Friday 23 October 2015

30 Days of Trek - Day Twenty-Three


OK. Neck on the line for Day Twenty-Three.

When I put this list together I wanted to make sure it wasn't all just "Best" and "Favourite" but some stuff that might be a little different and this is, most likely, one of those additions.

The JJ movies have caused more than a little controversy and a few comments on Some Kind of Star Trek that I won't repeat and are less than positive. It seems this has become a love/hate polarising debate encompassing everything from casting and plot to marketing and gross profit.

Now I'm not saying that I totally agree with the reboot and some of the elements within in (seriously - Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan when it could have been Benicio Del Toro?!) but there are redeeming features and that's what our next challenge is all about. Even if you think that the re-imagining of the Star Trek franchise at the hands of Abrams and Orci is horrific there must be a reason why it should be allowed to be considered canon. I have thought a lot about this one so I'm not expecting a lot of fast answers - take your time!

I think that the reboots should be allowed to exist within canon not just because of the inclusion of Prime Spock but because they represent another possible version of the universe we came to know since 1966. The franchise would always have to move into different eras and different hands as it evolved and this has become just one more iteration of that possibility. I'm a fan of calling it IDIC - the Vulcan concept of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Surely Star Trek is just that? The new imagining is perhaps more action and effects orientated than we might recognise from The Original Series but at its core there is still that notion that conflict within humanity has ended. Sadly not everyone in the galaxy bears the same ideal which leads to the events we have witnessed so far.

Maybe the rumours that Star Trek Beyond will adhere even more to the original Roddenberry vision and beliefs will come true if we are to accept the word of co-writer Simon Pegg. I hope he's right in which case then the latest screen adventures should rightfully remain as part of official - if alternative - canon. As fans we should be willing to embrace the different and y'know you can't please everyone all the time. There are multiple Prime Universe episodes I think are utter pap (we've already discussed those on Day Ten) but that doesn't mean I've struck them from Star Trek continuity. Surely encouraging new fans through the modern films who may in turn discover the wonders of Kirk, Picard and the rest is a good thing and maintains momentum? Worst of all is that once Enterprise ended the franchise may never have been seen again had neither of the divergent movie concepts come to pass.

Now the JJ vision isn't perfect, there's many an hour that we could debate it's worst and most abusive points but would I rather watch the '09 movie instead of Once Upon a Time? Yes. Absolutely. Totally.

Question twenty-four will be with you tomorrow!

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