Nicholas Meyer's Autobiography

[Therin of Andor]

It's completely assinine to keep restating that 'maybe he didn't think it was interesting' or whatever else.

So instead of making our various cases we should just say, "Okay, Grant, you win. You're correct after all"? I thought in a discussion we were allowed to restate our case, elaborate on our points. Otherwise every opinionated thread on TrekBBS need have only one post.

And it seems to me that you're treating the cumulative voice of numerous posters as if we're all one poster telling you can't have an opinion.

You're welcome to hold your opinion, but we don't have to agree with it. Please don't fling around insulting terms like "assinine" and "banal" in regards to posts you don't happen to agree with. We are also welcome to our opinions, whether you believe them to be worthy or not.

 

[DimesDan]

It's completely assinine to keep restating that 'maybe he didn't think it was interesting' or whatever else.

So instead of making our various cases we should just say, "Okay, Grant, you win. You're correct after all"? I thought in a discussion we were allowed to restate our case, elaborate on our points. Otherwise every opinionated thread on TrekBBS need have only one post.

And it seems to me that you're treating the cumulative voice of numerous posters as if we're all one poster telling you can't have an opinion.

You're welcome to hold your opinion, but we don't have to agree with it. Please don't fling around insulting terms like "assinine" and "banal" in regards to posts you don't happen to agree with. We are also welcome to our opinions, whether you believe them to be worthy or not.

Very wise words, if we couldn't all air our opinion on here and get our points across, there would be no point in posting here.

 

[Ssosmcin]

In fact, it was the studio interference that caused the very theme that Meyer says they objected to--------

Kirk knew he had a son and never reached out to him for 25(?) years.

While I'm not addressing the book per se, I do think it works better this way. The dialog was amended to give Kirk the escape from "deadbeat dad" syndrome:

"I did what you wanted. I stayed away. Why didn't you tell him?"

Kirk didn't reach out to David because Carol specifically told Kirk to stay out of their lives. She didn't want to take the chance that their son would choose to travel through space with his dad.

This resonates better because rather than Kirk finding out he's suddenly the father of a 20 something, he gets to always know that and potentially always wonder what being a father would have been like. This would also make Kirk's feelings toward David after the fact make more sense. Cuz it would kind of feel like "Woah, Klingon bastards killed the son I never knew I had and only found out about on Tuesday, but I'll carry this pain to Star Trek 6!"

As it stands now, it works. "I've always wanted to be a father to David and now that I finally have the chance, those Klingon bastards stole him from me!" That kind of pain makes plenty of sense. Otherwsie, it's more like "my ex-girlfriend's kid."

So, for me anyway, studio interference helped this aspect of the Kirk/David dynamic.

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

Two quick question for anyone who read this autobiography because I still haven't found the time to get to it yet, is the story about Harv Bennet leaving over the Star Trek prequel about Kirk and company as cadets, Bennet wanting to recast the crew and instead getting in trouble with Paramount and instead leaving the production of Trek what Meyer's stated reason for Bennet losing his position or is there more to it?

Also is there any new stuff in the book about the brainstorming sessions he had with Nimoy for Star Trek VI?

 

[Maurice]

Two quick question for anyone who read this autobiography because I still haven't found the time to get to it yet, is the story about Harv Bennet leaving over the Star Trek prequel about Kirk and company as cadets, Bennet wanting to recast the crew and instead getting in trouble with Paramount and instead leaving the production of Trek what Meyer's stated reason for Bennet losing his position or is there more to it?

Also is there any new stuff in the book about the brainstorming sessions he had with Nimoy for Star Trek VI?

To answer your questions...

1. He specifically discusses Bennet's leaving and why it happened, and it wasn't as you summarize it at all.

2. He does discuss how the story and script came t be for ST6, but, not knowing what you've heard/read previously, I can't speak to how "new" the information is.

3. He also discusses Robert Salin and how ST2 destroyed the friendship Salin and Bennett had since high school.

 

[Mark Boeder]

One should remember that this is a memoir, and NOT an autobiography. What's the difference? From wordclay.com:

Like an autobiography, memoir is a narrative that reveals experiences within the author's lifetime. But memoirs are typically less formal, less encompassing, less obsessed with factual events and, alternatively, center their primary focus around a mood or attitude toward a particular section of one's life.

Autobiography, on the other hand, is essentially a truthful biography written by the main character, or at least drafted with a collaborative writer. While memoir concerns itself with an emotional truth, autobiography details the chronology, events, places, reactions, movements and any other relevant information that inhabited the life of the subject. Fact, above all, is its foundation.

The above definition of "memoir" fits this book perfectly. I do, however, wish Meyer had refreshed his "memory" a little bit before sitting down at the keyboard.

- Mark

 

[Maurice]

You're correct...I should have used "memoir" in the thread title.

 

[Mark Boeder]

You're correct...I should have used "memoir" in the thread title.

Sorry, I wasn't really thinking of the thread title when I wrote that. I just want everyone to know what to expect if they read the book, since there seems to be some expectations for it that are in conflict with Meyer's intentions.

- Mark