Spoilers Star Trek Beyond Coming Out Against the Military..???

[VulcanMindBlown]

I was watching Star Trek Beyond on Blu-Ray on my Xbox One and it was a good movie... not as good as Into Darkness, in my opinion... but more original.....

Here's the spoiler: the main villain in the movie is a remnant of the past century colossal wars; the Xindi and the Romulans...

He was a guy who craved war and wanted to start more... is this Trek's way of saying that it is coming against ANY military involvement? It can't be... sometimes there are threats that need to be ended on a small scale...

I don't want this to turn into a flame war and/or have it sent to the Miscellaneous section of the forums... so let's try to keep politics out of it, if it isn't respectful...

 

[fireproof78]

I didn't get that from the film at all.

 

[ALF]

Trek's statement on the military was probably more apparent (and intentionally clear) in Into Darkness than Beyond. The USS Vengeance was the epitome of unchecked fear and intolerance.

 

[The Wormhole]

No, Edison is just another evil Starfleet captain, they pop up quite frequently in the franchise. His background as a MACO is just some fan service, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[M-Red]

Beyond is not anti-military whatsoever.

Beyond rejects hyperfragmentation and exclusivity. It celebrates inclusion and unity in the face of social and historical adversity.

And it's a fun ride. It's Trek at its best.

Rewatch it.

 

[gerbil]

Edison's motives are definitely shaped by his time in the military. He's a military man who can't let go of his prejudices against former enemies and who resents the post-war order that minimizes (or eliminates) struggle.

It's not a condemnation of the military or veterans. It is a condemnation of a mindset, however. And, yes, it's hard not to see it through a modern political lens. It's a recurring theme in politics and sociology. Relitigating that last war and finding blame and wishing for the good old days. Edison is a xenophobe and, I would argue, a nationalist who would have no problem with an "Earth First" movement (or Terra Prime, remember them?).

Beyond is very much a celebration of diversity and IDIC. That's a future that Edison fears.

 

[DonIago]

^Though at some point Edison also shifted from a level of probably (mostly-)latent resentment (or it's hard to see how he would have been given Franklin to begin with) to nutty as a fruitcake. I imagine being stuck on a planet and feeding off other people for a century will do that sorta thing to a guy.

If Franklin hadn't ended up stuck on a planet he probably would have been the kind of captain who was good at what he did but not necessarily fun to work with.

 

[gerbil]

^Though at some point Edison also shifted from a level of probably (mostly-)latent resentment (or it's hard to see how he would have been given Franklin to begin with) to nutty as a fruitcake. I imagine being stuck on a planet and feeding off other people for a century will do that sorta thing to a guy.

If Franklin hadn't ended up stuck on a planet he probably would have been the kind of captain who was good at what he did but not necessarily fun to work with.

Definitely possible.

However, in another thread I spoke about a former Marine I worked with. Nice guy, great employee, great coworker. Supportive and hilarious.

But if you talked politics or Iraq or Afghanistan came up (where he had served) it was totally different. He used some decidedly non-PC terms and talked about Islam in, erm, quite violent terms. "Glass parking lot" terms.

You'd never know it from talking to the guy. Like I said, he was nice, thorough, hard-working, happily married, and impeccable hygiene. But he harbored so much anger or resentment or whatever you'd call it because of friends he'd lost and things he'd seen.

 

[Devilpogostick]

Yep, never saw it as anti-military.

If it was the case, both Kirk and commodore Paris wouldn't have mentioned how Edison is viewed as a Federation hero for his actions during the two wars. If anything, he and those in the military were quite respected for being there when they were needed the most in the past.

The reason why Edison's the villain is that instead of living his life seeing the Federation's best years of his era, he lived way past his lifespan stranded in the middle of nowhere who saw a lot of people under his command die out in a hopeless situation which just made his early resentment (bitter but willing to adjust) to full out irrational hatred (where reasoning is all but hopeless).

I did like that there a was moment of himself to reflect that he was doing something horrible to people who had nothing to do with his hatred and shows...This was a guy like you and me who went through his personal hell longer than anyone should ever have. While he ultimately chose his decision, there was still some measure of hope.

Bonus for Kirk and Paris not to dismiss him as a psychopath, just a man who found himself lost in the darkness of space.

 

[VulcanMindBlown]

I don't think that people should have prejudice toward the people that the military has to fight, but we do need to get rid of threats.

War should only be a last, most beneficial resort.

 

[BillJ]

I don't see anything anti-military in Star Trek Beyond.

 

[Jax]

Why do all films need to have some political message...Maybe it was a popcorn sci fi flick and nothing else

Starfleet is military for one, At it's most basic level Beyond is a film about one military officer "Kirk" stopping another one "Edison" from killing innocents.

 

[KennyB]

Sweet Jesus people can read a lot into a movie.............I agree with @Jax it's a popcorn sci-fi flick.

 

[Smellmet]

There's nothing anti-military in STB. The message is of unity and teamwork, nothing else.

 

[Nyotarules]

Prime Edison ended up eating his two collegues then himself and died a lonely man.
Edison from the universe where Worf marries Troi, turned down the USS Franklin, and became the new head of Terra Prime where he and his 40 followers spent decades ranting on the galactic web about aliens taking over Earth and taking jobs from humans. He even ran for Earth Presidency under the banner 'Make Earth great again'...thankfully he lost after the media exposed his relationship with a Risian hooker named Joe. He moved to Risa where he died from excessive jamaharon.

 

[gerbil]

Why do all films need to have some political message...Maybe it was a popcorn sci fi flick and nothing else

Starfleet is military for one, At it's most basic level Beyond is a film about one military officer "Kirk" stopping another one "Edison" from killing innocents.

Because Beyond definitely has a message about diversity, inclusion, and accepting that change is inevitable.

 

[Jax]

Maybe the writers thought it was a cool idea for a film in the franchise and they weren't trying to make any statement, have they said in an interview they were? if so fine. However to be clear the film was not anti military at the very least.

 

[The Wormhole]

Why do all films need to have some political message...Maybe it was a popcorn sci fi flick and nothing else

I got to admit, between this and all the people who think STID is some sort of deep analysis of the post-9/11 world, I am reminded of the South Park episode The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs. Basically, the boys write a bestselling novel (but list Butters as the author) and everyone keeps seeing political messages and commentary on current events in a story which was just a group of children writing a gross-out story about shit and genitals.

 

[DonIago]

The thing is, even if an author didn't -consciously- choose to inject such things into their work, it's certainly possible they put it in on a subconscious level. Now, of course, without asking the author it's strictly speculation. But I don't see any harm in speculating either. It can be fun and yield worthwhile conversation to discuss one's interpretation of a work and the authorial intent behind it.

 

[Gaith]

There's nothing anti-military in STB. The message is of unity and teamwork, nothing else.

Well, sure. That, and the hilarious notion that "Sabotage" isn't a terrible song which will be completely forgotten in a generation, never mind a few centuries from now.