The great debate.

Oh boy

Thank you William Shatner, you have waded into the oldest and most impossibly stale argument in geekdom and you've kicked off a new phase in the war. For those of you that don't know Shatner did an interview on his youtube page saying Star Trek was better than Star Wars.

Of course he was going to say Star Trek. There are two reasons for this, both are that it's William god-damn Shatner. The only thing more legendary than his acting is his planet sized ego. Anyway Carrie Fisher decided to open a Youtube page herself and challenge that.

The death of Star Trek

I would like to, if I may, give an aside to the Vulcan rambling rant I've still to finish. A few months ago I was writing a fan fiction story and, inspired by the Asimov book I was reading at the time, predicted the fall of the Federation.
Another writer read my little aside and it sparked their imagine. To be honest it did the same to me. I've recently started to re-watch some of my old Star Trek DVD's and it's becoming more and more obvious to me that the Federation is teetering on the very brink of disaster.
I'm going to present several arguments that show that while their ideals might be pure the Federation has a lot of difficulty living up to them.

My first evidence comes from two very different episodes. ST:ING's The Measure Of A Man and ST:VOY's Author, Author. Both episodes deal with the lawful rights of two artificial lifeforms. In The Measure of a Man Data is forced to fight the legal ruling that he is the property of Starfleet, in effect a slave. While in Author, Author the holographic Doctor has to fight for the rights of another lifeform. The point being that while we can, in the Doctor's case with some difficulty, accept them socially legal rights have to be spelt out.
I bring this up for two reasons, first is that even with about twelve to fourteen years between the two episodes it is obvious that the Federation legal system didn't have the foresight to use Data's case as a precedent, in fact they do the opposite! Rather than the sensible thing of assume they have rights until its proven they don't (otherwise known as innocent until proven guilty) they dismiss whatever possible rights may exist out of hand. The second reason is even worse; In Author, Author we are provided a glimpse into what might have been Data's fate had he lost his battle. The Doctor's fellow programs were downgraded from medical practitioners to miners on harsh and lifeless asteroids, where other lifeforms would not survive. In other words, slaves.
The Federation is in effect using it's advanced technology to build a slave race. I can't think that anything goes against it's ideas of personal freedom and discovery more.

Next is Star Trek Insurrection. While a total cluster-fuck of a bad film it also signals another step on the Federations path to damnation. While the Dominion War was being fought several clandestine projects happened to be given the go ahead. Section 31's bio warfare for example. The Sonar project in the Briar Patch was another. After it was discovered that environmental conditions in the nebular had vast healing abilities certain members of the Federation council decided to harvest those conditions. As well as being bullshit there was one slight problem; the indigenous inhabitants, but as they were a colony and not a pre warp civilisation the Federation didn't have any laws against moving them.
This is so blatantly wrong it's not true. As soon as you believe your rights are more important than someone else's you are in the wrong, if you believe your privileges are more important you're a villain and if you think you're wants are more important you are a monster. Justifications be damned, if you want to boot a civilisation off a planet where they lived for centuries because you want to live a little bit longer you are a monster. That it was done by a handful of self serving Federation officers is beyond stupidity and goes against the sprit of the Laws of the Federation by twisting the letter. (Prime Directive anyone)

Third is the composition of the Fleet, including the introduction of military vessels.
Starfleet was always an expedition force first, a scientific second and then way behind that armed to only protect themselves. They spent a lot of time developing shield technologies and targeting systems, hoping to disable enemy ships rather than destroy. As they began exploring further and further they built bigger ships, that were more and more self reliant. Giving them greater range and versatility.
ST:TNG's Galaxy class is immense, with whole decks given over to entertainment and leisure as well as hydroponic labs, stellar observatories and even a god damn zoo! The Enterprise D is more of a flying town than a spaceship. Meanwhile Voyager should be a better ship, after all it is more modern with advanced computers and was launched about three weeks before it was catapulted into the Delta Quadrant. It was top of the range. Now first of all anyone with a ounce of creativity would have used an Excelsior class, outdated and about to be decommissioned (and for good reason) on one last mission that is far longer that anyone expected.
Enough bashing on Voyager, the point is the newer ship is a lot smaller. It doesn't even have a navigation room when it's launched. Rather than build bigger and more generalised ships Starfleet starts building dedicated vessels that are limited to one duty. I'm not sure what Voyager was designed for but it shows a very limited out look from the designers. This lack of versatility is a problem, made even worse as time passes. The lack of size is another problem, it is often a sign that resources are dwindling. Smaller ships might be more energy efficient but why is that needed, unless dilithium is becoming an issue? If it is that's a problem.
Also the introduction of dedicated warships could provide a problem. More than once (DS9's Paradise Lost and Star Trek IV to name but two examples) a military coup almost succeeded within the Federation. With actual military ships who knows what could happen. Also please note that with multifunctional ships the Federation has won every war it's gotten involved in. With warships who knows what they could do and just how long until other races get worried that the "weak and soft" Federation is finally showing it's teeth?
And if resources are dwindling how long until the Federation needs to expand to survive?

