Comments | karenthology: Hel-lo, James Tiberius.

karenthology

Hel-lo, James Tiberius.

Jul 29, 2008 21:27

I was a huge Trekkie as a kid. My family watched TNG together all the time, and I remember being inspired and amazed nearly every single week. By ten, I could name every single episode and tell you what happened in it, shared a set of action figures with my brother that quite often were featured in videotaped "episodes" that I really do have to ( Read more... )

Comments 15

suibhne_geilt July 30 2008, 02:33:05 UTC

Back in the day, when I was in college, I lived with my grandparents. My grandma always stayed up late, playing solitaire & chilling in the kitchen, and I'd always come out and catch TNG with her when it came on at 1am. It was really the only series of the franchise I ever got into.

I also had major hots for Dr. Crusher, while Deanna Troi did absolutely nothing for me or my nether regions. When I was in Bosnia, Gates McFadden came to our base camp on a USO tour, and I got a picture with her. It was a total moment of geekitude for me.

karenthology July 30 2008, 10:42:27 UTC

I haven't seen an episode of TNG in a while, as I don't have a television that works and all of my tapes are back in New York. Alas!

TNG was very much a product of its time, and of an aesthetic that no longer exists. So, I think our differently-wired brains can appreciate it for what it was, and find enjoyment, even, but it wouldn't be made the same way today. In some ways, that would be a good thing. In other ways... no. No way.

The female characters on TNG, now that I look back at it, were written kind of thinly. Troi never was anything more than window-dressing (and bad window-dressing at that) and Dr. Crusher, while being a doctor and awesome and all that, could have been better. I mean, she was a single mom, a *medical doctor* and was good enough to work on the best ship in the fleet!

... ah, women in SF. Another conversation entirely ...

suibhne_geilt July 30 2008, 13:05:50 UTC

... ah, women in SF. Another conversation entirely ...

I have mentioned Wiscon before, haven't I? :-)

jtersesk July 30 2008, 02:42:48 UTC

Oh man, I was SUCH a Trekkie. I even wrote a TNG novel at 15 (I wrote it in 3 weeks at my dad's while we were staying with him for our summer visit). It's actually not bad, if you ignore all the plotholes, but Trekkies are used to that. :)

But yeah, I so lost interest a few years ago. I don't even know why. DS9 was actually really good, and Ronen is one of the few people for whom Voyager is a favorite incarnation. We had a Voyager finale party (three people in a room and one over IM, haha) in college, and I even saved the chat. I'm sure it makes no sense now. Hell, I have a cat named T'Pol because we were actually into Enterprise at the time. Er...wow.

One of the options for something to watch last night while I was bored was TNG, and my reaction was "Meh." :(

But that teaser...damn, I'm actually excited! I LOVE that I'm excited! Hee.

karenthology July 30 2008, 10:35:56 UTC

Yeah, you and me both. :)

I ended up seeing some Enterprise reruns on cable a year or two ago, and it didn't pique my interest. I think my own aesthetic had moved on from what they were doing, and what they were doing was slam-bang stuck in 1994, with better technology.

For me, Battlestar Galactica is what Voyager should have been. I was never able to suspend my belief with Voyager -- whether it was about the shuttles, or the petty interpersonal matters when, dude, you should be running out of food or medicine or something. The urgency was just not there, and I think that was a major failing of the show in my eyes.

They also ruined Janeway, and wrote her completely wrong the entire time, but that's another conversation.

But I'm excited about this. Yay!

brooksmoses July 30 2008, 03:17:34 UTC

*small admiring four-letter expletive*

That trailer hit every note just right. Yes. I may have to watch this movie -- and I don't watch movies, hardly ever, so that is saying a lot.

Every note.

Because let us not forget: The original series was near-future science fiction, branching off right as the Apollo program was winding down or thereabouts. And that is there in that trailer, every bit of it, played right.

Wow.

karenthology July 30 2008, 10:32:38 UTC

Totally. Wasn't it perfect? I devolved into a chairful of Trekkie goo.

We need some more near-future SF, methinks.

lanyn July 30 2008, 04:12:32 UTC

Hm. I desperately hope you're right, but this just makes me shake my head and want to run away. I'm a huge Trekkie -- grew up on the original series, and the thought of watching some younger stars in the roles of characters who helped shape my life simply turns me off. I don't have the affinity for the later ST series that I do for the first one, so I'm probably bothered by this "reboot" a lot more than most people. But tv/movie characters aren't standalone fictional figures to me that I can separate from the actors who originated them, particularly on a show like Star Trek.

I hope this movie proves me wrong and is a spectacular addition to the ST universe, but I won't be holding my breath.

karenthology July 30 2008, 10:31:27 UTC

I totally understand this. If someone re-cast Picard, I'd feel the exact same way.

If it makes you feel better, the actors have said that one of their biggest priorities was to emulate the portrayal of Shatner, Nimoy, etc. Zachary Quinto has said that if you forget it's him playing Spock and start thinking it's a young Leonard Nimoy, he's done his job. Of course, this could backfire spectacularly.

rhinemouse July 30 2008, 06:52:01 UTC

They have Eric Bana? How did I miss that? I was going to watch that movie anyway, but I think it just jumped up my priority list.

Also, Babylon 5: indeed fabulous. I totally want to be Ivanova when I grow up. (Scratch that: I want to be Delenn when I grow up.)

karenthology July 30 2008, 10:28:15 UTC

Eric Bana. As the bad guy. Tres chic.

Yes! Delenn's incredibly smart, takes the big risks, kicks some serious Shadow butt and then gets the hot guy at the end. Ivanova was neat, but Delenn was fantastic. I have a few quibbles with how she was written towards the end of the series (i.e., once she married Sheridan, she kind of lost her brain, and I was not cool with that).

The other thing I really enjoyed about B5 was its steadfast refusal to have anything remotely related to sexual tension between Ivanova and Sheridan. It was just... awkward when it came up. Still is.

I could geek about B5 until I am blue in the face.

Also, Ace. I need to see some Ace DW episodes. That's Ace in your icon, right?

rhinemouse July 30 2008, 16:12:14 UTC

What I loved about Delenn is that she was a fantastically strong woman without needing to prove it all the time.

Yes, that is Ace, for she is my HERO. There was a lengthy period of my childhood when the only Doctor Who to which I had access was about three Ace & Seven episodes, and I really really imprinted on them.