Why do you watch Star Trek?

[Lynx]

TimeTraveler wrote:

I was originally attracted to Star Trek because of Gene Roddenberry's optimistic view of the future. I remember the scene where Captain Picard explained to the man who had been in suspended animation since the 20th (or was it 21st Century?) that they had no need of money. Imagine a future where people devote their lives to gaining knowledge. These days, Star Trek is a welcome respite from the stresses of the day. I sit in my cushy recliner with my DVD player, put on my headphones, and get lost in the 24th century for awhile.

Exactly my point too!

I like the stories, the characters and the vision of the future that we can see in Star Trek.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Peer pressure. All the cool kids were watching it.

 

[DAYoung]

'Cause it's, like, you know, philosophy. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/34930.html

at its finest, Star Trek is a bona fide philosophical companion. It depicts limited, sometimes-powerless human beings, trying to come to terms with a baffling or inhospitable universe. It shows characters unafraid of high ideals, even in the midst of interpersonal tensions, or grave danger. And, for the most part, it does so sincerely, unafraid of paralysing cynicism.

 

[JQP]

I like it because it's space opera: aliens, star ships, ray guns, exotic costumes, adventure, intrigue, etc.

But I'm really interested in how other people answer this question. I'd like to see about a hundred pages of people responding to it. Anyone have more threads on the topic handy?

 

[TiberiusMaximus]

'Cause it's awesome.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I like it because it's space opera: aliens, star ships, ray guns, exotic costumes, adventure, intrigue, etc.

But I'm really interested in how other people answer this question. I'd like to see about a hundred pages of people responding to it. Anyone have more threads on the topic handy?

Just read the series subforums. Full of hundreds of pages of people talking about it.

 

[Violet.Phoenix]

Escapism (as many have mentioned here) in one of the main reasons for me. Also because of the hope contained within it. Gene Roddenberry created a truly utopian vision of the future within Star Trek, and I think that anyone would like to see a future where our planet is in peaceful coexistence with so many other diverse species.

It's also the science that I love (since I'm studying science) because it's captured my curiosity and made me wonder why these things are as such and how things in space are. Gotta love physics

Plus the characters. I grew up watching Star Trek Voyager and something that always stands out to me is the interaction between the characters and the relationships that they built because of that.

 

[trek_futurist]

The good series of Star Trek (TOS, TNG and DS9) are very stylistically unique shows. Theres definitely shows which are better in terms of overall qaulity, but star trek gives me something I dont get on those shows. Its a show of very broad themes and characterisation. The characters are less believable individuals and more broad archetypes that are designed to express a certain view.

When I get someone to watch trek I always tell them to look at it like Shakespeare, and Ive got to stress that this is not a comparison of quality; the characters and the way characters interact are very similiar in both. Characters will often speak in long speeches that are less about realism and more about expressing a certain point of view. Characters, really, are foremost ambassadors for broad world views. And the events and decisions made can usually be expanded into a broader meaning. Star Trek is more about humanity, and less about humans, and I think thats very interesting.

The best way around this is to realize that Star Trek portrays a prospective realism rather than an inherent realism. A realism that 'could be' rather than a realism that 'is now'.

It does this by giving these prospectively 'real' future humans a set of current issues, disguised in future garb, to assert themselves in, and in doing so it shows us how these future humans would deal with the scenario and gives us a morality play to inspire us to be better ourselves.

It is the 'better than we are' part that makes them unrealistic. But they would have to be better than we are to have made it that far, I think.

 

[GSchnitzer]

"Because it is there."

 

[Gary7]

It's incredibly inventive. I started watching it back when TOS was the only thing available. No other sci-fi franchise could touch it (although I did enjoy a few others).

It depicts a future I really wish we could attain someday. But... the way things have been going, I'm not very hopeful. There has been a lot of imagined technology that I don't believe will ever be achieved, like "beaming" someone around (because there's this inherent "kill the original copy" thing that you just can't get around). And, conventional space travel using "warp engines" requires way too much power. I think the Stargate idea is probably closer to reality, in that opening up a wormhole and traveling through it makes more sense... making a large number of assumptions, of course.

Anyway, it's fun to imagine would could be, even though there's only a 0.001% chance of ever attaining it.

 

[Kelthaz]

Same reason I watch anything else really. Good characters and interesting plots.

 

[Amaris]

I watch it because I love the characters, and that includes the ships.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Entertainment!

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

First off, it was entertainment. It still is ... and also escapism, and many other things. It saved my life. I couldn't imagine a life without Star Trek or other science fiction, as makes me so happy. I would love to live in the future, that is one of the reasons I watch now.