Next problem focuses on a little issue raised in the ST:TNG episode Relics. Scotty, after being rescued from a crashed ship's transporter buffer, reveals something. While LaForge follows the guidance manual that Scotty wrote Scotty didn't put all his information on paper.
This is a little thing at first, and a good joke. The problem is why hasn't anyone else figured that out. The best of the best, LaForge, hasn't expanded on the instruction manual. Instead he slavishly followed it. If Scotty hadn't told him he would never have thought of it. In another generation or so that knowledge will be lost forever.
Even worse; LaForge admits that Impulse engine design hasn't changed for more than a hundred years and that a fifty year old transport could out manoeuvre the pride of the Federation!
This is a deviating admission. The propulsion systems in a starship is one of the most important things. They're still using Warp Drive and reaching the outer edge of that technologies useful output. The whole basis of Federation transport technology is obsolete, they can't expand any further without a massive leap in faster than light travel. Transwarp or quantum slipstream are both solutions that Voyager proposed, however both fail. Federation ships are too weak to survive that technology.

There are more, however they don't matter. I trust I've made my point. Now I'm willing to chalk all this up to bad writing, really bad writing, but the problem is what that adds up to. The Federation is rotting, while it's still successful in diplomacy, science and even war it won't last. Sooner or later it's going to have to collapse.

This would make a great film, the end of the Federation we could follow a Captain who idolised the Kirk and Picard, dreaming of a long gone golden age as his ideals collapse around him. Ending with a Star Base on fire, just like Rome and the fall of their empire. The final symbolic destruction of a dream. That's something I would pay to see.

It's not like I'm the first one to see it, Like I said this came from a discussion I had with a fellow writer, but much more importantly Roddenberry saw it too. That was the point of Andromeda. Imagine what would happen if we actually had the background we cared about. More than forty years of the show destroyed in a way that celebrated it.

Think about that

Thomas

Vulcans Part 3

As I pointed out in the last part Tuvok was badly handled, miss managed to the point that he wasn't really Vulcan. He was more a generic alien, the sort you saw passing in the corridor of Next Generation and wondered if they were going to have an impact later or just be wallpaper.
Tuvok himself wasn't really explored either. We're told things about him, but other than a few episodes he doesn't do much. When he does get a chance to shine it turns out he is in Janeway's pocket. He doesn't have his own opinions and views, simply carrying out the captain's wishes. When some of his background was (eventually) fleshed out we learnt that he wasn't a perfect Vulcan, favouring emotions over logic as a child and finding the process of suppressing them difficult. The only result of this seemed to be a tendency to be the first in the crew to succumb to telepathic attacks and a case of shyness about his age.

Early on there was some hope, when he was helping Kes develop her mental powers, it offered some interesting moments. Vulcan physic abilities didn't come with any explanation or background, watching him train someone would have given some insight into the process. Were some stronger than others? Was it simply genetic instinct or was there specific training required? What was the limits, was physical contact necessary or was it just one level? Were there such a thing as Vulcan's with telekinetic powers? Just how important was the logical order of a Vulcan's intellect to the process, could emotional outbursts interfere or even block a mind meld?
Exploring this aspect of Vulcan society would have been thought provoking and fun. Instead most of Kes's training happend off screen. When we did see something it was often provoked by outside influence and was stopped, not by training, but by intervention. Tuvok was at one time burnt due to his own incompetence and the monster of the week.

