Bad faith actors putting on a performance about their hate for new Trek (or anything progressive)
Bad faith actors putting on a performance about their hate for new Trek (or anything progressive)
I want to be clear here as a mod before arguments start. In Ten Forward:
You are allowed to hate any Star Trek series or movie(s) that you like.
You are also allowed to talk about how much you hate them all you like.
Just don't be a dick about it.
And also don't be a dick about someone hating those things.
CAN I BE A DICK ABOUT NON-STAR TREK THINGS THOUGH?
Understood o7
I'll be good
It wasn't meant for you specifically. You're fine. I just wanted to nip it in the bud before it started.
The one thing I hate most is that I can't get all my trek from one streaming service.
And all the crying in discovery.
I used to worry that I hated new Trek. Then lower decks and strange new worlds came out.
When disco fucked off to the future I started enjoying it more because it felt like it no longer didnt fit in with the timeline. And then it got to the cause of the big explosion thing and decided I hated it again for such a stupid cause.
Zero interest in Picard, feels too edgy grimdark.
LD/SNW by comparison have been enjoyable since day one.
The first two Picard seasons are… weird.
Picard S3, while not perfect, is a hell of a lot of fun, and very obviously a love note to ST fans who grew up with the 90s series.
Agreed that the cause of the Burn was just… wat. Similar levels of “wat” for that seed ship interlude where the barzan father “phased partially out of reality due to grief”.. like, come on, what in the Kentucky Fried Fuck is that bullshit?
I do think disco is mostly good, but it’s also about 5-10% catastrophically bad/nonsensical/poorly written, which can really take the wind out of your sails when watching parts of it. I must add, however, that I think the very prominent focus on mental health and trauma, as well as non-heterosexual/-heteronormative relationships was an excellent change that that series specifically introduced.
What counts as New Trek?
I enjoyed Discovery up until season 3. Then it lost me. SNW is fantastic though.
Also kind of pissy that they used the bury your gays trope. It's so old.
I'm the opposite too, Disco really grabbed me in season 3. When Sadil told Burnham "that future is you," I was sold. I honestly teared up, you could feel the weight he carried his entire life being lifted. What a line. Plus the future is a better fit for them and helps avoid continuity issues and all that.
All the gay killin' was disappointing, I agree there.
Feel like Discovery, Lower Decks, and Prodigy are only new trek. Rest is fan service that lacks the push of real trek series. SNW and Picard are fine but not very memorable. Except for the musical episode or cross over with Lower Decks.
Here's the thing: I dislike Discovery. I tried, it's not for me. I dislike the (for me) over-emotional acting.
But I have a hard time believe people who complain about Trek being woke are actually trekkies.
Because they never seem to get upset about far more woke episodes of TOS, TNG or SNW.
The ones I love are the ones who claim Star Trek got too political.
The Star Trek that commented on racism, the cold war and overpopulation. In the mid-1960s.
But I have a hard time believe people who complain about Trek being woke are actually trekkies.
Same here, and that's why I singled out out bad faith actors in my post. They aren't real fans of Trek any more than people who like to highlight black crime statistics in the U.S. are "just asking questions." It's bullshit, and they need to be called out on that bullshit. Star Trek has always had a progressive vision of the future; anyone who claims otherwise or complains about "wokeness" is sowing discord and trying to get people to subscribe to their brand of douchebaggery.
Never underestimate the ability of conservatives to ignore political messages that aren't explicitly stated. Even something as in-your-face as TNG's The Outcast is easily viewed by conservatives as "a funny alien story", and not a metaphor for real-world political issues.
The meaning of woke changed. That is to say, TNG isn't woke in the same way STD tries to be.
TNG is about self reflection, self improvement, professionalism, materialism, humanism, striving every day to make tomorrow better than yesterday.
STD is about emotions, entitlement... And honestly I struggle to find what the show actually says. There's a focus on CGI spectacle. But since STD contains a black woman as captain, a gay couple, and a non binary individual, criticism of its lack of depth isn't allowed.
