my cue to post some renders of M'Ress?

Rest of participants in thread, in chorus, "NO!!!"

Sincerely,

Bill
 
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