So social commentary? And before Kurtzman Star Trek never did that before?
I think you're reading something into my post that I didn't write.
I'm reading nothing. I'm ask a genuine question.
But I don't know why you're asking it to me, I didn't say "Kurtzman is wrong about Star Trek", "Star Trek is ____ and Kurtzman doesn't understand this", or even make a comment about the accuracy of the "mirror" line.
Idle curiosity if that statement by Kurtzman fits Star Trek from your perspective since you did quote it.
Curiosity of your opinion of his opinion sk we can opine about it online.
Well, if you're interested, I'd say it's a very reductive description of the franchise - it feels like something recited from a project brief, more than someone with a deep passion for the franchise speaking about it from the heart. It's similar to saying "Star Trek is about optimism" in that the shape of it is notionally true, but the full picture is obviously much wider than that (and of course, in the sense that a great deal of Star Trek doesn't fit the description - the majority of episodes from any of the series aren't really offering social commentary at all).
Kurtzman doesn't need to have any amount of passion for Star Trek to put out a good Star Trek series, of course, but I do think it shows (and, apparently, is simply true given his own statements) that he's approaching the job of showrunner as someone who doesn't feel much personal connection to the source material.
I find that preferable.
Potentially, yeah. I don't think his lack of interest in Star Trek is the cause of any issues with the quality of his output. I do wonder about this quote, though:
Which suggests he viewed Star Trek as something he had to learn and recite, with a "lore" to adhere to, which I'd say is a recurrent issue with his stuff. It genuinely might have been better to have someone with zero interest in TOS/Berman-era come in and think "alright, I'll just write the best thing I can and forget the bulk of the source material, and have someone checking over it for any obvious mega-blunders".
So, the biggest reason why I don't have an issue with that is because that's how Bennett and Meyer worked out TWOK.
I like a little dispassionate approach because this is a business first. Fans will not make hard decisions on getting rid of things if it does over budget.
I.E. Creative Consultants
It'll always be funny to me that Meyer and Braga get a pass, but certain sectors of the fandom have yet to let go of something Kurtzman said nearly twenty fucking years ago.
Which is what Gene Roddenberry wanted it to be. That's when Star Trek is at its best.
About as well as an oiled-up armless man attempting to catch a baseball.
Braga? Then we're in agreement.
Uh Huh - You guys do know Rick Berman ALSO never watched an episode of the original Star Trek - and ORDERED that anyone on the writing staff who hadn't NOT START...
(And yes, eventually he and Braga both claimed they finally did go and watch some TOS arouind the time ENT was in production)...
But yeah, I'd not mind if TNG S1, S2, and most of S^ and S7 plus ALL of VOY were erased...
I think you ought to try rereading the point I was making, rather than be dismissive and put words in my mouth.
Exactly. Tell Kurtzman to fuck off of boo is a useless gesture.Uh Huh - You guys do know Rick Berman ALSO never watched an episode of the original Star Trek - and ORDERED that anyone on the writing staff who hadn't NOT START...
(And yes, eventually he and Braga both claimed they finally did go and watch some TOS arouind the time ENT was in production)...
But yeah, I'd not mind if TNG S1, S2, and most of S^ and S7 plus ALL of VOY were erased...
Hardcore fans also struggle with the whole kill your darlings thing and insist on plot armour
Berman was also very staunch about not referencing TOS, to the point where he and Ira Behr got into an argument about merely namedropping Spock in an episode featuring Sarek. Berman obviously got over that weird hang-up by S5 as the show by then firmly established itself, but it's still funny to me.Uh Huh - You guys do know Rick Berman ALSO never watched an episode of the original Star Trek - and ORDERED that anyone on the writing staff who hadn't NOT START...
(And yes, eventually he and Braga both claimed they finally did go and watch some TOS arouind the time ENT was in production)...
But yeah, I'd not mind if TNG S1, S2, and most of S^ and S7 plus ALL of VOY were erased...
I recall someone on this forum described turning in an spec script for TNG. During the opening teaser there's a self contained light moment when the Data picks up a distress signal about pest control, and then Riker quips "someone must have fed a tribble". Supposedly Jeri Taylor stopped reading after she got to that part, saying it automatically disqualified his spec script from being picked up. Of course, later shows in the Berman era were not harsh over light references, like when Sisko learns Kassidy's brother is part of a baseball team called the Pike City Pioneers on Cestus III.
Braga didn’t get a pass until Kurtzman came along. Braga was the bogey man under the beds of children of older Trek fans.
Everything old is new again!
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