What does Star Trek mean to you?
- Thread starter albion432
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It really connected with me when I was a child in the 70s.
I could give you some guesses, and have done so all over this board, mostly in this forum. But can we really know why we take to something so well?
I liked all of TNG/DS9/VOY in their day; I'll willingly watch one if my child puts one on. But TOS is quantum-leap dearer to me than they.
It is my childhood love, I guess that would be why the relative difference. But again, why the affinity originally?
Edit: AND I really love Star Trek Continues. We are rationing them out to last months, they're so good. Trekkier than many real eps imho. I will hate to get to the finale, but I know it'll be great. I need to send Vic a thank you note, seriously.
I could give you some guesses, and have done so all over this board, mostly in this forum. But can we really know why we take to something so well?
I liked all of TNG/DS9/VOY in their day; I'll willingly watch one if my child puts one on. But TOS is quantum-leap dearer to me than they.
It is my childhood love, I guess that would be why the relative difference. But again, why the affinity originally?
Edit: AND I really love Star Trek Continues. We are rationing them out to last months, they're so good. Trekkier than many real eps imho. I will hate to get to the finale, but I know it'll be great. I need to send Vic a thank you note, seriously.
TOS inspired me with its' intriguing sci-fi stories, plus the action and adventure. The characters were also unique and interesting, including the aliens. No bug eyed monsters like in the Irwin Allen shows.
Never bought any if the utopia / evolved humanity bullshit that seems to fire up so many. That all came later in a contrived fashion. Star Trek was hopeful because it showed humanity could work together and not destroy itself. That's very different from the utopian / evolved sensibility stuff that got heaped on later. It may have been a conceit of some of the characters...but I never ever bought it as reality. I always quote Lily Sloan from ST First Contact:
Picard "We have a more evolved sensibility"
Lilly: "Bullshit!"
For me, it was TOS, which was a colorful action/adventure that had great characters solving various complex problems in a sci-fi format that lended itself to limitless imagination. It's that unique combination that makes Star Trek special.
Picard "We have a more evolved sensibility"
Lilly: "Bullshit!"
For me, it was TOS, which was a colorful action/adventure that had great characters solving various complex problems in a sci-fi format that lended itself to limitless imagination. It's that unique combination that makes Star Trek special.
Fun characters on exciting adventures.
Great stories, excellent acting, phenomenal spaceships (when you saw them) good charisma, fantastic colour! Plus it was shown in the seventies which was a great time for television here!
JB
JB
I think I'm psychologically predisposed to space. I don't really know how else to put it. Sci fi just feels right to me. I had TMP posters of the Enterprise and Ilia and Decker on my wall before I'd even seen Star Trek, I just knew they were for me (I was only 3 when TMP came out). I finally started seeing Star Trek due to BBC repeats in the 80's and loved it of course. It's not really something I can point to and say rationally "that's why I like it", it's just who I am on a base subconcious level. Same goes for Doctor Who for me, in fact even moreso.
I saw an interview with Michael McDonald of Doobie Brothers fame last weekend in which he was asked "What is it that you've accumulated over the last four decades that is informing what you're doing now?" His answer was:
"I think it's what everybody accumulates with that time, if they live long enough, about the things they love … a greater appreciation, a greater gratitude, and a greater understanding of why it makes them happy."
I really liked that answer. In my case, whether it is Star Trek other interests I've had for many years (I am 51), there is a satisfaction in their constancy, while at the same time acknowledging that there is an "evolution" in effect as well.
I think of Star Trek (the original) in, I assume, much the same way anyone does who ever watched it on NBC: memories of watching it with a like-minded parent who's long since departed, appreciation for what the writers and producers were able to achieve, and a sense of justice that NBC has suffered many deserved misfortunes since canceling the show - I still can't believe they replaced it with Bracken's World...
The best thing about Trek (both the original and TNG) is the flexibility of the format; it can accommodate comedies, tragedies, allegories, mysteries, all with continuing characters.
Also, the original series music really endures for me, and it's the main reason I have the TV on from 8 to 9 p.m. (H&I broadcast) while getting work done. As a kid I would sometimes record episodes on audio cassettes just for the music.
The best thing about Trek (both the original and TNG) is the flexibility of the format; it can accommodate comedies, tragedies, allegories, mysteries, all with continuing characters.
Also, the original series music really endures for me, and it's the main reason I have the TV on from 8 to 9 p.m. (H&I broadcast) while getting work done. As a kid I would sometimes record episodes on audio cassettes just for the music.
C
C57D
Guest
For me TOS used to mean the hope that our species would eventually reach out far into space AND reach deep inside our natures.
That all this superiority that we gift ourselves with might finally be justified at the same time as it is overuled.
But now, at 56, TOS is just a (wonderful) tv show that bears no resemblance to reality.
One half of the world is (still !!!) killing each other over creeds /beliefs /humanocentric "deities", or wealth and power.
While the other half is obsessed with the possesions, fashion and selfish lifestyles of airhead, braindead, talentless (so called) "celebrities".
Beam me up, there's no intelligent life on THIS planet!
That all this superiority that we gift ourselves with might finally be justified at the same time as it is overuled.
But now, at 56, TOS is just a (wonderful) tv show that bears no resemblance to reality.
One half of the world is (still !!!) killing each other over creeds /beliefs /humanocentric "deities", or wealth and power.
While the other half is obsessed with the possesions, fashion and selfish lifestyles of airhead, braindead, talentless (so called) "celebrities".
Beam me up, there's no intelligent life on THIS planet!
When I first watched in the early 70s as a six year old, it was a fun, entertaining space adventure series. From 12-15, it was full of ideas and ideals I found appealing. At university, it was a touchstone for myself and a significant portion of other students in residence, gathering every weekend in the common room to watch it, as well as the annual CBC Montreal marathon 12 hours every Labour Day weekend. TNG came along, and I watched it because I was a fan of Trek and it was new. I've watched them all (some more than others--I have liked something in each of them, but not equally). Today, I'm re-watching it with my son (occasionally my daughter, but she's more interested in the latest movies than anything earlier--my son loves any and all sci-fi that he's seen so far). I do my best to watch it without irony or excessive criticality (in the presence of my son), and the effort is often (though not always) rewarded.
I'll always give any Trek series or movie a chance (I do the same with Bond--with which I have a similar relationship of starting young and appreciating different things at each stage of life). But, so far, the best of TOS outshines the best of anything else, for me.
I'll always give any Trek series or movie a chance (I do the same with Bond--with which I have a similar relationship of starting young and appreciating different things at each stage of life). But, so far, the best of TOS outshines the best of anything else, for me.
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