We see the writers pat themselves on the back for things Star Trek has already done in the past, just to give themselves social brownie points, and if you don't like it you're a sexist bigot. That is what woke means today. It's not true progressivism.
my problems with nuTrek are almost exclusively with DSC. It's the terrible writing, the retconning, and the over-the-top acting. but, specifically, with how they've handled LGBTQ+ characters-- horribly, imo.
Stamets and Culber
These two are often the target of being brutally treated, aka, the Bury Your Gays trope. Death/near-death constantly surround them, and it's often tied to some function of their sexuality and/or relationship as gay men. Rarely are they seen as just crewmembers or Starfleet officers aside from them being gay, and i can't help but see this as the showrunners and the writers, lacking all subtlety and nuance, saying, "LOOK AT HOW WE HAVE GAY CHARACTERS NOW!! LOOOOOOOKKKKK!!!!!!!" They're props, objects to make Trek look good, and i don't care for LGBTQ+ people being used that way.
In the shiny, bright future of Trek, nobody would care. It would be so normalized that nobody would notice and nobody would think differently of anyone for being gay, and having it constantly pointed out would be weird. So, when it's done on the show, over and over, it's weird and discordant, and out-of-character-- just like in the TOS episode when Lincoln called Uhura a racist term she didn't comprehend because, as Kirk pointed out, it's just not something people notice or think about anymore in the 23rd century.
Grey and Adira
I find this example more egregious for the same reasons. While i celebrate trans and enby inclusion in Trek (finally), what i find especially troublesome here is the tone-deaf and haphazard manner in which it was handled. First, again with the Bury Your Gays bs. We get this lovely character Grey only for them to get killed and only to exist henceforth as an f'ing ghost? That's the only dignity this character gets? As a ghost?? And Adira doesn't get the dignity of even existing without having to declare themselves and struggling to fit in as well. I mean, i understand trying to make the character relatable to a contemporary audience, but the whole point of Trek is to, again, show a brighter better future where all people are already accepted for who and what they are, where such struggles for tolerance and acceptance are well behind us. I shouldn't be watching Adira struggle-- I should be watching them be able to confidently walk into the Engineering compartment knowing that nobody will judge them because, in the 23rd century, those bigotries and prejudices no longer exist.
But DSC betrayed what decades of Trek had taught us before about tolerance in the 23rd and 24th centuries and shit all over it by painting a picture of hostility, uncertainly, and doubt for LGBTQ+ people and how, apparently, we're the target of a great deal of mysterious deaths and near-deaths. The future really isn't too bright for us in the nuTrek future, and our struggles still abound 200 years hence.
There is never or rarely any positive aspect of the LGBTQ+ characters attributes being celebrated. It's always some weakness to be exploited as a plot point, highlighted as something that will make them miserable, sad, and/or alone, something that sets them apart and makes them different. it's always regarded as some type of survivorship. LGBTQ+ folx in Trek are not represented nor regarded as normal or regular people as they should be. They're regarded as objects of pity, cudgels for plot points, set pieces, and fucking ghosts, but never with the dignity and respect that any other crew member receives, and that's just fucked up.
And Adira doesn’t get the dignity of even existing without having to declare themselves and struggling to fit in as well.
Contrast with Sisko, where him being black isn't even mentioned until Season 6's "Far Beyond the Stars," or Jadzia's bisexuality never being directly mentioned at all.
Exactly— Sisko only discussed his race in the context of comparing it to the unfairness of the past. It was never even noticed in the present— in fact, the only other time Sisko actually mentioned it was when discussing with Cassidy why he didn’t like going to Vic’s holosuite casino: because the 1960s-era representation was historically inaccurate of its representations of its attitudes towards people of color— in that the holosuite casino had no racism and, in reality, Vegas casinos were very racist at that time. He saw that as dishonest whitewashing of history. Cassidy countered that he should try to enjoy it, not as an account of history (as it was never intended to be), but as a representation of how things should have been.
