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May 10, 2009
Newsweek Imitates The Onion
The film shows the beginnings of the Enterprise crew, tracing how Kirk, Spock and the others came together. All the character quirks are there, and the Enterprise is rendered more realistically than ever, but what's missing are the typically progressive politics and moral dilemmas that made the original "Trek" more than a space-age adventure show and helped earn it legions of ardent fans.The Onion:
Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'
Personally, I like "Star Trek" despite the heavy-handed moralizing, not because of it. Roddenberry's idealism was laudable, but dramatically, it weighed the series down. His vision mandated that there be no petty conflict between members of the crew, since humanity was supposed to have risen above such behavior. As much fun as the original 'Trek' is, one wonders whether it could have been better if the writers had been allowed to embrace the good and bad in human nature instead of neutering their stories to conform to Roddenberry's idealism?
In their zeal to credit "Star Trek's" success to its morally progressive worldview, those making the argument conveniently ignore the fact that the best ST movie was a simple tale of revenge and regret, well told.
Cross-posted at the Greenroom.
Posted by slublog at May 10, 2009 08:51 PM
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Comments
really?
Posted by: coldmexican at May 10, 2009 11:45 PM
lets see how it works
Posted by: coldmexican at May 10, 2009 11:48 PM
Do you think this could be the libs trying to "own" Star Trek, its characters and its success because of the obvious conservative "get the job done" themes in the highly successful Dark Knight?
Posted by: mare at May 12, 2009 01:44 PM
I think Newsweek is reaching, Roddenberry was alive for Star Trek 4, which I consider (despite the humorous parts) the worst of any Star Trek movie. It was progressive at the time, but whales saving the earth? Seriously? It might have made sense at the time but the best movie "Revenge of Khan" wasn't about progressive ideology, or anything else. It was about revenge, basic rage and sacrifice. ask any Trekker fan, it's still the best Trek movie out there.
Posted by: coldmexican at May 12, 2009 10:54 PM