When I read articles like this one, the first reaction I get is the same one I get from certain posters on this very BBS:
"I think I'm the only cool Star Trek fan... everyone else is a dork. They should pay attention to ME but ignore all the dorks."
This article was written by someone who was basically trying to massage his or her own ego at the expense of the "lesser fans."
The reality is that this argument, and virtually every other "I'm cooler than the rest of you" argument I've heard, comes down to that. It's predicated on the FALSE PREMISE that Star Trek is somehow a "special case."
The idea is that somehow, the Star Trek fan base is somehow different. While EVERY OTHER FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT is based primarily upon "being able to entertain audiences," somehow WE are different.
Which is patently BULLSHIT.
We... every single last freakin' one of us here... got into this show because it was ENTERTAINING. It was good stories and good characters and good visuals and whatever else. We weren't raised in some "Star Trek Monastery" and brainwashed into being fans.
The fact is that Star Trek is one of the most popular modern entertainments. It's brought in fans who love the CONTENT OF THE SHOW.
In recent years, the show's content has decreased in quality somewhat, and we've seen a fall-off in the appreciation for the later work. And somehow that comes as a SURPRISE to people??? It's lunacy, I'm telling you.
If the film is entertaining, it will gain audiences. If it's not, it won't. "Duh."
Now, part of being "entertaining" for a WORK OF FICTION is that it needs to be able to draw the audience into believing, even if only for the two hours that they're sitting in a theater, that what they're watching is real. "Willful suspension of disbelief" is the term for that. Films that can do that are generally far more successful than those which don't... parodies being the principle exception to that, of course.
The reason that changing core elements of Trek history is a bad thing isn't because this is some sort of "cult" and that the faithful will go onto a Jihad over Kirk's safe combination being changed. It's because the original series is VERY FAMILIAR to the audiences already.
The more you deviate from what has come before, the more likely you are to break the "spell" of that "willful suspension of disbelief."
If the an audience member sees something that jars him or her out of their reverie... whether it be a bad casting decision (so that the audience is constantly reminded that "this isn't actually James T. Kirk, it's that dude from Dawson's Creek pretending to be James T. Kirk") or an unnecessary redesign (so that the audience member, who knows what the Enterprise looks like, is constantly reminded that this is a "kewl new version" and not the same ship he or she has seen for years) or whatever else... if ANY of that happens, it simply has the effect of reminding that audience member that "it's all hollywood bullshit." And they simply won't be drawn into the storytelling.
Implementing unnecessary changes compromises the story, and doesn't help it in any way.
Now, there are NECESSARY changes. Obviously, Shatner can't play a 27-year-old Jim Kirk. That, also, would have the effect of tossing the audiences out of their reveries. So recasting was inevitable and absolutely necessary.
Not necessary to "make the Trek-cultists happy" as this author and certain other overly smug clowns tend to keep repeating.
But necessary to ensure that the widest possible audience will be able to immerse themselves into the storytelling experience.
There WILL be changes. It's inevitable. But changes must not be made just for the hell of it, because some egomaniac thinks that he can "redo it better" than it was done before. If it's NECESSARY, it should be done. If it will enhance without distracting, it should be done.
But they must not be changes that will prevent the audience from believing that they're watching the same people, in the same situations, as they remember.
If that happens, it WILL result in a failed film, and as Brutal said, above, most likely the final death knell for Star Trek as a form of popular entertainment.