This lack of understanding in Voyager wasn't restricted to the Vulcans. It was a lack of understanding about Star Trek as a whole that scuppered Voyager and outright sunk Enterprise. But let's take a step back and look at Deep Space Nine.
I jumped over the third trek series because there was only one episode that dealt with Vulcans, and it was perhaps the first nail in their coffin.
The episode was "Take me out To the Holosuite", from DS9's last season. In it a Vulcan captain, of a ship crewed entirely of Vulcans, re-lights a bitter rivalry with Sisko. The Vulcan Captain goes out of his way to antagonise Sisko for no reason other than profesional jealousy.
Read that again, and remember that Vulcan's have supposedly repressed all their emotions. Now I'm not suggesting that a Vulcan can't have difficulties suppressing pride, in point of fact it is in itself an interesting development. The problem is that an entire crew, more than five hundred of them, would go along with it. One or two egotistical Vulcans is natural, especially with the existence of the Kolinahr ritual, a Vulcan religious ritual to finally purge all emotions rather than simply surpress them, but to have a whole ship's full of them is stupid.
Here's why:- if I was going to prove my superiority over someone I'd do so by proving my way was better. Not by beating them at their own game. It's logical to prove that you are better because of who you are, not because you can play baseball better than someone you don't like. The Vulcan Captain, Solok, not only goes out of his way to learn the game, and train crew to play it, but out right seeks Sisko out to challenge him. We're told that he has spent years on this petty rivalry, writing several papers analysing a drunken bar fight the two of them got in to after he insulted Sisko.
Thats not all, when the DS9 team lose they celebrate a good game (and that Rom scored a run) by invading the pitch and having a grand old knees up in the bar afterwards. And this infuriates Solok.
This isn't the actions of an enlightened race, there is nothing Vulcan about this captain. Not one thing. In contrast in one of the early episodes of the original series the script originally called for Spock to punch the evil copy of Kirk, knocking him out with a right cross. Leonard Nimoy, the actor playing Spock, pointed out that a punch was too crude and primitive for the logical Vulcan and invented the infamous Neck Pinch on the spot.

By the end of of their appearance on Deep Space Nine Vulcans had been ruined. They had, in one spectacular episode, been reduced to petty, vindictive and bordering on racist parodies of everything a Vulcan wasn't. but it gets worse...

to be continued

Vulcans Part 2

Now don't get me wrong, I think that cultures should develop, especially invented ones, but that change has to have a reason. In or out of cannon. With the later Star Trek shows there was a distinct change in Vulcan culture that went the wrong way for no reason. It was almost as if the Writers at the time didn't know what to do with them or how to handle Vulcans when they did try.

Before I jump into the meat of the problem in the next section I'm going to prove my point with a bit of background on Voyager. I am also going to present what went wrong with Star Trek Voyager and how I would have fixed it or done better.
Voyager's problem was, to put it simply, that the show was nothing more than a mediocre retread of any one of a hundred ideas already explored better elsewhere. It was bland and dull at the best of times, hideously insulting at the worse. What makes this so galling is that the premise was sound; a ship is lost at the far end of the cosmos with no way home, with two crews that are forced to work together despite their differences, making new friends, new enemies and new discoveries as they struggle to get home, an impossible distance away.
With a premise like that it's rather hard to fail, there is so much potential available:- Who's to say that what we perceive as Universal laws are the same? What new dangers face the crew in unexplored space? Can they learn to set aside their problems and work together? Can the inexperienced captain, freshly promoted from a promising science officer, handle the pressures of being in command? The scope and development potential promised a great show with some interesting twists.
Instead we were patronised with a combination of Technobabble and mind numbingly tedium. There was nothing new or interesting. Very little development carried from episode to episode. Whenever there was a disaster it was quickly forgotten, any resources the ship needed, or issues with equipment that was never supposed to last that long without maintenance, that did arrise were fixed between episodes. The unification of the two crews was solved with one or two episodes early on, without any friction to speek of.
While there was one or two tweaks and moments I could enjoy it was just a mediocre show written for a pay check by tired and overworked hack writers.
The Holographic Doctor, Kes and later Seven of Nine all had the promise to be break-out characters. We could explore their issues and independent development within the show and learn a lot about them.The Doctor had some very good scenes and a good arc to him. Mostly that came from Robert Picardo's excellent performance but the writers did, on occasion, make use of that talent. Kes was practically useless and her leaving mid way through the show was hardly surprising. As for Seven of Nine, well there's a reason a lot of reviewers argue that it became "The Seven of Nine show, featuring Seven of Nine."
I'm not saying Jeri Ryan is a bad actress, but the writers were far more interested in squeezing her into a corset and skintight catsuit, slapping a pair of high heals on the blonde bombshell and have her strut for every pre-pubescent male in the audience.

