August-Inspiration

WARNING! This article is about STAR TREK! If you are not a geek and Star Trek fanboy(/girl?), reading this article may cause epileptic seizures, rage, emotional instability and schizophrenic breakdowns! Continue at own risk!

As a child with a very active imagination, science fiction television shows, movies and computer games were valuable assests and efficient at filling my imagination and playtime. Of these, Star Trek were of significant importance. Growing up in the early 90′s, I always looked forward to watching the next Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) episode. As many a geek, I have taken a love of this franchise into adulthood. While Star Trek: TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (DS9) were still on local television, I was too young to appreciate the deeper plots and running themes of the series. By the time Star Trek: Voyager (VOY) started showing, I had gained this ability. While all these shows were distinct and different from each other, they still shared many similarities, such as intro theme, wardrobe and temporal setting. For 15 years, Star Trek had not had a major face-lift. But a face-lift and concerted effort at revitalising the franchise was attempted in the early naughties in the form Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT). Throughout all of these serieses, movies were still being produced. It was a movie that started the franchise. Despite new serieses such as DS9 and VOY, the movies of that period all mainly featured the crew of the TNG series. But I didn’t mind this at all.

Captain Picard and his crew were, and still are, my favourite of all the characters in the Star Trek universe. Recently I saw an old season of TNG again. Admittedly, more than anything, watching that show recalled memories and bouts of reminiscing about when I was young. While not the best show ever (that is being shipped from Amazon as we speak! Stay tuned!) I still liked it. Sometimes that is all that is necessary, although it doesn’t leave one much room for becoming opinionated about something.

I didn’t like Deep Space 9 that much. But, as I said, I wasn’t able to appreciate all the finer details of the show back then and would be more than willing to watch it again. I really enjoyed VOY at the beginning, but as the seasons dragged on, I became bored with the amount of melodrama in that show. These are all my own opinion: I have heard of people who love DS9 and think that it might be the best Star Trek series ever. Other people really like VOY. I can respect all that.

But the franchise was in danger: it wasn’t pulling in new fans and it needed to overhaul itself. So the powers-that-be decided to create a prequel to the whole franchise in the form of ENT. This show took a futuristic science fiction show, set it back in time (but still in the future) and made it “primitive” technology wise. It featured a fledgling Star Federation and naïve (already united and “pacified”) human race who started reaching out into the dark beyond for the first time. The crew make-up followed the same recipe as the Star Trek shows that came before ENT (hey, if it works and all that, right?). Still, it was clearly something new and a complete break from the previous 15 years. And I liked it! For a bit. The series started strong and for one and a half seasons it was brimming with potential. Then some brilliant writer suggested the Temporal Cold War. The Temporal Cold War would be fought by various factions in a post-TNG/DS9/VOY period across time: primarily in the ENT timeline. The idea was for the factions to try and eliminate each other before they became a superpower. And the poor simpletons of the ENT crew were caught in the middle. One paper, it can be made to sound like a good idea. Just like communism. In reality, it was an awful, awful idea that eventually ruined the series. The culmination of this change of direction for the show was “Nazi aliens” and the ENT crew being turned into bitter, pessimistic characters that doesn’t suit the franchise. ENT died a quiet, undignified death after four seasons despite a shimmer of hope to but the show back on track as it was suppose to be.

At this point I should mention that many factors contributed to the utter failure of ENT. One was the unfortunate turn in the storyline I just discussed. But this drastic step was perhaps brought on by a decrease in the number of viewers. However, it is necessary to point out that people weren’t watching ENT, because the TV network on which it was shown in the USA at one point slotted it into the worst possible time-slot. Even “geeks” occasionally have a need to go out on a Friday night. So, ENT was partially destroyed by network politics, just like so many other good shows before and after it.

The failure of ENT sent shock waves of fear and worry throughout the Star Trek community. Before ENT, the final Star Trek movie was a universal failure. The movie also finally released Picard and his crew from their responsibilities to the franchise: things were brought to a close and the actors can now retire in peace (yeah right). Going even further forward wasn’t really an option. And going back… with the fiasco that was ENT, the caretakers of the franchise didn’t want to risk a movie about it. So, was this the end of the franchise? Had Star Trek finally come to an end?  The fears and frustration of every fan of Star Trek fan was verbalised in the third Futurama movie when the head of George Takei (Sulu from TOS) reprimanded the head Scott Bakula (Archer from ENT), saying: “Way to kill the franchise, Bakula!”.

The astute observer would have noticed that I haven’t yet mentioned the original Star Trek series (TOS). To many hardliners, Captain Kirk and his crew are the beginning and end of the Star Trek universe.  But I haven’t mentioned Kirk et al because I never knew them.  The series and movies long preceded me and I’ve only seen glimpses and parodies.  The most concrete experience I have of TOS is a comic book I inherited from my brother, which features many weird stories, like one where a mad scientist captures the brain waves of long-dead famous people from earth, stores them on punch cards and programmes them into androids.  I think that watching TOS now would, quite frankly, be hilarious.  But still, they were the forerunners of what I know and love today, so they deserve their respect.  When the franchise was dying, the fans cried out.  And Captain James T. Kirk responded.

