Star Trekking for July 21, 2020
I'm starting a band.
Welcome to Star Trekking, my weekly attempt to share points of interest and random intersections in the final frontier.
My friend Charlie has been making a model of the Klingon Bird of Prey.
He told me he needed to weather it. I thought about Kruge’s Klingon dog beast pet he kept with him on the bridge, so I suggested to Charlie that he smear the model with Klingon dog poop.
And then I thought:
So, yeah, that’s where my brain was this week.
I did manage to post a couple of things on my otherwise unused StarTrekking Twitter account.
Meanwhile, I think that deep down we all knew this.
Star Trek: Progressive, Sexist, or Both?
Must read article: The Sexist Legacy in Star Trek.
As we reflect on Star Trek’s history of female representation, we see both objectification and inspiring representation.
I’ve been struggling with this exact issue lately, seeing more and more stories of, for instance, Rick Berman’s awful behavior toward Denise Crosby and Terry Farrell. And, of course, Gene Roddenberry was not a saint (see a book review I share later in this issue).
None of us are perfect. None of our heroes are perfect. (Except Spock.) But we must learn from mistakes made in the past.
And there’s this.
Meanwhile, I think my son is getting indoctrinated into a cult.
ART TREK TUESDAY
By Lee Sargent
Each week, one of my favorite artists, Lee Sargent, draws a random Trek-related scene.
This week’s random episode is from DS9 - “Inquisition.”
I hate Section 31.
There’s a bunch of reasons why I don’t like it, probably an equal number of reasons why someone else loves Section 31 so let’s not get into that circular argument.
And here’s the episode that kicked it all off, the Season 6 Deep Space Nine episode Inquisition.
I was pretty unhappy when I read this was the next random Trek and wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to watch it, but then my excuse of not having the time fell apart as I missed last week altogether. So I popped it on and actually enjoyed it.
LOL, I was about to launch into a Section 31 rant again, it’s a hard thing not to do.
It was interesting as I already knew what was happening but I liked how there were just little bits and pieces that were off, especially from the rest of the cast. I think the pacing of the story is really good and it all unfolds quite well.
Surely though there are more suspect people in Starfleet than Julian and I wonder if the suspicion itself was also a ruse just to test him. I mean there’s probably some Admirals out there that need a little closer inspection.
A young Vulcan named Oh????
“Is it really necessary to drag a Starfleet Officer across the Promenade in irons?”
Check out more of Lee’s art at LeeDrawsStuff.com. Support his work at Patreon.com
Speaking of a Vulcan named Oh, she made this list I came up with last week (although I couldn’t at that moment recall her name).
And here’s that book about Roddenberry.
MIND MELD
With John Bijl.
In which we get to know a Trek fan just a little bit better.
Please tell us a little about yourself.
The best job is where you can make a profession out of a hobby. Unfortunately I have no musical training what so ever, so composing film music was out of the question. Therefore I ended up in politics. I’m the founder of the Pericles Institute where we help especially municipal councils in all of the Netherlands to better the political decision making process. That last part is a complicated way to say ‘democracy’ or perhaps ‘debate’. Next to our programs with councils I’m a publicist and often a pundit on democracy, constitutional law and (local) government.
Next to this job I find my passion in science fiction. Which isn’t all too different as politics: both are founded in dreaming of a better world and openly discussing how it would turn out. I’m dead serious when I say that all politicians should watch, or read more science fiction. With some episodes of Star Trek being obligatory.
Science fiction led me to perhaps my biggest love of these three: film music. My introduction to that was Star Trek as well. I was aware of film music: Star Wars was one of my first ever lp’s. I could sing the tune to Buck Rogers near perfect (still can) but everything changed when I got to Star Trek II. Horner’s score... entranced me (still does). I literally wore out that record. Then came Star Trek III and I still think it is one of the best installments.
But you have to see it through Horner’s eyes: it’s a story about loss, acceptance of your place in the universe, loyalty and character, and of course love between friend, a love which stretches further than the matter of which we are made and, of course, logic. And what duty *really* means. And it has a solid core of interstellar politics with the consequence of a most convincing and even somewhat relatable bad guy from all of Trek. Trek was on the very right way to paint a very interesting course for a larger future of politics in its story telling.
To add: The Search For Spock still has the best model shots ever committed to film. The docking scene and the showdown between the Enterprise and the Bird of prey are firkin’ gorgeous.
What’s your first Star Trek memory?
I can’t remember exactly the first, but I have vivid memories of rushing home on Wednesday afternoons not to miss TOS, which was aired on a Belgian TV network we in the Netherlands had access to. It was in the second part of the 1970’s and this 7-year old could not be disturbed when it was on.
Favorite main character from any series?
Picard, no doubt. The gentle leadership is breathtaking and inspiring. Too bad the new series on Amazon was all that.
Have you read any Star Trek books (fiction or non-fiction)?
I’ve read the novelization of TMP and that’s it. I’m not an avid fiction-reader, I’m afraid. A big portion out of my day is reading and after work hours I’m happy to do something else.
How has Star Trek made a difference in your life?
Star Trek is a wondrous phenomenon. It’s relaxing, inspiring and intellectual. When it’s done right, of course. The more philosophical episodes have made a huge impact on my life. I’m not from an intellectual background, my parents were blue collar workers and I was the first one in my whole family to attend a university.
It wasn’t logical for me to end up in politics too! But somehow my love for well thought through escapism lured me into asking more philosophical questions about the nature of man and what we could or should be. Not just as a person or a human, but as society.
Star Trek, especially the later seasons of TNG had a huge part in that.
Tell us about a StarTrek-related rabbit hole you fell deep into.
I’m not sure I ever have. Perhaps that first time I went to a Star Trek film festival where First Contact premiers (mind you: this is the Netherlands, movie- or comic related conventions aren’t common, being a Trekkie was and is a lonely affair). During a break, I came across a guy in full Klingon gear. ’Nice outfit,’ I complimented him. I got an angry look. The guy next to him took my attention and said: ‘he only speaks Klingon.’
That said, I’m sure I caused some rabbit hole moments for others! When they thought that Star Trek was something adventurous and pew-pew and showed them episodes like Tapestry and Darmok and Measure of a Man and uhm.. annotated them. I can be evangelical like that :-|
Especially to politicians ;-)
Thanks, John!
Follow John on Twitter.
Me, too.
DIRECTIVES
Sixteen years ago today we lost Jerry Goldsmith. Here’s a nice way to honor him (and many other great composers) - watch a Star Trek Symphony (free on Amazon Prime).
Have you seen the new Hallmark Trek ornaments?
Working tricorder? Yes, please..
Virtual SDCC Trek panels this week!
Your non-Trek link: my friend Will lists his top 10 Bond films. He and I share a love of Timothy Dalton, the most dangerous Bond. Ever.
That’s all for this week. Thank you for reading. Please share with other Trek folks and let me know what random Trek references you come across during your week.
Grok you later.
LLAP,