The reason I'm going over all this is that in the middle of it all we had Tuvok. The token Vulcan security officer to remind everyone this was Star Trek. Now if we went back to the premise I outlined earlier Tuvok would have been Janeway's adviser. The man she would turn to when it looked bleak and she couldn't find a way out. He could have been the logical pragmatist to temper Janeways idealist nature. His suggestions the glue that held the fragile alliance between Federation and Marquis together. It would have been logical and help expand the understanding of Vulcans influence in the Federation.

This was, in hindsight, a major disservice to Gene Roddenberry's vision. Humanity always seemed to be the driving force behind the Federation, everyone else felt like they were junior partners. Turning up every so often as the script demanded it. Every development and improvement was human lead, far from being multi-cultural it felt like other races were there simply to add to the head count. If it was up to the Vulcan to smooth tensions between the idealist Federation and the sceptical Marquis we could have returned to the same sort of trio we had in the original. Making Voyager a character based drama, opposed to the technobabble filled disappointment it ended up as.

This would have been the perfect opportunity to show Vulcan's place in the Federation. Playing to the strengths developed over the previous two shows and keeping in touch with the wider Star Trek Universe. Instead, as I said before, Tuvok was included as nothing more than a token head nod to the original show. His impact was negligible and could have been filled by any species in Trek without meny changes to the character. To make things worse whatever episodes he had to expand his character showed him to be a less than perfect Vulcan. Suffering from psychotic episodes, emotional turmoil, repressed memories imprinted by a psychic parasite and even going as far as braking under torture (something Vulcan mental disciplines prevent, it is stated several times in the original show that to do so would kill them)
The only reason Tuvok was a Vulcan was to remind us that we were watching Star Trek. An effort that marked the beginning of the end.

To be continued

Vulcans

All right then, take a deep breath because I'm going to explore one of the older alien races in Science Fiction. The Vulcans. Let's get something clear, I love the old vulcan culture that was created. It was interesting and utterly alien. What I want to do here is outline that culture and then explore where it all went wrong.

Very early on Gene Roddenberry realised that it would cost far too much, and would be impractical at the time, to make an actor physically alien enough to be both believable and reasonable. He needed alien crew members to help with the multicultural aspect of the Federation, a big part of the anti-rasism message of the show, but he had to do it cheaply and effectively. It was probably about then that it occurred to him; if culture was more important than aspect you didn't need the character to look alien. It just needed to come from a culture that was.
With that thought firmly in mind you can develop any number of races without much difficulty. Pointy ears, lumpy foreheads and wrinkled noses are Star Trek short hand for alien. Those features are a visual motif that lets the audience know someone is an alien, nothing more. It's supposed to be a sign that they are part of a culture other than human, without spending insane amounts on makeup. It's the creation of that culture that makes them alien and up to the actors to pull it off. That makes them interesting.
Episodes that explored the characters and the culture they came from and expanded their boundaries were among the best Star Trek had to offer. Often being the most remembered.

