The word canon in its simplest form means "referring to any standard or convention." There are many forms of canon: Church canon, literature canon, even sports canon. And of course there is Star Trek canon. A true die hard Trekkie sees canon in the world of James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Worf, and others as strict and absolute as a Catholic Mass. To subvert or mess in any way with Star Trek canon is not simply just wrong, it is apocryphal, a pure abomination.
Which brings me to the man that die hard Trek fans consider Satan incarnate on Earth: J.J. Abrams. Four years ago the man who rebooted Star Trek to a new a new generation, also tore asunder 43 years of Star Trek canon with a time travel plot and started an Internet war more heinous than transporting a bag of flaming dog poop onto the wheelchair of Captain Pike. Kirk's father killed? Vulcan destroyed? Spock and Uhura in a romantic relationship? It was enough to make Star Trek nerds seriously consider moving out of their parents' basements.
And now we have Star Trek Into Darkness, a movie that dares to reintroduce Khan as an villain. You thought Star Trek fans were pissed before? This was like Worf in a state of battle rage. There were probably paper mache replicas of J.J. Abrams being burnt in effigy worldwide.
Now I'll freely admit that while I thoroughly enjoy Star Trek films, I am not a die hard Trekkie. I can sympathize though because like it or not these are my fellow nerds and in a world where people have become blase about everything, it is inspiring to see people so passionate about something. I know I'm passionate about movies so who am I to judge? In fact I can understand their outrage even if I don't agree. I can't imagine how I'd feel if Hollywood rebooted The Shawshank Redemption with Tracy Morgan and Robert Pattinson.
Having said this there are a few things I call into question. If hard core Trekkies hated the 2009 version of Star Trek so much, why did so many of them shell out good money to see the second film? Stands to reason that if they felt so passionately about their distaste for J.J. Abrams and his Star Trek films they should have boycotted them altogether. While I'm sure some did, millions of self-proclaimed Trekkies shelled out hard earned money to see Star Trek Into Darkness. Additionally, the one issue I have with critics of Abrams' films is not their dislike of them because they "aren't Star Trek" (whatever that means) it is that so many refuse to acknowledge that they are in fact good films in and of themselves. Toss aside the Star Trek aspect of it, they are just good science fiction movies! Acting? Check. Good plot? Check. Amazing special effects? Check. Everything you could want in a good science fiction movie. So spare me your righteous indignation die hard Trekkies who won't admit that these are good movies. I believe you are too blinded by your dislike of J.J. Abrams to see clearly. You have myopic glasses that put Geordi LaForge to shame.
In the end all of this relates to an even bigger issue: fanboys bitching just to bitch. Let it go! But that's the topic of another post altogether. My advice to the adamant passionate Trekkies who can't stand these films? The same advice I get from my wife and friends often. Relax guys. It's just a movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment