Sybok. Do you think he was doing the right thing?
- Thread starter urrutiap
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If he wants to spend his life doing that, totes up to him. You gotta follow your own path. And it's really no different to those who seek god/s here on Earth.
But as soon as he started his little cult, I'm not on his side any more.
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I dunno, what was he trying to do
Of course, an interesting question here is, just how long was "God" in communication with Sybok? Did "God" find and corrupt Sybok to his cause at a very young age, or did it exploit pre-existing doubts, creating his zealotry? Was Sybok a victim of "God" or to his own beliefs?
I'd have to say no.
Sybok’s actions were clearly deluded and wrong –until he sacrificed himself to save the crew from the false ‘god.’ He did seem to have some potential for helping people emotionally --J’onn in the desert scene-- but then turned them into brainwashed cult followers. When Kirk resisted Sybok’s attempt to ‘free his mind’ he claims “I don’t want my pain taken away, I need my pain.” I’ve always wondered what memory Sybok would have made Kirk face.
Edith Keeler’s death? Although I don’t know how much it would have cost the production to fish Joan Collins out of her jar of formaldehyde to at least provide the voice for a potential recreation of the scene in question.
IIRC, in the novelization Sybok first hears "god" as a child while attempting to access his recently-deceased mother's katra in the Hall of Ancient Thought (or what-not...it's where Spock's katra would have ended up if his body hadn't been regenerated, under normal circumstances).
I don't think Sybok really set out to create a 'cult' except as a means to an end, though I'm sure he'd welcome anyone trying to find god the way he did, and he likely had some true believers among the many seemingly brainwashed people.
I don't really have a problem with the quest in and of itself...it's his methodology that's problematic. All things being equal he could have been an amazing psychotherapist, though it's unclear whether he was really helping people deal with their pain, or whether that was a short-term side-effect of swaying them to his side.
Of course, if we assume he's a zealot, rather than just a true seeker, and that his efforts to acquire a starship (a Starfleet vessel, not just any old run-of-the-mill ship) were because nothing else had the power to penetrate the Great Barrier, then it was essentially inevitable that he'd run afoul of the law if not morality in the process.
I don't think Sybok really set out to create a 'cult' except as a means to an end, though I'm sure he'd welcome anyone trying to find god the way he did, and he likely had some true believers among the many seemingly brainwashed people.
I don't really have a problem with the quest in and of itself...it's his methodology that's problematic. All things being equal he could have been an amazing psychotherapist, though it's unclear whether he was really helping people deal with their pain, or whether that was a short-term side-effect of swaying them to his side.
Of course, if we assume he's a zealot, rather than just a true seeker, and that his efforts to acquire a starship (a Starfleet vessel, not just any old run-of-the-mill ship) were because nothing else had the power to penetrate the Great Barrier, then it was essentially inevitable that he'd run afoul of the law if not morality in the process.
Sybok had he survived the adventure would say that he was wrong. In fact, he pretty much says so when he battles the evil that resides on Sh'Ka'Ree.
^It's unclear to me how much regret he feels about his methods versus his premise. If "god" hadn't been a malevolent entity, would Sybok then argue that everything he did was justified?
Of course, given that at one point "god" presents itself as a reflection of Sybok, it would have been somewhat profound if God was a reflection of the seeker...which is to say that if Sybok's methods had been moral then the god they encountered would have similarly been so.
Indeed, Sybok hijacks a starship, and then "god" intends to do the same thing.
Of course, given that at one point "god" presents itself as a reflection of Sybok, it would have been somewhat profound if God was a reflection of the seeker...which is to say that if Sybok's methods had been moral then the god they encountered would have similarly been so.
Indeed, Sybok hijacks a starship, and then "god" intends to do the same thing.
Hardly anyone did the right thing in that movie, starting with conceiving the story.
He certainly has plenty to choose from: David's death, Edith's death, Sam and his wife's deaths, Kodos' massacre, being forced to kill Gary Mitchell, Spock's first death, Mirimani's death, the cloud creature's attack he blamed himself for for years, estrangement from Carol, accepting promotion, Albert Finney's mental decline, his parents are dead by this point according to the novels, numerous battles and imprisonments...the guy was full on whipped by nazis once. He's been through some stuff.
If the film was remade in this day and age (I'm not advocating for that!) it might have been interesting to get sort of a montage or hints of Kirk's greatest pain intermingled with some of the aforementioned pains before Kirk told Sybok to knock it off.
The novelization of TVH has a 'montage' of Kirk reliving some of his most intense memories as Bounty is travelling into the past.
The novelization of TVH has a 'montage' of Kirk reliving some of his most intense memories as Bounty is travelling into the past.
I can't remember if The Paradise Syndrome was completely cringe. yet. when TUC came out. If not maybe Miramanee
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