Star Trek

There are “trekkies” — people who love Star Trek despite the fact that it’s mostly just terrible, and “disappointed trekkies” — people who love what they imagine Star Trek could be if it weren’t just terrible. What if, for example, we considered life in the Federation for people not working in Star Fleet? (In the new Star Trek movie, when Earth is attacked (seriously that isn’t a spoiler, right!), the only reaction we see is of Star Fleet Academy cadets running around in terror. Some things never change.)

For example, consider that “godlike omniscient beings” and “time travel” are generally considered the last resort of the desperate, or — at best — a good excuse for comedy, in Science Fiction. Yet, these two devices are associated with much of the best in Star Trek (e.g. most people like the Q stories in TNG and cite “City on the Edge of Forever” and “Yesterday’s Enterprise” as among their favorite TOS and TNG episodes.

No doubt my reader has guessed that I’m a “disappointed trekkie”, but I count myself among those who enjoyed the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek (XI) movie. I’m not sure I approve of it, though, since it carelessly used the interstellar transporter technology (OK, a slight spoiler) from the lamentable Spock Must Die to resolve a stupid plot point that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

So, a well-made, fun movie, but we’ll all have to pretend that bit never happened the way we all eject our Wrath of Khan DVDs before Kirk’s eulogy starts.