Vulcans were the first race we met and their culture was about as alien as they could make it. Humanity is passionate and driven by emotions, in fact if there is one single truth to our being it is that. Our hopes and dreams are at what drive us to achieve, what makes us want to reach for the stars. To find companionship; friends, lovers, family, whatever. It almost isn't possible to think of a more alien way to live than without hope. It's an emotion, the same as any other. Just like curiosity. The two reasons we wanted to go into space in the first place.
Vulcans have suppressed their emotions, they see them as dangerous and unpredictable. In fact it was only their "Awakening" that prevented their emotional outbursts from obliterating their race in a nuclear war. This is our first indication that Vulcans are a race of extremes, they went from extreme emotional turmoil to frozen logic. Logic itself is a series of positive and negatives. Black and white. Again extremes that are polar opposites.
Humans aren't anything like that, we live in a gray world and in someways that's a lot more difficult. We often get lost amongst the way but we stumble through. Vulcans are focused to the point of tunnel vision.
As such the Vulcan ideal is a wonderful foil for our own development. Now as most high art functions as a mirror for our own culture that just adds to the fun. In this equation The Vulcans become our mirror opposites, the "yin" to our "yang" as it were.

Summing up a typical Vulcan is easy, they're logical and very intelligent. Capable of making complex calculations and observations at fantastic speeds, however they are incapable of intuitive leaps. Without emotions they are unable to relate to meny other species, especially humans. Humans on the other hand are put off by the fact Vulcans never smile, tell jokes, or interact socially. This makes them a balanced creation that aren't perfect, it adds diversity and intrigue. Their very strength becomes a weakness in certain circumstances.

It was that dichotomy that lead to McCoy's continuous prodding of Spock. From a writers perspective it grounded the science officer, from a character perspective it helped them bond. It wasn't racism, even if it came close, but a friendly jibe. Spock's response to this was pure vulcan logic, delivering needle sharp observations that punctured the Doctors observations and comments. It was also this relationship, between the emotional and very much human McCoy and the cold logic of Spock, that helped make Kirk awesome.
Stick with me on this, Spock and McCoy were the angel and the devil on Kirk's shoulders. Advising him from opposing view points. It was Kirk's ability to carve a unifying perspective between the two that was the punch line of the whole show. The goal of the metaphor behind the Federation. We are better uniting in our differences than struggling against them.

Alright, now we've gotten to the bottom of that. lets move on to something more recent. Next Generation. Rather than re-tread over where the Original went with the Vulcans they focused on the Klingons (something I might go into later), but they didn't abandon Vulcans entirely. You would often see them walking up and down corridors. The occasional supporting role and guest also cropped up, most importantly Sarak, Spock's Father.
Building on the development from the original series next gen dealt with an unfortunate side effect of the Vulcan's abilities. As they were not only physically stronger but in possession of powerful mental abilities as well as their mathematical prowess it was perceived that they were superior to humans.
With a list of advantages like that they needed another flaw than, unimaginative and long winded. As such a number of uniquely Vulcan disorders were created. Not least Sarek's disability, a very vulcan problem that strips away their emotional control with advanced age. A few others turned up but it added to the people a roundness that wasn't explored very often in the original show, even if it was there

Then another facet came about in a two part episode from next gen's last season called Gambit. A Vulcan separatist movement, believing that contact with other species, including humans, was corrupting their pure vulcan culture attempted to gain control of Vulcan. With the aim to declare independence and leave the Federation. On it's own it's not that big an issue, but combined with a couple of other problems it sketches out a interesting issue.
Piecing together a lot of incidental evidence scattered across next Gen and the original series it's possible to deduce that Vulcans are very conservative. They appear hidebound to obscure customs and forms, their dress doesn't seem to change much from monk like robes and even their hair cuts are the same for more than three hundred years. This is a very interesting aspect, because once again the Humans of the Federation are liberals. Striving for the future while Vulcans are still buried in the past. Once again two opposing forces that counter act against each other, achieving a balance.

If the development of the Vulcans ended there that would have been enough, unfortunately it didn't.

To be Continued....

Amazon Star Trek Review

I wrote this review for the Star Trek (2009) movie on Amazon.co.uk and just wanted to share it here...

The big problem Trekkies have with this film is it re-writes history to the point that the original series never happened. This point of view is plainly silly and I prefer to think of it as cementing the original timeline. From now on the original series, Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager and all the previous films are untouchable. You can still buy the DVD's, enjoy the shows whenever. Only now the creators have an empty canvas, unhindered by decades of back story we know backwards. You might notice I left Enterprise out of that list above. That's because I think it belongs in this new time line, after all they went out of their way to reference it.

