4 ms·

Star Trek, to me, is more realistic to the inner workings of ourselves as social members and as individual minds/hearts than any other program that has before o

by creep 9y ago

Star Trek, to me, is more realistic to the inner workings of ourselves as social members and as individual minds/hearts than any other program that has before or since existed. It shows what the unknown feels like, it shows how each person is not only a member of the whole but also a complete whole in and of themselves, it shows not only compassion when things go wrong but also justice (angry justice or not). Everything is there on the final frontier! Literally the limits of human attainment and a drama within that exact scenario.

alexashka 9y ago
For those who don't know much about it - can you recommend which series to watch? I googled it and there seems to be a great deal of variety.
- Erlangolem 9y ago
  The original is a great place to start, especially if you don’t mind older media. The first 3 original movies are also exceptional. After that comes Star Trek: The Next Generation, which is my personal favorite. If you’re still hooked, and don’t mind a change of pace and scenery (and in both cases, a slow start) Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and later Voyager would be the order for it.
- creep 9y ago
  I recommend The Next Generation. I find the crew in that series to be more variable and interesting, and the production is obviously more modern. You might be interested in the crew member Data, who is an android, considering the tech nature of HN!
  - hathawsh 9y ago
    I too recommend TNG. If you get to the end of the series and you still want more, there's also Voyager, which is essentially the same as TNG and slightly more modern.
  - mortenjorck 9y ago
    As a companion read to diving into (or back into) ST:TNG, I have to recommend what is still quite possibly the best pop-culture essay I've ever read: http://grantland.com/features/next-generation-turns-25/ http://grantland.com/features/next-generation-turns-25/
  - skookumchuck 9y ago
    I'm more a fan of the original. The moral lesson taught every TNG episode so bludgeoned the viewer I tired of it and stopped watching.
  - DonHopkins 9y ago
    I really enjoyed Deep Space 9, too. It's got a comedic twist, and I just can't get enough of Quark and the other Ferengi. The Grand Nagus Zek, whose mellifluous voice I was sure I'd heard somewhere before, turns out to be played by Wallace Shawn, the "inconceivable" guy from the Princess Bride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_A0IOCfdM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_A0IOCfdM One of the important ongoing themes is the relationship between Commander Sisko and his son Jake, which this article is about: Deep Space Nine Is TV’s Most Revolutionary Depiction of Black Fatherhood http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/deep-space-nine-revolutionary-depiction-of-black-fatherhood.html http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/deep-space-nine-revolutionary... Here's an interesting interview with Avery Brooks (Sisko) and Rene Auberjonois (Odo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWmATqfebQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWmATqfebQ
- mjevans 9y ago
  I'd personally recommend: * The Next Generation (starting point, but be prepared to sit through the slower first seasons). * DS9 * Voyager (however optionally skip anything from the Kess seasons that you feel like) I only liked about 1/3rd of Star Trek Enterprise episodes, the entire series is kind of filler. Has that same wasted potential feeling that I got from Stargate Universe; it COULD have been more interesting if the pacing had been better and if they had focused on fitting the stories in to an overall plotline (much more like Babylon 5; which, BTW, you should TOTALLY watch if you haven't). Star Trek Discovery was good, but is more an edgier more action packed thriller kind of series than the earlier series. I do like where they're going with rebooting the overall universe though and I feel that this brings the modern FX capacity in to the series in a way that makes sense for today. For something you can show to your parents or if you generally don't get Star Trek, the Orville is a GREAT comedy focused take on the ideas that Star Trek (everything) classically presented, but covering modern social issues.
skookumchuck 9y ago
Star Trek has a lot of great aspects, but its model of utopian society is the "benevolent dictator" one. Captain Kirk is the dictator - he's brave, benevolent, incorruptible, and fixes everyone's problems by decree. His minions utterly lack ambition and selfish desires, and are ideally altruistic members of the collective. It's a nice fantasy, but completely unworkable.
- Jtsummers 9y ago
  Kirk was the captain of a ship, not of society. A ship captain is generally the dictator of their vessel. There are certainly valid criticisms of the quasi-utopian vision of society in Star Trek, but that one ship was not meant as a model or microcosm of how the whole of their society was run. Just one aspect.
  - skookumchuck 9y ago
    > Kirk was the captain of a ship, not of society. A ship captain is generally the dictator of their vessel. That's correct, but the Enterprise was clearly written as a metaphor for the perfect society. I've also seen it referred to as such by people wanting to create the perfect society.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - Jtsummers 9y ago
      > That's correct, but the Enterprise was clearly written as a metaphor for the perfect society. My perspective: I grew up in and around the military, I understand military command structures and I see them as distinct from our overall society. That doesn't mean that there is no place for that sort of structure within a society. Star Trek always appeared to me as representing that military structure within the overall structure of the Federation's society. In fact, most members of the Federation were not members of anything military-like (or so it's claimed in the show, you don't really see too much outside the ship and non-Federation planets). The ship, the Enterprise, never seemed like a metaphor for anything (the Federation, on the other hand, was clearly meant as an analog to the the US and most of Western Europe, or the direction Rodenberry thought they were headed). > I've also seen it referred to as such by people wanting to create the perfect society. I do not doubt that you've seen this. But I've, personally, only heard and read people reference the Federation as a perfect society, not the Enterprise. Until today.

by creep 9y ago

alexashka 9y ago

For those who don't know much about it - can you recommend which series to watch? I googled it and there seems to be a great deal of variety.

