Star Trek Breaks Bad

in #life7 years ago (edited)

7a4c020917251889_star_trek_discover_1920.jpg

A new Star Trek series is coming and we're told it's going to be gritty. It has been 12 years since we last had a small screen Star Trek, and in that time television has experienced a revolution. The Wire was still in production back then, and that was just the start of what became the full invasion of tele-novels with so many characters and subplots they would've made Victor Hugo's eyes bleed. This comes along with deep conflicts and mature content.

Yes, when you drive by the local AMC the kids ask what that building is and you have to explain that it is a temple where their ancestors used to worship the old gods, before everyone moved to Westeros and took their clothes off. You could leave that last part out, but let's just be honest and admit that your kids have seen more GoT than you.

I'm going to have to put aside for the moment that the signs haven't been good for this Trek show that has suffered from epic mismanagement. The franchise divorced in 2005, when Viacom split and gave the TV rights to CBS while leaving the film rights to Paramount. The latter had guided Star Trek in all its forms for 50 years and is still making movies. CBS, I am told, used to make ridiculously popular TV shows. I'm serious, look it up. They called it M*A*S*H. I guess there are some people who still watch Big Bang Theory too. Let's just say I'd be happier if Star Trek: Discovery was going to be a Netflix Original. They got Kevin Spacey and Winona Ryder, for christ's sake. CBS couldn't even sign Michael Dorn.

Let's assume they've overcome these problems. What does their marketing department mean when they say it's going to be grittier than past Star Treks? I think they feel like TV is more "grown up" these days and the episodic plots and PG content that marked much of past endeavors won't cut it in the post Walter White era. What this means most of all is that they will abandon Gene Roddenberry's centeal edict against conflcit among the main characters.

I think that is a good start, if it is done right. I understand that harmony among the weekly regulars was an expression of Roddenberry's founding vision of Star Trek as taking place in a humanist utopia where humans, among other species, had abandoned their petty squables to point their combined strengths towards the stars. For years scriptwriters complained that this made writing drama nearly impossible and over time they mixed in more conflict until at last this has become not a dirty secret, but a selling point for a new series. If we have left behind the series Prime Directive, does that mean the result is something that isn't really Star Trek? Not necessarily.

Let's be frank. Gene Roddenberry had a vision, but I think others may have understood that vision a little better. Like George Lucas, he cereated one of the most iconic story worlds of the 20th century, but sometimes seemed to be at a loss as to how he did it or what made it special. One thing that Gene didn't seem to get is that not all conflict is made equally. Antigone's brothers may have died in a petty quarrel, but Antigone herself defied Creon to follow the higher laws of the gods and grant honor to Polynices. The two conflicts originate from two different motivations.

It is entirely possible for mature people driven by logic, compassion, and a desire to advance humanity to have diferences in opinion. One could argue that many of the most pressing problems facing our society have no clear solution we can all agree on if only we weren't so small minded. We can only attack these big problems if we put aside the silly arguments, which to me sounds like what Roddenberry was after. Indeed, a united Earth that expands its reach into the stars would likely encounter new problems we can only begin to imagine, especially when you add non-humans in the mix. More social complexity will only lead to more ambiguity about which choices are best, not less. In many cases there is no right answer at all. That will still create conflict even among the most well meaning individuals. Our only hope of surviving such challenges is embracing Roddenberry's vision so that we have a foundation on which to stand.

That only covers the social scale. On a personal level, I don't think we will ever escape the impediments and losses and guilts that make up a human life and lead to innner conflict. Sometimes that does lead to interpersonal differences. That doesn't mean we are all childish drama queens trying to draw attention to our little problems while there is a big universe out there. And as with society, people who live among the stars are likely to come into contact with more existential angst, not less. Any life questioning they may do might just result from them being more "grown up" than the average person today. If forced to actually live with the complete reality that Star Trek only implies, one would need to develop some steely resolve to mentally survive.

If Discovery embraces these ideals, then it will certainly go to some dark places. People will bemoan that it is no longer Star Trek, but in reality it may become the show all its predecessors were struggling to become. It may acheive the full potential of Roddenberry's founding vision.

  • image courtesy of CBS AllAccess*

/--------------------------------------/

Thank you for reading! If you likd fiction, maybe check out my serialized horror story, "Feeble As Frail". Here are the posts available so far:

part 1 .
part 2.
part 3.
part 4.
part 5.