Alright, now that's out of the way lets look at the film. It's not what you expected. If it was I congratulate you. First of all the cast. They fitted the roles perfectly, sometimes too perfectly. At times it felt like they were trying to pull off impressions of the original actors. While they did bring a few new aspects I would have liked to have seen a bit more.

The ship. Ahh the ship, originally every Star Trek ship was designed by artists. Inside and out. As such they were a reflection of the times. From the 60's block colours to the 80's creams of next gen and the dark moody look of the 90's DS9. It was more interested in style and substance came in a strong second. As long as it looked good we were fooled into thinking it worked. This film comes at it from a completely different direction and because of that the Enterprise feels like three different ships. The exquisitely crafted outside, the advanced habitable saucer section and the brutal pipe riddled construction site engineering section. Each look like they belong to a different ship,, it doesn't gel together right. There is no transition from steam punk boiler house to over lit corridors. Made all the worse by shaky cam direction. There's almost no consistency here, jarringly confusing and distracting. The only other ships we see are polar opposites, Spock's Jellyfish is a triumph of style, but looks out of place in the Star Trek universe. It's design is too alien and has no connection to Vulcan designs we know of. The Romulan mining vessel looks far too fragile for it's purpose. All those spikes and edges are just bits to brake off.

As mentioned elsewhere the plot had more than a few holes. Why was there a twenty year gap between the mining ship and Old Spock's arriving? At any point did Starfleet command question how a washed-out cadet with a history of disobedience gets thrust into command of the fleet's flagship on the voice of one man? Surely there must be more Vulcans out there, somewhere, not just the handful of thousands that got off the planet quick enough. They don't detract form the film but if you think about it there are a lot more that just don't make sense.

The direction, as I touched on, was more than a little distracting. Shaky camera technique and Fly-on-the-wall style filming works well in a modern drama to add realism, or a horror to bring a point of view to the audience. But not with something like this. Star Trek is too fantastical to be realistic and J.J. Abrams is just a little to heavy handed with it at times. Having the opposite effect of what was intended and actually taking us out of the movie by wanting to see more of what is going on. There is also an over reliance on lens flares to build atmosphere. Yes it made the film stand out and gave a nice dichotomy between the Dark Romulans and bright Federation, but we could all do without the symbolism.

With all these negatives you'd have every reason to hate the film. What stops you is the shear passion on the screen. Everyone involved knew they were working on something a great many people feel very passionate about. It had the right mix of humour, character development and drama to be entertaining. To feel like a worthy successor to the legacy. It didn't drag or feel rushed, despite you wanting some parts to be expanded on.

As a film it's solid, as a story it's interesting. As a fan I enjoyed the head nods to continuity and could accept the new actors because they pulled it off. Of all the films out this summer this was one of the best, far better than the disaster that was Transformers 2. It's only real sci-fi rival this year is District 9 and that doesn't have half the fun.

No Simon Pegg for a start (who's Scotty stole every scene he was in, even from Nemoy!)

Who was that Pointy Eared Bastard

I, like most of the civilised world, have seen the new Star Trek film and despite a sense of nostalgia for the classic and next gen crews I have to admit it was one of the best Star Trek films made. Ranking right up there with Wraith of Khan and First Contact. It is THAT good, in spite of its flaws.

One flaw is the Vulcans.

Back in the original Star Trek they were confident, logical people quite above petty emotions. Spock would endure one of McCoy's semi-racist rants with a cool look and then puncture the doctors ego with a witticism so sharp it could have been found on a page by Oscar Wilde. It wasn't that he didn't have a sense of humour, he just knew how to use it. Then, slowly, we met other Vulcans and could see just how unusual that was for them. many wouldn't even bother with the wit and just ignore the jibe. It showed Spock wasn't really the emotionless being he was supposed to be and gave him and the whole race a depth.

Over the years though that changed. No longer a coldly logical people the Vulcans became arrogant, even going so far as to sneer down on humanity. Just the odd Vulcan at first then more. Like an older brother laughing at the baby trying to tie his shoes for the first time.

Vulcans were once one of the most fascinating, well rounded and liked alien races out there. Now they just feel like a bunch of spoilt kids. Bullies that are as racist and cruel as the darkest days of the British empire, or the American 1960's. The very thing they were a rebellion against.

Turns out revolutions really do go full circle!