They didn't care because being a Star Trek fan meant being a weird, fat loser nerd 20 years ago.
Now the wine-clinking neoliberals are pretending to always have thought it a progressive masterpiece, when in reality, they thought it was entertainment for freaks.
And now the wine-clinking liberals are giddy for more Section 31/Terran Empire apologism and dismantling the Federation one "prestige tv" treatment at a time.
DS9 challenged the Federation's integrity and principles. The current Kurtzman-era hacks don't even care what those principles actually were.
EDIT: Adding this extra bit from further down for clarification of where I stand on current Trek shows.
Lower Decks, Prodigy, and (to some extent) SNW are good in spite of Kurtzman's presence. He's constantly pushing for his precious Section 31 project and anything he gets more direct control over becomes smeared with P R E S T I G E T V misery-for-misery's-sake, cheap sloppy sensationalism, and contrarianism against Trek's founding themes, which has hurt Trek long enough.
I propose UlyssesT controls all sci-fi treat writing in Hollywood
I propose UlyssesT controls all sci-fi treat writing in Hollywood
You have any idea how bored I would be if absolutely everything that was ever churned out of the genre was directly by my say-so? I want to be surprised, even challenged with my entertainment. It'd be kind of fucked up if I only read my own stories, after all. That's exactly why I'm basically grieving for Trek's squandered potential while the Kurtzman-era hacks continue to smear their shit all over it.
Lower Decks, Prodigy, and (to some extent) SNW are good in spite of Kurtzman's presence. He's constantly pushing for his precious Section 31 project and anything he gets more direct control over becomes smeared with P R E S T I G E T V misery-for-misery's-sake, cheap sloppy sensationalism, and contrarianism against Trek's founding themes, which has hurt Trek long enough.
I want to be surprised, even challenged.
oh okay.Would you ever write a scifi story though?
One book trilogy so far, some supplemental short stories, and a new project still in the making now.
I mean if you want to read them, I can send you some links on private message.
You can finish projects without abandoning them like I do?
Nowadays, I often can, but often with prolonged delays and setbacks.
abandoning projects
getting distracted and putting them off for months to years
I forgot about that
Edit: is Tuggy a funny joke pseudonym name?
Edit: is Tuggy a funny joke pseudonym name?
It's actually from an old sailor term for people that pull boats up river, often with the assistance of horses.
I think his proposal is more like chief censor, rather than the sole writer
I would humbly (and gladly) accept some special position to shoot down P R E S T I G E T V shit before it percolates into modern Trek, that's for sure.
Your brush is a bit overbroad. The hacks currently dismantling the integrity and principles of the Federation are only running some of the current era Trek shows. Lower Decks is the best showcase of Federation values there's ever been.
I'll quote what I already said in another reply chain.
Lower Decks, Prodigy, and (to some extent) SNW are good in spite of Kurtzman's presence. He's constantly pushing for his precious Section 31 project and anything he gets more direct control over becomes smeared with P R E S T I G E T V misery-for-misery's-sake, cheap sloppy sensationalism, and contrarianism against Trek's founding themes, which has hurt Trek long enough.
First of all, death to the traitor Kurtzman of course. But just like the hated Rick Berman before him, I don't think he can really ruin Trek as a whole.
just like the hated Rick Berman before him
The tacticool-fantasizing misanthropic edgelord that sex pested
right out of the show because she wouldn't fuck him? That guy? I may have gotten names mixed up.I don't think he can really ruin Trek as a whole.
He's certainly trying his best and no one seems willing, if able, to dethrone him.
Yes that's the guy. He also created gold pressed latinum because he refused to believe or understand the concept of a post-scarcity post-capitalism economy. Which is why I especially appreciated Boimler extremely obviously not giving a shit about latinum during the Cerritos' visit to DS9.
Lower Decks is the flagship of Trek in the present day, far as I'm concerned. Comedy, sure, but like good comedy, it speaks truth to power (including the hacks like Berman and Kurtzman). There was even a subtle jab once where a Mariner rant about asshole leadership coincided with Kurtzman's opening credit showing up.