Erlangolem 9y ago
The original is a great place to start, especially if you don’t mind older media. The first 3 original movies are also exceptional. After that comes Star Trek: The Next Generation, which is my personal favorite. If you’re still hooked, and don’t mind a change of pace and scenery (and in both cases, a slow start) Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and later Voyager would be the order for it.
creep 9y ago
I recommend The Next Generation. I find the crew in that series to be more variable and interesting, and the production is obviously more modern. You might be interested in the crew member Data, who is an android, considering the tech nature of HN!
- hathawsh 9y ago
  I too recommend TNG. If you get to the end of the series and you still want more, there's also Voyager, which is essentially the same as TNG and slightly more modern.
- mortenjorck 9y ago
  As a companion read to diving into (or back into) ST:TNG, I have to recommend what is still quite possibly the best pop-culture essay I've ever read: http://grantland.com/features/next-generation-turns-25/ http://grantland.com/features/next-generation-turns-25/
- skookumchuck 9y ago
  I'm more a fan of the original. The moral lesson taught every TNG episode so bludgeoned the viewer I tired of it and stopped watching.
- DonHopkins 9y ago
  I really enjoyed Deep Space 9, too. It's got a comedic twist, and I just can't get enough of Quark and the other Ferengi. The Grand Nagus Zek, whose mellifluous voice I was sure I'd heard somewhere before, turns out to be played by Wallace Shawn, the "inconceivable" guy from the Princess Bride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_A0IOCfdM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_A0IOCfdM One of the important ongoing themes is the relationship between Commander Sisko and his son Jake, which this article is about: Deep Space Nine Is TV’s Most Revolutionary Depiction of Black Fatherhood http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/deep-space-nine-revolutionary-depiction-of-black-fatherhood.html http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/deep-space-nine-revolutionary... Here's an interesting interview with Avery Brooks (Sisko) and Rene Auberjonois (Odo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWmATqfebQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnWmATqfebQ
mjevans 9y ago
I'd personally recommend: * The Next Generation (starting point, but be prepared to sit through the slower first seasons). * DS9 * Voyager (however optionally skip anything from the Kess seasons that you feel like) I only liked about 1/3rd of Star Trek Enterprise episodes, the entire series is kind of filler. Has that same wasted potential feeling that I got from Stargate Universe; it COULD have been more interesting if the pacing had been better and if they had focused on fitting the stories in to an overall plotline (much more like Babylon 5; which, BTW, you should TOTALLY watch if you haven't). Star Trek Discovery was good, but is more an edgier more action packed thriller kind of series than the earlier series. I do like where they're going with rebooting the overall universe though and I feel that this brings the modern FX capacity in to the series in a way that makes sense for today. For something you can show to your parents or if you generally don't get Star Trek, the Orville is a GREAT comedy focused take on the ideas that Star Trek (everything) classically presented, but covering modern social issues.

skookumchuck 9y ago

Star Trek has a lot of great aspects, but its model of utopian society is the "benevolent dictator" one. Captain Kirk is the dictator - he's brave, benevolent, incorruptible, and fixes everyone's problems by decree. His minions utterly lack ambition and selfish desires, and are ideally altruistic members of the collective. It's a nice fantasy, but completely unworkable.

Jtsummers 9y ago
Kirk was the captain of a ship, not of society. A ship captain is generally the dictator of their vessel. There are certainly valid criticisms of the quasi-utopian vision of society in Star Trek, but that one ship was not meant as a model or microcosm of how the whole of their society was run. Just one aspect.
- skookumchuck 9y ago
  > Kirk was the captain of a ship, not of society. A ship captain is generally the dictator of their vessel. That's correct, but the Enterprise was clearly written as a metaphor for the perfect society. I've also seen it referred to as such by people wanting to create the perfect society.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - Jtsummers 9y ago
    > That's correct, but the Enterprise was clearly written as a metaphor for the perfect society. My perspective: I grew up in and around the military, I understand military command structures and I see them as distinct from our overall society. That doesn't mean that there is no place for that sort of structure within a society. Star Trek always appeared to me as representing that military structure within the overall structure of the Federation's society. In fact, most members of the Federation were not members of anything military-like (or so it's claimed in the show, you don't really see too much outside the ship and non-Federation planets). The ship, the Enterprise, never seemed like a metaphor for anything (the Federation, on the other hand, was clearly meant as an analog to the the US and most of Western Europe, or the direction Rodenberry thought they were headed). > I've also seen it referred to as such by people wanting to create the perfect society. I do not doubt that you've seen this. But I've, personally, only heard and read people reference the Federation as a perfect society, not the Enterprise. Until today.