Right about now, Daisy has already clicked off of my post. I know that she does this whenever I have a discussion about comics or any other thing that does not hold her fancy, but DAMMIT DAISY-if I have to put up with Fat Baby Fridays then you can deign to read some of my geek posts. You might even learn something :-). JK, Daisy-I tease because I love!
A-HEM. Anyway, this post is a prequel post to my midnight viewing of Star Trek (happening tomorrow night-IMAX BABY!). So far, advance word on the film from Trek fans has been incredibly mixed, but advanced word from EVERYONE has been stellar. See, this is the kind of Trek movie that is accessible to everyone, from what I hear. This is a good thing. With the success of Star Trek over the years has come a build up of canon-things that can and cannot be done within the stories due to the importance of continuity. By using time travel as a mechanism to induce change in Roddenberry's universe, JJ Abrahms is doing something unique in his relaunch-namely making Star Trek accessible to the masses and less geeky.
The actual allure of Star Trek for me starts with reruns that I watched as a child. At the time, there were no video tapes, dvds, laser discs, or blu-rays. Star Trek was off the air before I was born, and my older brother regaled me with stories of animated Star Trek-a show that he watched when HE was smaller. So it was with great excitement that we found out that our local affiliate was airing reruns of Star Trek every weeknight at 7 PM. From the first episode, I was hooked. Before the time of Trek conventions and before the multiple series and "that movie with the whales," Star Trek was the quintessential adventure series set in space. Of course, during the early years of Roddenberry, the storylines were, at times, melodramatic (as were the music and some of the situations). Even as a child, I found some of the episodes ridiculous (Really? A planet full of Nazis? Really? A planet full of Romans? Really? A planet full of gangsters?), but the chemistry was there among the crew members. The attention to realism and realistic science inspired countless boys and girls to become scientists and astronauts. Even some of the devices in the show inspired inventors, as the diagnostic beds in sick bay inspired CT and MRI scans and the communicators inspired the modern day flip phones. In the end, this was another version of Horatio Hornblower (has anyone ever read C.S. Forester's novels?)-albeit in space. Kirk, Spock and McCoy represented facets of the ego, superego, and the id.
What always pissed me off, however, is how those of us who were Trek fans were painted with the broad brush of being geeks BECAUSE of it. Why can't someone enjoy a show or work of fiction without being ostracized? I mean, I know that the technobabble in the show can sometimes be a bit much, but at least with the original series, it never got in the way of the story. There were some amazing stories told during the first season of Star Trek and into the second, and I pity those people who would not give the show a chance because "oh, it's Star Trek." Can you say "closed-minded"?
Why do I write this? Well, I know that the film is currently getting stellar reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, it currently looks to be one of the best reviewed films of the year. I am asking those of you who have never given Star Trek a chance or who have had the misfortune to experience some of the numerous Trek misfires over the years (any odd numbered Star Trek film, Voyager, and Enterprise) to give it another shot. This should be a fun film, a jumping on point. It is supposedly about the characters. Don't write it off simply because it is Star Trek.
I will post my review of the film sometime this weekend. Maybe I can even get Alleged Lady to chime in, as she is attending the viewing with me.
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