Editorial Rebuttal to My Review of STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS

Please head over to SciFiFX to read the editorial on STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS before you read this.

I never meant for a review to fire anyone up, but it seems my words and this movie have stoked a 3-alarm. Let me say that the author and I are friends and I enjoyed his article. He is very passionate about his sci-fi and that’s why I like hanging around him and the rest of our group. That’s what being a geek is all about, passion.

The first point of contention is that I fired buck shot at the “whiner fanboys/fangirls.” In my review, Movie Review: STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, I stated that there was “a lot of fanboy/fangirl whinery going on out there and I guess my standards are too low to join in.” I probably should have expounded on this a little more. The word “whinery.” Was it too harsh a word to use? In my mind, I don’t think so. The reason I called what I had been reading on the interwebs “whinery” was because it was a basically the same tear-down of every movie that had come before. Every Star Trek movie (every scifi movie in general) will get torn apart because it doesn’t conform to real-world mechanics or the way it has performed in previous versions. So, I call it whinery because I’ve listened to the same general arguments every time a movie comes out. So, in my opinion, it’s whining, but don’t take offense to it.

All of the arguments in the editorial are valid points, but you know what? Most of the movie-going public do not care. They want a movie with a lot of action, epic battles, explosions, and etc. because that is what pays the bills. You know why else they don’t care? Because the majority don’t know the technical specs of the U.S.S. Enterprise or the effects of cold fusion. Some of us do. I joined the Navy as part of their Nuclear Power Program. I was gonna be a nuclear physicist (don’t ask what happened). So, some of us do know, but the majority of folks don’t. Pointy-ears getting dropped into the volcano? Yeah, most of us know that it should be an impossibility, but we don’t care. We love the sights, sounds, and explosions! Khan? A lot of the movie-going public have probably seen the movie, or heard his name referenced, but I willing to bet that a lot of them have never seen Star Trek II. But, guess what? After this, they probably will!

In defense of the fanboy/fangirl, I do get you. You’ve read every single novelization, comic book, tech manual, episode guide, and fan fiction there is to be read about your favorite thing in the whole wide world. You live it, eat it, breathe it, wear it, draw it, write it, and some even tattoo it. But, don’t get upset because the writer, director, producer, etc., “doesn’t get you,” because they are trying to make a product for a million others like you and the millions of general movie-goers who just want an action movie, while all the while trying to make something that has been an idea or image in their heads and that will be something that they are proud of.

However, calling people whiners, (specifically called it whinery, but it adds up about the same) and telling people to shut it because it’s not what they expect is a bit harsh. ~Editorial: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS at SciFiFX.com

See above for why I call it whinery, but I never said “shut it.” This is what I wrote and the context in which it was written.

“True” Trek is a TV show that is a scifi drama. Scifi dramas don’t play very well on the big screen. People are saying “Give us our five year mission!” It’s on TV. Besides, this franchise has got plenty of time to go there, if that’s what they plan. I’m enjoying what they are doing right now, so pipe down and let them play!

The franchise is a big sand box. There is so much room to explore and blow things up and as history has proven, Star Trek will be around for a long time. Let the new team get sand in their shorts and things will get better.

Much love to the crew at SciFiFX.com! Check them out and please feel free to leave your comments here and on their website, also.