And the message? Don’t forget the past, but also don’t let it get in the way of enjoying the present.
And THIS is how to use nuance to combine fantastic writing and acting and directing to communicate complex social concepts and to properly contextualize them in a utopian, equitable democratic socialist future referring to and being viewed by a contemporaneous audience in the 20th/21st century.
The writing directing and acting in discovery looks middle school improv by comparison. 
Jadzia’s bisexuality never being directly mentioned at all.
An interesting example of being more inclusive because they wanted to avoid controversy more than because they just wanted to be inclusive.
The show's use of the 'bury your gays' trope is so disappointing. It was so noticeable on first viewing, I remember thinking "why the hell are they killing them off?"
Ok, so you said something that really got me thinking:
And Adira doesn't get the dignity of even existing without having to declare themselves and struggling to fit in as well.
Yeah, thank you for saying this. I hadn't thought about this before, but Adira not even existing is crazy ironic because queer folks everywhere right now are fighting just to exist...not just as a byproduct that accompanies coming out in the modern era (having to explain your identity can be exhausting), but in the context of severe oppression where it's a crime to be queer or where laws are being changed to restrict queer rights. Take your pick of which state, or country, for that matter...queer erasure is happening in a lot of places.
I wish I had enough faith in the writing team to believe this was intentional and meant to be an allegory, but nah. They were just tone deaf.
They're regarded as objects of pity, cudgels for plot points, set pieces, and fucking ghosts, but never with the dignity and respect that any other crew member receives, and that's just fucked up.
Thank you for saying this too. FFS, can't we just have a gay character on screen without constantly having to O'Brien the poor dude? It is fucked up, it's today's version of making all your female characters victims of rape (poor Deana, how many times was she violated?). So incredibly fucked up
I think what this speaks to is the concept of queer agency and what that means— and how the writers clearly don’t understand it or how to be aspirational about it. Today, it’s defined by what we don’t have and are fighting for, whereas, in the 23rd century it doesn’t exist because everyone is equal. Queer people aren’t regarded as different or unequal in any way, so be regarded as different is a completely foreign concept. Having to define agency - or the need for it - does not belong in this context.
So, when you show these characters struggling with their identities, struggling to fit in because of them, and being defined first by them, it’s discordant with the setting, it’s discordant with Trek, and does a massive disservice to the characters themselves when, in what is supposed toy be a hopeful, utopian future where humanity is supposed to be far past such things, queer people are no better off than they are today because in a future where the concept of queer agency shouldn’t even have to exist anymore, it’s front and center whenever a queer character is on screen. Worse, when they end up suffering for it, over and over.
What bothers me most about what the writers did with Adira is have them get adopted by Stamets and Culber. It sort of felt like "let's keep all the queer people together" as if they needed their own special section of the ship.
Argh I know! It's like, they couldn't think of something more original? Gotta keep them all in the same space? People who complain about this show's "wokeness" specifically have obviously never seen it, because it's strangely regressive in some ways.
That's the biggest problem with how Hollywood and modern identity politics in general handles "diversity". Those aren't people who are gay, they're characters because they're gay. Instead of being people, they're a DEI category to check off and showcase.
Discovery makes me sad. Some great premises and actors, very little of what makes/made Trek great. What a shame.
Lower Decks is nothing but joyous snort giggles. Well quite heartfelt at times.
SNW is wonderful fun. You get your progressive post scarcity utopia (yay) and more than a few sensible chuckles. And guffaws. Also the truly grim but still appropriately Trek stories like Under the Cloak of War.
Also I would kill for a proper Bat'leth Boys music video! You have not experienced K-pop until you've heard it in the original Klingon.
Discovery is a great Sci fi, but not that good at being Trek IMO, and didn't really respect the rest of Trek. It's better now that they moved it to the future of Trek where it's tech level makes sense, and there isn't a littany of other media in the same time period.