On opening day, I went to see the new Star Trek movie.  It was strange to see so many older people there: it reminded one that Star Trek has come a long way and spanned more than a generation already.  I won’t delve too much into the movie, safe to say that it was excellent!  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  And, as a litmus test, we took along friends who weren’t Star Trek fans at all, and they enjoyed it just as much.  The movie therefore is able to cater for both hardcore fans and newcomers.  It is therefore able to draw new people towards the franchise.  The movie also necessarily draws on the dodgy time travel element in order to create an alternate universe.  This was well worth it, however, as a new fork in the Star Trek universe is possible.  The events of in the movie are sufficiently cataclysmic to ensure that the future will be different¹.  With fresh and talented actors on set and keen and inspired people behind the pen and lens, Star Trek could very well live again!

So, after a long-winded and uncalled for essay, my conclusion is this: go watch the new Star Trek film!  Then, go out, and live long and prosper²!

1. Although not necessarily.  If you are concerned about the fate of Captain Picard and his crew due to this fork in the timeline, remember that ENT introduced the concept of “merging timelines”.  While people naturally think of single actions in the past causing profound changes in the future, the Star Trek universe holds that acts to “change history” are somehow “karmically” counteracted to try and correct the future timeline.  Only sufficiently drastic changes in the past can change the future.  I know, I don’t quite get it either… [↩]
2. Sorry, I just had to add that! [↩]

So I guess just about everybody is ranting about Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It’s the flavour of the hour. This is the end of an era, something I witnessed. Now I’m going to throw in my two cent’s worth. I saw the film last night. First off, let me say that I was thoroughly impressed and that I really enjoyed the film. I don’t know if it was just George Lucas who had succeeded to make everybody’s expectations as low as possible after the previous two films or if it was something else, but the film was quite good and brought the closure that was needed in the epic saga. The film is a rousing success all over the world. This is not only because it leeched off the wallets of the Star Wars junkies, but because, after three decades, the Star Wars story spans over two genres of science fiction. The series now caters to two mindsets. Let me explain.

People like to say that “Star Wars is so successful because it appeals to everybody blah blah sense of good and justice blah Jedi blah struggle between good and evil yada yada technology will advance, but fail us blah wisdom yada yada Yoda yada…” This is indeed the case. Well, it was the case. In the seventies. Think about it. The original Star Wars and Star Trek came from roughly the same period. In both stories there was conflict, but the good guys always came out on top. It was a metaphor for any (good versus evil) struggle and of course people want good to triumph (peace of mind, better future for everyone etc.). Back then, it was something people could relate to. It was a real life “good versus evil” struggle. It was the Cold War. Everyone was dosed up to the eye balls on propaganda and it was important to emphasise the victory of “good” in order to give the masses peace of mind. “In the end, everything is going to be all right.”

Come the eighties, there started a shift of focus. A new type of science fiction had arisen: cyber punk. Suddenly the future wasn’t as rosy as we had always been told it would be. It was dark, oppressive and the protagonist was often an anti-hero. Situations and stories got a new “sting in the tail” and everything sweet left a bitter aftertaste. I’m not exactly sure why this mindset, this divulgence into cynicism and despair, caught on, but it did (it was obviously sparked by the punk and goth movements which basically aimed to contrast the set ways of society). I sort of grew up with the cyber punk themes. Examples of cyber punk stories include Blade Runner, The Matrix (including all the stories it was drawn from), Ghost in a Shell (anime), Evangellion (anime), Fallout (game), Deus Ex (game) and Jeremiah (comic and TV show). Think of all the ‘hacker’ and post apocalyptic stories. Even X-Files and Sliders. We are still in this era. Indeed, cyber punk has only recently become ‘pop’. Even Star Wars and Star Trek has adopted the new mindset.

The last Star Trek movie (Nemesis) had an antagonist that drew on a lot on dark elements, but was also a reflection of the protagonist. Spoiler follows in next sentence. In the end, one of the best loved characters in Star Trek: Generations die. In the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise, the mood and feel of the show was turned around 180 degrees. The cynicism and heavy demeanours that followed after the crew heard of a massacre on Earth completely contrasted the temperament of the first two seasons. Fans had mixed feelings about season three of Enterprise. Season four was better and saw a slight realignment to the first two seasons, but could not save the show for a fifth season.

Now I come full circle back to Star Wars. One of the teasing points of the movie was the statement that episode was going to be “the darkest episode of the whole series”. Whether he planned it or not, George Lucas played it well. Two decades ago, crowds in cinemas cheered Luke Skywalker on as he triumphed over the dark side in “Return of the Jedi”. Now audiences watch as a Jedi falls and Anakin dons the infamous Darth Vader costume. The watch as the Jedi’s, the keepers of peace and justice, are betrayed and literally slaughtered. The movie ends where the forces of good have to flee from the over powering dark Sith lords. See the contrast? Episode three echoed much of what one could see in the game Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords. It’s a RPG and you eventually chose your own path. But the game is laced with despair and cynicism. It boils down that an excess of either good or evil upsets the natural balance of everything. A balance is needed. For example: in the game, give a beggar some money and someone will mug him and steal his money, causing him grieve; don’t give him money, he turns to crime and kills someone for some money to survive. You are constantly reminded of paradoxes like these that exist. Thus the good versus evil conflict can never be resolved.

So, that is why I believe Star War’s success will survive for yet another generation. But the lure of the dark ending is only one element. Like I said, the movie was enjoyable by itself. Scarred by the previous two films, I started watching the movie very critically, but I couldn’t keep up the front. Money well spent.

Incidentally, not even Luke Skywalker is safe from the modern mindset. There exists a sequel trilogy to the original movies in book form. I haven’t read them, but apparently Luke falls to the dark side…