Star Trek article about the Politics of Star Trek and how its changed over the years

Brief discussion at Slash Dot

Timothy Sandefur, a lawyer at the Pacific Legal Foundation has written a breezy overview of the politics of the little-known show Star Trek. His thesis: “…the key to Star Trek’s longevity and cultural penetration was its seriousness of purpose, originally inspired by creator Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction vision. Modeled on Gulliver’s Travels, the series was meant as an opportunity for social commentary, and it succeeded ingeniously, with episodes scripted by some of the era’s finest science fiction writers. Yet the development of Star Trek’s moral and political tone over 50 years also traces the strange decline of American liberalism since the Kennedy era.” The article traces through episodes at each phase of the franchise, exploring literary allusions and lamenting that “Star Trek’s latest iterations — the ‘reboot’ films directed by J.J. Abrams — shrug at the franchise’s former philosophical depth.”

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/15/09/05/2254220/the-politics-of-star-trek?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

Claremont article review of Timothy Sandefur,The Politics of Star Trek
https://www.claremont.org/article/the-politics-of-star-trek/#.VewAZ32ky7Q
The Politics of Star Trek

Download the article as a PDF file Timothy Sandefur The Politics of Star Trek

Timothy Sandefur The Politics of Star Trek PDF

Have a lot of American directors succumbed to dumb action/thriller movies, doing clever effects but the substance of plot takes second place?

Movies where there is a lot of of action but no real thinking is involved.

Like the new Star trek movie where a new actor playing the old character Captain Kirk is not a thoughtful Captain Kirk as he once was but is now full of rashness and violence.

Women just appear and un robe as against a clever/witty/funny/different conservation over a glass of wine.

CrazyNeutrino said:

Have a lot of American directors succumbed to dumb action/thriller movies, doing clever effects but the substance of plot takes second place?

Movies where there is a lot of of action but no real thinking is involved.

Like the new Star trek movie where a new actor playing the old character Captain Kirk is not a thoughtful Captain Kirk as he once was but is now full of rashness and violence.

Women just appear and un robe as against a clever/witty/funny/different conservation over a glass of wine.

I thought the old Kirk was inclined to rashness which is why they had Spock to inject some logic and thought. In fact Kirk was likely to let his emotions and heart get the better of him.

As for your general premise movie making is much the same as it always has been, different directors do different things. Sometimes a movie is just a movie to be entertaining, no aspirations to presenting a greater truth. Other movies have meanings assigned to them by critics who are reluctant to admit sometimes a cigar is just a smoke.

I prefer new generation

though new generation becomes soap like in some cases

new generation has some real gems , the original series is clunky

I’ve watched a lot of StarTrek, mostly later in life, starting with the early series in my early thirties maybe it was, then the later movies more recent, but not the most recent one.

Looking back, at the ideological penetration, something tells me Data was the most significant ‘character’.

To say anything more would be futile.

transition said:

I’ve watched a lot of StarTrek, mostly later in life, starting with the early series in my early thirties maybe it was, then the later movies more recent, but not the most recent one.

Looking back, at the ideological penetration, something tells me Data was the most significant ‘character’.

To say anything more would be futile.

If the characters all had New Zealand accents it would be telling…….

If the characters all had New Zealand accents it would be telling……

Then Chewbacca would be a sheep.

Tamb said:

If the characters all had New Zealand accents it would be telling……

Then Chewbacca would be a sheep.

Trek not Wars but yeah probably

Postpocelipse said:

Tamb said:

If the characters all had New Zealand accents it would be telling……

Then Chewbacca would be a sheep.

Trek not Wars but yeah probably

True. They tend to meld in my mind.