Why JJ Abrams will kill Star Trek’s Spirit!
I am a self-proclaimed fan of JJ Abrams. I enjoy everything he has ever done. I certainly enjoy his grasp of mystery and suspense but also his ability to intrigue fans and bring them into the world’s he has created. However, much can be said about his ability to “flake out” on running his projects or handling the material well, mainly his produced TV shows. The thing is I am not opposed to him getting a chance to take on the most heavy fan laden project Hollywood has ever known, Star Trek. If anyone has deserved a chance to take Trek and reboot it it’s him and his creative fellows consisting of: Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
That being said, it’s the way we have heard this project being talked about by Abrams from the start allowing you to make the case that he will kill the Star Trek spirit. Many of you reading this are probably saying, what do you mean? What I mean is, I believe Abrams will sacrifice fanboy/fangirl happiness over pleasing the mass audiences. No longer will Trek fans be able to look back and say we are the first group of cult fans to drive a show back into existence and bring a series of films and TV spin-offs like none other. No longer are we a spirit that defined people learning the Klingon language and dressing like a Vulcan on a Sunday afternoon. However, it isn’t just the fanatics it is also the men and women who simply watched the broadcasts in their easy chairs to see this multi-cultural crew take on a 5 year mission and explore the galaxy, people like my father, who then extended the rite to me as a child. That spirit of Trek will be gone and will be replaced by Abrams taking classic, iconic characters and ushering in new young and “hot” faces to carry them in this “new” take on the Star Trek story.
Actor’s like Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have no idea the type of “hearthrobness” they will receive after the release of Trek. Eric Bana plays a villain where some people will say its, “Eric Bana he is so hot! Even as a bad guy!” Trek isn’t about a journey to the stars commenting on our society anymore but rather a journey to redefine Trek with “pretty” people, “pretty” effects and “pretty” environments. I am torn with this issue being a fan who was indoctrinated from birth into 3 things, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Star Trek and if you look at their reboots, prequels, revisits, they have all been bad. Lucas killed Star Wars for me with the awful prequels. Lucas and Spielberg succeeded in ruining the greatest adventurer the screen has ever known with the Indy and the Crystal Skull garbage that came out earlier this year. Star Trek’s spirit has been waning since Berman and Co. couldn’t get Enterprise running and the fact the Nemesis was a box office disaster. Arguably this is why Abrams and crew were brought in, to take the franchise that was waning and rebuild it. But as I aforementioned it’s how he has stated his direction for doing so that bothers me. At some point in the news cycle of the project Abrams came out and said that,
“The whole point was to try to make this movie for fans of movies, not fans of `Star Trek,’ necessarily,’” Abrams said
“But we are not making the movie for that contingent alone,” said Abrams. “It was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world - to sound crass, a franchise - and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see. To take the characters, the thoughtfulness, the personalities, the sense of adventure, the idea of humanity working together, the sense of social commentary and innovation, all that stuff. To take it and apply it in a way that felt genuinely thrilling.”
In response to these comments it is very apparent the fans are considered but that isn’t the drive of his direction. Abrams says that he wants to make a film he would “want to see.” To understand this fully I think you have to look at Abrams history of movies and TV, which is “pretty” people, love triangles, character driven material. Look at Alias, LOST, Felicity, Cloverfield and Armageddon, all of these feature pretty faces and lots sex appeal combined with action driven stories. None of this is bad but I see Star Trek becoming something that without his name, the Star Trek name and the budget could be something that might easily appear on the CW after One Tree Hill and re-runs of Felicity. I have no doubt there will be thrills, action and endless fun but Trek is more than that. It is about social commentary and while Abrams will honor that I think that spirit will be overshadowed by the marketing of these young pretty actors dressed in new Starfleet garb, likely to feature girls in tight body suits to highlight curves and guys wearing tight body suits to highlight muscle tone. This is no different then the original Trek but in this day in age you can bet there will be some “sexing” up.
Abrams says that,
“I feel like this is so unlike what you expect, so unlike the `Star Trek’ you’ve seen. At the same time, it’s being true to what’s come before, honoring it,” Abrams said. “I can say the effects for `Star Trek’ have never, ever been done like this. … I can only tell you the idea of the universe of `Star Trek’ has never been given this kind of treatment.”
Again…of course this is true and warranted… a lot of what he refers to stems from the special effects that this film will have which are literally twice as much as any Trek movie before and the budget can attest to that but I digress.
Kevin Smith recently came out and talked about the new Trek movie, after pre-viewing it. He went about saying that fans shouldn’t worry, the new Kirk shines and JJ and crew really out do themselves with this film. My analyzing of this is that [and I am a fan of Smith] I have never once heard him talk about Star Trek or mention he is a fan. It seems like he is more a comic book, Star Wars fan than anything so Abram’s film does exactly what is should which is appeal to a non-fan. Shatner is not in this film that is enough for fans to believe that he doesn’t take them seriously.
Ultimately, this long rant highlights a few things and here is my summary of them. Abrams will kill the spirit of Trek in order to make a massive general audience appeal work. This seems to be a movie where young girls can say “Chris Pine is so hot!” A film where guys can see an erotic, sexed-up, Ulhura, played by a young and sexy Zoe Saldana. This “new” take is all about toys and sex appeal and young actors promote both very easily. Ask yourself why does this movie have so many special effects? Because it can! But more effects also means more toys and sets for kids to buy. Young actors promote better and will go everywhere from the Oscars to Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards and hit MTV and VH-1 in between. It’s smart that’s where the Next Generation movies failed because nobody except fans of the show want to see Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes or Marina Sirtis in tight body suits anymore and they said the same thing about the original cast too. [FYI - When they reignited the original cast in Star Trek: the Motion Picture - they changed the suits because the actors were fat and old but nobody minded.] This is because they both harnessed the spirit of Trek. Voyager did too but only for awhile. The key to a reboot is bringing in fresh storytelling, and talent — usually young talent. A young Kirk/Spock story is easier to tell and will have more appeal than a completely new Star Trek era with new characters and this may be JJ’s argument for honoring the fans. If he didn’t think the fans mattered then why bring back Kirk or Spock at all? Why not do something completely original and new?
I sincerely hope I eat my words and I am so wrong that I will spend the rest of life paying for it. This being said I think the case can be made that Abrams may destroy Trek in order to create a film where young heartthrobs persuade teen’s boys and girls to see a movie that once was referred to as geeky and un-cool. Star Trek has always had an association with nerds, geeks, Trekkies, fan boys but not with the masses and that is what makes it great, a cult classic that defined cult classic. Do you really want to walk that line JJ? After all Paramount and CBS do otherwise they would have left the film in the hands of Berman and Co. to keep spitting out a crappy series every 4 years until Trek conventions begin to get less and less attention and fans really don’t care anymore and the spirit of Trek dies on its own becoming an extinct part of pop culture like the pet rock and I love the 80s.