Sort:  

I think the biggest problem with the newer ST (TV shows and movies) is, that they try to be different. In a way, they try to fix something that isn't broken.
Roddenberry's concept of the ST universe was fine as it was. Of course you can make a scifi series with a different angle - but why call it Star Trek then?

I think that is compatible with what I was trying to say, at least to some extent. I am talking less about improving upon an idea and more about mining it to its absolute depths.

I always thought that they should try to build on the series after Voyager ended rather than try to reinvent it. It had an incredible base cannon and following. It appealed to the ideals which is what Roddenberry wanted.

Sadly that is lost on this sleep walking generation.

Well I can't speak for whether any particular generation is walking in its sleep, I was also a bit disappointed by the decision to reboot the franchise in the new movies. More importantly, I think it was unfortunate the JJ Abrams, a director who is capable of better, brought us a more or less standard action flick that on occassion throws a bone to original fans with a reference what came before. It only serves to remind us that what came before was better, if less extravagantly funded. I guess that is the primary hope of the new series... That it will build on the core vision rather than demolish it entirely.

Really nice article and some thoughtful points.

As a trekie... I'm looking forward to the new series, as long as it isn't as bad add Enterprise... I'll be happy :-)

I like Star Trek Voyager. There you will see conflict because of the crew is half Federation and half rebel Marquis. Thrust into unknown quadrant where they will get no help from the Federation. Force to rely on the themselves and whatever technology they could develop or find in this new environment. I think this is how Roddenberry vision is tested when there is no Federation to enforce it

The Maquis story line is actually something that was going through my mind when writing this. No one can blame the Federation for trading territory that would end a brutal war and no one can blame people who lived there entire lives in that territory for wanting to stay.

Yes, even the Federation is not perfect.

@rjona1 after TNG, voyager was probably one of my favorite star trek series.

Yes me too

I like toast 🍞

Yes, in the end I think I would watch just about any new series. I am also excited because my step daughter has found an interest in Star Trek ... TOS, in fact. She just loves Spock. Discovery however will be the first new series in her lifetime. I have fond memories of waiting for TNG to come out. The one thing that annoys me is CBS putting it behind the paywall of a streaming channel no one subscribes to. It seems they want to use it to boost subscribers to AllAccess more than anything else, which reduces the likelihood of wider distribution on real channel anytime soon. And you know what, it will probably work. I have considered subscribing just to get that one show!

That is great that your step daughter has showb an interest, it will be fantastic to share it with her. :-)

Like yourself I'll probably subscribe to see it.

The one series that I always wanted to see was one about the federation secret service called section 31, they always intrigued me and I thought that it would have made a nice and different Star Trek series.

Yes, they first introduced that in DS9 I think, but it was near the end and not fully developed. I felt like the Dominion war, while still pretty well written, took the microcosm that made DS9 special and tried to turn it into War and Peace. There were so many ideas that some of them faltered. DS9 explored the ideas of shifting alliances and ulterior motives, but at the same time gave it's "villains" more sympathatic betrayals than in any previous iteration. I mean Gul Dukat was one of the most well rounded adversies ST has ever produced and you got the impression that Sisko really respected him even if he didn't trust him.The Founders were interesting, but more of a return to the outsider threat. I think section 31 could have been worked into the Cardassia/Bajor/Maquis dynamic just fine and would have had given it more room to grow.

Congratulations @candidfolly! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of comments
Award for the number of upvotes received

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

This post receiver 99% upvote from @xdark21 with 0.01$ really good job man you will be a millionaire son. Great post

Thoughtful and gripping-just like Star Trek was always supposed to be...before Bragga really screwed it over for monetary gain. I really want to see another Star Trek on the screen and just fall into that world again...if it's done well. Star Trek has been an emblem of hope for multiple generations now and always gripped the human psyche and conflict well (not counting Enterprise).-

I worry that CBS is doing the same thing by using the series to boost viewership on their poorly received streaming channel, but then again in the past there was always some sort of flagship program that a network built its primetime lineup around. It seems they have left much of the production up to the small group at AllAccess. On the one hand, their inexperience and budgetary limitations have created many missteps, but on the other it has provided considerable creative freedom. Let's hope the latter wins the day.

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by candidfolly from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, and someguy123. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you like what we're doing please upvote this comment so we can continue to build the community account that's supporting all members.

Very nice images, i like
i love to join in steemit and to help earh other
#vote and follow you
Do not forget to folloe me