Writer's Block: The Final Frontier
Oct. 25th, 2008 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadness[Error: unknown template qotd]
a very dark and terrible place. My parents were Trekkers. My mother had OST on in the pre-delivery room when she went into labor with me back in the 60's. I came this close to being named Uhura or something. My first two crushes back in first grade were Sulu and Spock. I adored the show. 40 years later I still adore the show. It taught so many important lessons. Yes, the original was preachy but still.
As lame as it sounds today, I wouldn't be here if not for ST. It was miserable growing up in the early 80's in high school being a D&D geeky brainiac. It was a daily torment. There was no internet to vent at friends who were just like you and understood it. You were isolated, especially being rural like I was. People didn't run to the psychiatrist for happy pills, at least not kids, not back then. What got me through the suicidal depressions was fanfiction and thinking, what would Spock and Kirk do in these situations. It made me feel better. Lame yes, true yes.
Then came ST:TNG. I remember this well. My whole sorority was jazzed to the point when had a sleep over at a Sister's house because she had the big screen projection TV. We spent the evening getting drunk and watching Farpoint STation. Yes, it sucked but we were so thrilled to have an old friend back we watched. It took three years to get good but back in the 80's you could do that. Things didn't get canceled in 3 weeks back them and get good it did once it stopped ripping off its predecessor.
Ds9, Voyager, even parts of Enterprise (which didn't live up to its potential) were so good. I checked out some other answers to this question and to the haters and bashers of ST out there, while I respect your right to your feelings, I want you to think about this. The original ST was written in the 60's in a time where African Americans were just getting the right to vote and women were exceedingly second class especially in terms of job promotions and pay. Mr. Roddenberry had to FIGHT to have a black woman on the set in a position of power (granted Uhura's position wasn't all that powerful but it was enough that Martin Luther King jr encouraged Ms Nichols not to quit because she was a symbol of equality), he lost the battle to have a female second in command because women were not good enough for that. Spock and his devil ears were another battle. This show flew in the face of convention. It had people of all races and sex working together, something that just wasn't done back then. The first interracial kiss and later on DS9 the first lesbian kiss, ST has been a loud voice for acceptance and peace with power for four decades.
Moreover, it's impact is not just social. Those cell phones we so cherish for example, the ideas for them and so many other technological advances came from the imagination of Star Trek and other SF writers. The real scientists were intrigued and built the darn things, a perfect blend of imagination and know how. So yes, I feel we owe Star Trek a great debt. It's my oldest fandom love and it's going with me to the grave.
a very dark and terrible place. My parents were Trekkers. My mother had OST on in the pre-delivery room when she went into labor with me back in the 60's. I came this close to being named Uhura or something. My first two crushes back in first grade were Sulu and Spock. I adored the show. 40 years later I still adore the show. It taught so many important lessons. Yes, the original was preachy but still.
As lame as it sounds today, I wouldn't be here if not for ST. It was miserable growing up in the early 80's in high school being a D&D geeky brainiac. It was a daily torment. There was no internet to vent at friends who were just like you and understood it. You were isolated, especially being rural like I was. People didn't run to the psychiatrist for happy pills, at least not kids, not back then. What got me through the suicidal depressions was fanfiction and thinking, what would Spock and Kirk do in these situations. It made me feel better. Lame yes, true yes.
Then came ST:TNG. I remember this well. My whole sorority was jazzed to the point when had a sleep over at a Sister's house because she had the big screen projection TV. We spent the evening getting drunk and watching Farpoint STation. Yes, it sucked but we were so thrilled to have an old friend back we watched. It took three years to get good but back in the 80's you could do that. Things didn't get canceled in 3 weeks back them and get good it did once it stopped ripping off its predecessor.
Ds9, Voyager, even parts of Enterprise (which didn't live up to its potential) were so good. I checked out some other answers to this question and to the haters and bashers of ST out there, while I respect your right to your feelings, I want you to think about this. The original ST was written in the 60's in a time where African Americans were just getting the right to vote and women were exceedingly second class especially in terms of job promotions and pay. Mr. Roddenberry had to FIGHT to have a black woman on the set in a position of power (granted Uhura's position wasn't all that powerful but it was enough that Martin Luther King jr encouraged Ms Nichols not to quit because she was a symbol of equality), he lost the battle to have a female second in command because women were not good enough for that. Spock and his devil ears were another battle. This show flew in the face of convention. It had people of all races and sex working together, something that just wasn't done back then. The first interracial kiss and later on DS9 the first lesbian kiss, ST has been a loud voice for acceptance and peace with power for four decades.
Moreover, it's impact is not just social. Those cell phones we so cherish for example, the ideas for them and so many other technological advances came from the imagination of Star Trek and other SF writers. The real scientists were intrigued and built the darn things, a perfect blend of imagination and know how. So yes, I feel we owe Star Trek a great debt. It's my oldest fandom love and it's going with me to the grave.
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