That jab was too subtle for me, it slipped right by. Do you remember which episode it was?
I wish I did. It was in the first minute of the episode where Mariner was ranting as the name popped up below.
Longshot chance it was Captain Freeman and I misremembered, but I think it was Mariner.
I love how Freeman is absolutely her daughter's mother, with her own occasional snarky comments about Starfleet and Federation leadership, and an instinct for morality over legality. I can't remember the exact episode but there was a great scene in a turbolift with her and Ransom where she's grumbling about "Starfleet's policy of some interference" when it hamstrings her from ethical actions.
I also love how Freeman's job as captain of a California-class ship is hinted at over the seasons as being a result of Freeman's own rebellious streak, and not any sort of incompetence. When push comes to shove Freeman is a damn good captain. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
The sheer complexity of Freeman's character is very refreshing to me. Your take is my take too.
One of my favorite Freeman moments was that "so cringe it's actually cool somehow" moment where she settled on "warp me." I still say "warp me" sometimes in Star Trek Online.
The premise is literally fully automated luxury gay space communism... Like, Roddenberry was def on a watch list. And from what I understand the studio had to tamp down a lot of what he wanted to do.
I read this and I was like damn what’s a Black Flag Officer that sounds awesome
"Representation matters" - does it tho? Putting oppressed minorities in media while oppressing them is tokenism
a bunch of people were inspired to do a bunch of things because of star trek, and you're profoundly ignorant if you think the inclusion of minoritized or demonized people in the optimistic future of original series and tng era was irrelevant.
hell, Dr. King personally asked Nichelle Nichols not to quit the show. Trek did it (mostly) right, don't lump it in with a tom clancy movie's black president.
Whoopi Goldberg has that anecdote she loves to tell of being a little girl, seeing Nichelle Nichols on TV, and Whoopi starts running around the house, screaming, "Mommy! Mommy! There's a black lady on TV and she's not a maid!"
I don't think celebrating diversity genuinely is tokenism personally. If you have a respectable character being cool who is some underrepresented minority, it can be inspiring.
If you are doing things like rainbow military recruitment or you are Fox hosting specifically transphobic trans women or extreme rightwing black people to try to pretend you don't have a problem with racism or transphobia or a company just trying to meet some quotas to avoid being sued, then it would be tokenism imo.
Anyways, I do personally think representation is important. Moreso in real life, but media is a place people look to for similar inspiration. Sometimes little things can mean a lot for some people.
Yes, of course it does???
Putting minorities in media and showing them as respectable equals is not tokenism, and is doubly important to do when real life doesn't reflect that. Rodenberry did not have the power to fucking solve racial oppression, he incorporated all nationalities to showcase the importance and futurism of not being a racist fuck.
I think that's why I always enjoy The Ultimate Computer when it pops up in TOS rewatches. Dr. Daystrom is treated as just another person, brilliant and flawed alike.
I think Trek did, and still does, have a sexism problem though. Even "should have known better" TNG writers did. Guess which two main cast members had sword training but were demoted to breaking pots over guards' heads in Qpid?
Yeah, that is cool. And I'm definitely not arguing Trek was perfect, just that it did good things in that regard.
OP reposted this from reddit
https://l.opnxng.com/r/startrekmemes/comments/1fcd1fa/representation_matters/
Also allowing some of the oppressed become oppressors too is not really meaningful progress.
Off topic a bit but are there any openly leftist trek actors? I know a lot support dems but is Janeway riding with AOC the furthest they go?
Quark is more than a hero, he's a union man.
Stewart is a squishy lib socialist
Nimoy was investigated by HUAAC for support of McGovern.
Colm Meany believes strongly that 26+6=1
You're thinking of Rom not Quark, Quark remained capitalist to the end.
Armin Shimerman (the guy who played Quark) was an official in SAG-AFTRA
Wallace Shawn played Grand Nagus Zek on DS9 and he's literally a socialist, but beyond that the best you can hope for with Trek actors these days is having good takes about Palestine. Some do, but most don't.
learning so much
