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| Blogs > rm_mazandbren > The Complaisant Husband |
Wagon Train to the Stars.
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Wagon Train to the Stars. i am afraid that i have to reveal a big, dark secret about myself in order to let you in on something REALLY funny. i am a Star Trek fan. A trekker. A trekkie. a fully paid-up member of a Star Trek Fan Club. i own the DVDs and the videos both; we even have a complete collection of the Complete Guide to Star Trek. we own books and novels and collector cards and even a fairly complete set of the Card Game. most shamefully of all- my wife has one of the uniforms (complete with beeping communicator, tri-corder and phaser)which we DON'T use as a sexual prop. as shocking as this is i am not, in fact, that bad. i have a very bad habit of picking up continuity errors in my favourite television shows. not simply those within the show itself but where they tend to forget real history (or knowledge or even logic). for example; if i captained a starship that, by definition, could operate in three dimensions i would not let it sit there and get pounded on by anyone. and i would definitely start shooting back before my shields dropped below 60%, which seems to be the magical figure in all sci-fi shows. and if somebody sent me an invitation to a wedding where i had to where a sci-fi costume i think my first duty would be to send a letter back saying, "Dude- what the fuck? imagine looking back on the magic moment in fifty years and wondering what possessed you to be such a dick. at least make it two ceremonies." rather than trying to decide if i am going as a Klingon or Vulcan. i do love it, though. it may not be realistic, it may not stand the test of time, but it has influenced the world for the better and every sci-fi and fantasy show (and their fans) should get down and kiss its arse because without it your show would not be on. hell, star wars only got the nod because Paramount was planning a new series. of course that series became possibly the worst Trek film ever (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) but if, like me, you are into the commentaries that sometimes accompany a film than the Director's Commentary on this is priceless; do not be put off by the way he speaks. the best motion picture commentary, for me, is the one on Big Trouble in Little China where Kurt Russell and (i want to say James Cameron but i can't remember and am too lazy to go and look) reminisce about Escape from New York and forget about the film completely. the other good commentaries come from television; The Family Guy and Babylon5; for people not familiar with Babylon5 one of the actors, Jerry Doyle, has an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Willis, which leads to any number of adventures he is happy to relate. but back to Trek; i used to race home after school in order to follow the adventure of Kirk, Spock and McCoy even though i had seen each episode a dozen times (though never Space Seed with Ricardo Montalban until i bought the set). when Star Trek: The Next Generation started i, probably like most fans, tuned in to see if it could live up to the original. the first few episodes were mainly rehashes of Original Series episodes- and i hated the show. it was quite by accident that i returned to the show; some friends stayed over one night and insisted on us watching the show to see what we had been missing. and it seemed as if we missed a lot because it was a lot better than i remembered. by this time it seemed obligatory that, to be a next gen fan, you had to hate Wesley Crusher, the fifteen year old wunderkind. personally, i never felt that sort of animus towards the character. i mean he wasn't my favourite, but i wasn't about to join the yearly burning of his likeness either. the one major failing of most television shows is that the female dialogue sucks; do a lot worse in these stakes because whereas a sharp male writer might run his works past a female colleague ( or she might be writing an episode herself) there is no such modifier for . ufortunately for Will Wheaton, who played young Mister Crusher, it has become his burden from the show. the<b> writers </font></b>did not write for a bright fifteen year old but for just another adult. Similarly the characters of his mother, Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden); Security Chief Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) and Ship's Counsellor Deana Troi (Marina Sirtis) suffered from not having actual female dialogue written for them. but lest you should think Will Wheaton might have been scarred by the experience, then you should read his Blog Commentaries on the first season episodes. they are, without exception, hysterical and his observations on his character include the observation, "having invested 7 years into portraying this character even i find i hate him after this episode." now this site, TV Squad, has one of the worst navigation systems i have ever seen and i have not yet learnt how to overcome this. but my desire to share the hilarity is too great to delay. in response i include here a link to one of the actual blog entries and would suggest that you use the links in the actual texts to navigate around the site. sorry about this but friendfinder has blocked the link- if you search for 'TNG TV Squad' you should find the entries. In truth is there no beauty? I am not in love; but i am open to persuasion. |
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