Thursday, August 9, 2018

The Return of Jean Luc Picard: Moving Forward Or Retreat?


OK, it looks like I’m going to pontificate more on Patrick Stewart’s return to Star Trek.

Well, it could be worse. I could be bitching about Trump. I really am trying to avoid that. For now.

Anyway....

Back to STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR TREK!!!!!
 

Now I will not deny that nostalgia plays a role in my joy at seeing Stewart return to the role of Jean Luc Picard. Before Andrea and I got married, watching Star Trek: The Next Generation was a big part of our lives.  As a childhood fan of the original Star Trek, I was happy to see new adventures in that universe even with different characters. But the cast of TNG became as engrained in my pop culture awareness as Kirk and Spock.

 

So there is an admitted element of nostalgia that colors my view of the return of Jean Luc Picard.

 

But mostly what I’ve taken from the announcement of this return is the pleasure of seeing the Star Trek franchise finally move forward. No prequels. No reboots. Nearly 20 years after Jean Luc Picard’s last appearance, after we catch up with what he’s been up to since then, we can move on to see where Jean Luc Picard goes next. And with him the Star Trek universe.

 

But if I see the new adventures of Jean Luc Picard as a chance for Star Trek to move forward, there are those who see it as a retreat.

 

Debuting on CBS All Access, “Star Trek: Discovery” represented a more progressive take on the Star Trek mythos with women of color in positions of authority as well as openly gay characters. While I did watch the first episode because CBS helpfully aired it on their broadcast network, I did not follow the rest of the series cause I was too cheap to pony up the dough for another streaming service.  From what I’ve heard, I missed something really good. 

 

But I've read this assessment that CBS is bringing back Captain Picard to “placate the (white, male) demographic that felt alienated by the network’s first Trekkie reboot “Discovery,” a show which was legitimately diverse and therefore immediately controversial”.  

 

Yes there were the usual white male trolls who crawled under their various fungus encrusted rocks to complain bout “Star Trek: Discovery”. They always do.

 

They complained when Disney dared put the revival of Star Wars on the back of a young woman or dared to cast a black man as a Stormtrooper.

 

They complained when the BBC rolled the dice to have a woman at the helm of the TARDIS on Doctor Who. 

 

Yes, toxic vocal white males are sadly always with us. 

 

Is the return of Patrick Stewart to the role of Jean Luc Picard simply CBS giving up on diversity? “To hell with it! What do the old white people want?”     

 

Maybe there’s a case for that?

 

I am in fact an old white person and no, I did not cough up the dough for CBS All Access to watch “Star Trek: Discovery” but I just might for whatever this damn Star Trek thing that Patrick Stewart is going to do.

But I didn't subscribe to  CBS All Access because “Oh my God! A black woman is doing stuff? And an Asian woman as Captain? Wait, is that dude GAY?!? What the hell?”

 

This refreshing spin on Star Trek casting was actually a plus mark in my assessment of “Star Trek: Discovery” . I liked that it looked “different” from other Star Trek series.    

 

But again, as much as that first episode sure looked as intriguing as hell, I just wasn’t up for yet another series that looked at life in the Federation before James T Kirk got to sit his butt in the captain’s chair.  

If you tell me that the producers of this new show are going to CGI the hell out of Patrick Stewart’s face to tell the story of some adventure on the Enterprise back in the day, no, CBS All Access will not see one dime from me. 

 

What I want to see is Star Trek move forward. I applaud the efforts of the Discovery team at creating a diverse cast but I wish it wasn’t in service to a story supporting old stories already told. Patrick Stewart who personally holds progressive social and political views will likely press for a supporting cast that is diverse, a  cast that instead of revisiting the byways of Star Trek’s past will push forward to the future.

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