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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