The Real Enemy

Recently there seems to have been a great deal of opposition it the newest Trek film, simply because some of the powers that be have decided to call it a “reimaging” of TOS. This one word seems to have been widely interpreted to mean “remake” by many trekkies, and they are in all probability correct. The film is most likely going to be a remake of the original series. However, many of these same people are now, on this basis, refusing to support the Star Trek franchise, by refusing to go and see the movie when it is finally released in 2008 on the grounds that, because it is a remake, it will be a blatant violation of canon as well as an abomination of Trek itself. This is bullshit! It is completely uncalled for to judge an entire movie based only on one word. Neither the movie nor the script has even been released yet, so the only people who really know anything about what the movie is going to be like are the writers and the director! The fans don’t know their ass from the elbow at the moment, and those who have decided that this move will be terrible based on one single word should defer judgment until they do actually know something substantive! A remake is not even a bad thing! We would not even have Star Trek as we know it today if it wasn’t for TMP, which for all intents and purposes was a remake of The Original Series. Whether one likes this picture or not is irrelevant. The point is that, without this movie, there would be no other movies, or TV series; there would be no Star Trek franchise. Therefore, we have a remake to thank for the Star Trek franchise itself. Canon is not a problem either. In TMP, the gross changes to the Star Trek universe were explained by one line of dialogue: “We have spent 18 months completely redesigning and refitting the Enterprise.” And thus, canon was satisfied. The other reason why we enjoy such a large amount of Trek today is because the fans kept an open mind about TMP and, for the most part, The Next Generation. Despite the fact that there was some opposition to TNG because it didn’t have Kirk, Spock etc…, the majority of the fan base gave the show a try, and it eventually grew into possibly the most popular Trek series in the franchise. If more trekkies had refused to watch it, basically because it was something new, then we would most likely have only a few seasons of TNG and definitely no TNG movies, DS9, VOY, or Enterprise. It is partially due to the fact that we have kept an open mind that Star Trek is what it is today. However, now, we are, with good reason, running scared. Basically, if this movie isn’t a success Star Trek is dead for the foreseeable future. So while on one hand it may be tempting to refuse to patronize the movie because it might be bad- and thus lead to the demise of Star Trek that is exactly – at this critical juncture -- what we can’t do! By refusing to go to the movie en masse, we will not help Star Trek- but instead seal its fate. While our number may not be enough to make this movie a success single-handedly, the number of trekkies is definitely large enough to break it. Therefore, if this attitude continues to perpetuate among the fan base, it will not be the writers, or the director, or ever those in charge at Paramount that kill trek – but the bad attitude of its own fans! To avoid this disastrous occurrence it is our duty to support the franchise by supporting the movie, whether it may be bad or not. And even if it is, then we still must support it, in the hopes that another, better movie will be made. Hope and Fear- one must be tempered by the other. Fear regarding the quality of this movie must be tempered by hope- if Trek is to survive we the fans cannot give in