The first seasons of Picard were weird because it felt that it was more about other characters, and the TNG characters were more there for fan service to trick the fans into watching.
Lower Decks and SNW are fantastic.
I can't believe that the crossover with the animated Lower Decks was the second silliest episode of Season 2 somehow. It was great.
I could do without the Alien crossovers though. Maybe it will lead somewhere interesting but right now it's just dumb.
New Trek isn't bad because it's progressive, it's bad because they've lost the vision of what Star Trek even is. Case in point:
That headline is a bit misleading... The season was rewritten because you couldn't understand it unless you had seen every other bit of star trek and remembered everything that happened... It required too much star trek knowledge not that it was too similar to other star trek shows.
Trek is like beer. There is good Trek. There is better Trek. There is bad Trek. But bad Trek is better than no Trek. And any Trek is better than star wars.
I'd rather have no Trek than whatever bullshit is posing as Trek right now.
Or to use your metaphor, There is good beer, there is better beer, there is bad beer, and then there is that weird warm yellow liquid that turns out to be actual horse urine that got sold to you like beer. That's what NuTrek is.
What does that make the Orville? Cider?
I said better Trek, didn't i?
But bad Trek is better than no Trek.
Thank you. I've been saying that since Discovery came out. I will take any new Star Trek over no more Star Trek.
I mean I just like science fiction
Nah, it's just genuinely bad, and star trek in name only. I didn't watch star trek for the action, I watched it for stories , thoughtfulness, morals, ethics, that sort of thing.
Nu trek is just mostly pew pew, cringe stories, and it's made by people who literally said they don't know trek, have nt watched trek, don't like trek, but love using it as their political platform.
Nu trek being too progressive never was the point.
Picard managed to ruin TNG for me, thank you for that. I was amongst the biggest fans , thanks to nu trek, I'm done with it.
Even if you don't like Picard and Discovery, there's still Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks.
I've seen a little bit of lower decks and threw up in my mouth. Turned it off, not wasting my time...
New worlds? never gave it a chance and never will. I gave discovery a season long chance, wasted hours on cringy crap. I gave Picard a three season chance, it ruined star Trek for me and I wasted dozens of hours on that crap. I gave those godawful movies a chance, all because everyone kept saying how great that crap was, how great Pixard was, how great discovery was, just give it a chance! Just watch it and see! Yeah, I'm done.
Can we keep this community civil?
If you feel personally attacked when people voice their dissent against regressive discriminatory behavior, perhaps consider it's your conscience trying to tell you something.
I just want memes
All I know is Kirk from the original series (the actor) is pretty anti progressive and from what I can tell closer to a Nazi then a star trek captain.
Of course last time I heard about him was very long time ago though
AFAIK, William Shatner is mainly a self absorbed twat and kinda a pain to work with, which was why he was on the outs with the rest of the crew for decades, but I've never seen him regurgitating right wing talking points like Kevin Sorbo or Chuck Norris.
After he did his AMA on reddit he took a look around and stated something along the lines of it having "too much of the bad internet" and didn't stick around.
Also he's Canadian and not from the Prairies, so unlikely to be alt-right. His biggest flaw I've heard of in a few places is that he "works to rule" in the union sense. He does things that make him money WRT his fandom and his acting.
E.g. the big fallout he had with George Takei was because in his eyes, Takei as a person would benefit more from Sulu staying on the Enterprise and playing more in the movie, because more screen time equals more cash.
Takei took the minor role because it made sense for Sulu as a character, as well as personally the representation of a Japanese (and then closeted gay man) as the captain of a starship.
You probably get that from his social media which is run by another person. He basically allowed the head of one of his fan organizations to take over his internet presence and the guy running them is just like a shitposter and an asshole.
I mean... Shatner is also an asshole. He's just not a right-wing asshole, as far as I know.
I'm pretty sure he is a lot of things but Nazi is not one of them