- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
The drubbing of the Michelle Yeoh-led streaming film now holds a dubious title—one that reflects something much more interesting than simple schadenfreude.
The drubbing of the Michelle Yeoh-led streaming film now holds a dubious title—one that reflects something much more interesting than simple schadenfreude.
They have to stop thinking that getting rid of Roddenberry’s rules is the way forward, the only way its going to feel like Star Trek is that they accept the positive optimistic version of the future where there is a stronger moral basis to human action. You can do a lot within those rules but you can’t do this type of movie and there are enough generic space movies like this and its just not Star Trek.
They also have to stop being Kurtzman for literally anything related to Star Trek .
That’s essentially where I am.
I don’t mind experimenting with trek, there’s room for it. A lot of ds9 was a divergence. But it was still trek. It was still hopeful and uplifting even at its darkest. It delivered great drama without ignoring the culture of the federation.
Even the TNG movies pushed the boundaries of being trek and doing action without breaking the spirit of the universe.
So it isn’t like you have to throw away all the great parts of trek to put out a great story.
I’ll paraphrase you because you’re so damn right; if we wanted a generic sci-fi/space movie, we could get that anywhere, but you can’t get star trek without playing within that universe and abiding by what makes it carry a sustained “vibe” for over a half century.
There are definitely a few you can fudge on. “Enough Already With the Klingons” was more a rule in the jump from the original series to TNG. Lower Decks proved you can do a good show and still have a little Klingon, as a treat.
But there are so many good notes in the Bible. Liberal use of the Holodeck gets you outside your own genre. Focus on the sociological and psychological consequences of long-term space travel make your protagonists sympathetic and relatable. Exploration as a guiding theme of the franchise means you’re always free to write a novel adventure for your characters to engage in. Some of my favorite “Strange New Worlds” episodes were simply “Crew finds something weird in space” vignettes. And doing the A/B plot divide between the away team and the bridge crew allows for a bit of action-adventure and a bit of high political drama in the same episode.
There’s a reason Roddenberry was the GOAT of Sci-Fi for so long. And why so many subsequent authors pulled generously from his received wisdom. If you’ve got a good playbook, run with it. The fact that ST:TNG and DS9 reruns are still fan favorites decades later should tell you something about how strong a formula he was working with.
About your point about exploring space: The Orville by Seth McFarlane is a very good example of that in a space show like Star Trek. That’s literally their whole mission for the show, and it provides some interesting stories. Like one where they make first contact with a planet similar to ours, but steeped in religious superstition. Or one where they make accidental contact with a planet that only appears in our universe for like 24 hours once every few months, where in its home universe time progresses at an exponential rate, so you see a microcosm of the impact someone could have on an entire civilization.
Also I just genuinely think it’s a good show.
Season 3 was fantastic. The whole shifting alliances arc, with the way their moral principle functioned as a guiding light through the turbulence, felt exactly like the old school utopianism that makes Star Trek uplifting.
Also, really enjoy your they’re not afraid to get weird with the aliens. RIP Norm McDonald. Yaphit was such a fun idea for a character.