I've been away from my blog for sufficiently long enough to forget what my last post was. To my horror, I returned to find the grinning face of one Bill Gates looking back at me. What's a committed Apple user doing with the face of "the enemy" on his website?
Being lazy, that's what.
Rather than post a real news item for my vast readership of four, I decided to throw up a couple of the meme quizzes I had recently indulged in. It was the blogging equivalent of junk food; quick, easy, and probably, bad for you.
The fact is, I haven't had much time to post lately, and for that I ask forgiveness. I've had no end of subjects to blog about; in fact, I almost posted a review of some of the new photos released for J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek movie about three weeks ago. And since the new trailer for that film was released today, I should probably post some impressions on this new Trek now. And while my impulse is to put it off, take some time, and give "proper preparation," I know my tendency towards procrastination makes this a bad idea. And so, without further ado...
The photo above is the new-and-improved USS Enterprise from the upcoming Star Trek movie. The image comes from the trekmovie.com website (which I highly recommend), who in turn got it from Entertainment Weekly. There's been a flurry of new information about the new movie that's come out in the past month or so, but I've treasured none more than the photo above. To me, the Enterprise herself, dinky metal-and-plastic model that she is, is one of the most important components of any new Star Trek venture. I can (and probably will) post my critique of the designs that preceded her, ranking them in order of preference. For now, let me say that while I was initially less than pleased with this latest offering, she is starting to grow on me.
What does excite me is what this new Star Trek represents. If this next generation (pun intended) succeeds at reviving the Star Trek franchise, they will have breathed life into it beyond their wildest dreams. While many of the Star Trek incarnations of the past like Next Generation have been successful in their own right, they are rather like the Star Wars prequels; fun, and part of that universe, but not quite up to the original. What is missing in any Star Trek other than the Original Series (TOS, if you want the fan lingo), is what is missing from the Prequels — characters. Specifically, Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty and the other members of the original Enterprise crew. More specifically, the characters as they were written and portrayed during the three seasons of the Original Series, not the six movies they were subsequently featured in. That is a debate for another time.
If Abrams & co. can sell this new crew, and make us believe they are Kirk, Spock et. al., then Star Trek will be in the same position as Dr. Who and the Bond series. The characters will be what lives on, not the actor's portrayals of them. Other actors will be able to give their own unique takes on the Kirk character, just as the various actors to fill Bond's shoes have, or the numerous good doctors. Anyone who says that there can be only one definative Kirk or Spock need look no further than Daniel Craig's Bond, or David Tennant's excellent Time Lord, to blow that theory out of the water.
As far as scripts, there are countless stories yet to be told in the Star Trek universe, as there are in Star Wars. Whether or not they will be told depends on whether the people holding the purse strings that are making those stories. Will they want to tell a good story, or will they just want to milk the cash cow until it drops dead. Personally, I'm hoping for the former — it would make me very happy indeed if, thoughout my life, there were always a new Star Trek to look forward to, just as I am enjoying the new Star Wars offerings.
As Genie said in Aladdin, "here's hoping."
