Suspension Of Disbelief

[science_officer]

Suspension Of Disbelief; or, A Plea For Consistency

Over the last week, I have written (and re-re-written) a more thoughtful review of Star Trek 11, although I haven't posted my article yet. For the most part, I pretty much liked the new movie. Yeah, pretty much. It entertained me, which is what it was designed to do. I'll have more to say

Comments

[watervole]

LOL! Thanks for a great post. I like to think that the new Doctor Who series got me in training for being able to forgive the appalling science when the story is really good.

I loved the new movie, although it has holes in the science that you could drive a Klingon battle-cruiser through.

I mean, a planet's core is converted to black hole material and the gravitational pull suddenly increases? There's still the same mass as there was before...

Thanks for replying!

[science_officer]

Glad you liked the post. Yeah, Trek 11 isn't much of a science lesson (for instance, the part you mentioned about the black hole/ red matter in the planet core).

I saw Blakes 7 in your list of interests, and--if I recall correctly--there was a very strange episode of B7 where they actually WENT INTO a black hole and met a bunch of punk rocker-looking people. Even so, B7 is revered for being a bold, adventurous show (not a textbook on astrophysics or anything like that).

Similarly, most of my own science fiction--at least what small fraction of it I've managed to get published so far--is better labeled as 'speculative' because, as I'll readily admit, some of my 'science' is of the 'sonic screwdriver'/ 'Babel Fish' variety.

Spock on... and thanks again for the post!

Science_Officer

P.S.: for an additional laugh, you may enjoy my earlier Star Trek Memories article (scroll down when looking at my LJ).

Re: Thanks for replying!

[watervole]

I've been rewatching a bit of Original Trek recently. I think I may stop and go back to to re-reading the better novels. They hold up better on average. Some of the scripts are pretty dire.

And the science is even worse than Blake's 7 (purely because less B7 episodes had a plot with a science hook, which gives it an advantage when it comes to the law of averages)

[anonymous]

Hilarious, as usual. (except for your evil mechanic and back pain)

Blake's 7 was a great show, and I miss it. They did seem to have fewer Science Very Fiction moments, but that may have been the emphasis on the "EEK, It's Servalan! Everybody run!" basic plot throughline of B7.