Criticisms of Star Trek (not mine! ;P)
So I was looking around for reviews of "Star Trek" and I found some and I want to answer some criticisms I've seen. Not that the people criticizing will ever see, but, you know. I have to state my opinion and that I'm right and all. You know.
Not that the movie was perfect--just because I'm still in the shiny afterglow and can't think of anything doesn't mean there isn't anything there, really. <--being serious
Like one review I saw was all, "Okay, so old!Spock went back through time and 'ruined' everything--why didn't they just use time travel and fix it?"
Was that person paying attention??
1. Nero and Spock went through at the same time, yeah, but Nero landed 25 years before Spock. When Spock got there, he was immediately captured and stranded and they blew up Vulcan and he was forced to watch. When was this "fixing" time travel supposed to happen?
2. Also, why would they "fix" it? I mean, yeah, Jim would've liked to be able to know his dad and all that, but there was nothing "wrong" with their timeline as far as they knew. It'd take a bigger ego than even Jim's ;) to go, "Hmm, you know, I bet my dad isn't really supposed to be dead--I bet that's a timeline-altering boo boo." And the only time he could have done that is while in Starfleet and he had this whole saving-the-Federation thing to worry about at that point.
3. And we wouldn't be able to have a movie. This is a cool, fresh way to reboot it while still be respectful of TOS and even "Enterprise." (Poor Porthos!)
Okay, one criticism I saw is kind of valid. Old!Spock wouldn't let Jim tell Spock about him because he wanted them to become friends. Okay, that is great, but um, the fate of the Federation is resting them stopping Nero! So, really, gambling on Jim being able to do it...what if he hadn't been able to prove to Spock that he was emotionally compromised? They kind of lampshaded it at the end there, but still.
Also, as viewers, we knew it's supposed to be Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock, but, really, why not Captain Spock and First Officer Kirk? Why wouldn't Spock be able to pursue a successful course? Old!Spock knew that he was emotionally compromised, but, like Spock said, "Nero changed everything. This is a whole new series of events that cannot be predicted by either party." ...But now that I've written this all out, I'm thinking that Old!Spock was emotionally compromised, like he said, and he was stuck in this AU and his planet was gone and he needed at least his younger counterpart to have the friendship he so treasures with Kirk, so it's not like Old!Spock was thinking all that clearly, even though he maybe thought he was. Also, it's not like he had that plan from the get-go--he came up with it on the fly when he found out that he and Kirk weren't friends. So. Okay.
There was also a criticism that the female characters were used as tokens, especially for George Kirk, saving his pregnant wife, and Spock, defying Vulcan custom and such because of his loving mother. I don't agree with that at all. I do get what they meant by the "token mother/sister/lover" thing, but as a general rule, that argument doesn't really hold water with me. People do love their family and do things for them. I don't think it makes you less than a person because the person who saves you/is inspired by you happens to be a male related to you.
But also, in this movie, not so much. There's a lot balancing out the supposed tokens. For one thing, we have the theme of Jim wanting to make his dad proud. Pike dared him to do better than his dad. Jim asked Spock if he knew his father, if his father was proud. So yeah. There was also the balance of Bones joining because his ex-wife took everything. And Uhura was awesome.
And to speak directly about the scenes with George and Spock, the website said about George something like, "He was partly motivated to do what he did by his wife" or something like that. That is just bull to me. To me, for that criticism to be valid, the person inspired has to be primarily motivated by or do something extraordinary because of the woman. And neither George nor Spock fit that, for me.
George was saving the whole ship and all the people on it. It was absolutely heroic, and yeah, he called down to sickbay to make sure his wife was evacuating safely, but she wasn't the reason everyone was evacuating and he didn't do anything especially for her. It wasn't like hers was the last shuttle out and he needed to stay there to make sure she got away. He was a brave man doing what would save everyone. Oh, that opening. Oh.
Spock...this one is a little more complicated. Yes, it was when the other kids called his mother a whore that he freaked out. Yes, it was when the Vulcan Council insulted his human side that he decided to go with Starfleet. Yes, it was when Jim said he didn't even care that his mother was dead that made him realize he was emotionally compromised. But I felt it was that it was his parent. That is, if it had been a Vulcan mother and and human father, and the situations were the same, Spock would have reacted the same way. It was also part of him--they weren't just insulting his mother, they were insulting half of what Spock is, so he was defending himself, too.
Also, this link.
Anyway. So that's that.
Really really loved the movie.
But I can't find an icon of the whole crew! Generic "dork" icon until I can update, I suppose. I will use this Enterprise icon for now. What I'm really looking for is something like this only, you know, small enough for an icon or this but not missing Spock!
Not that the movie was perfect--just because I'm still in the shiny afterglow and can't think of anything doesn't mean there isn't anything there, really. <--being serious
Like one review I saw was all, "Okay, so old!Spock went back through time and 'ruined' everything--why didn't they just use time travel and fix it?"
Was that person paying attention??
1. Nero and Spock went through at the same time, yeah, but Nero landed 25 years before Spock. When Spock got there, he was immediately captured and stranded and they blew up Vulcan and he was forced to watch. When was this "fixing" time travel supposed to happen?
2. Also, why would they "fix" it? I mean, yeah, Jim would've liked to be able to know his dad and all that, but there was nothing "wrong" with their timeline as far as they knew. It'd take a bigger ego than even Jim's ;) to go, "Hmm, you know, I bet my dad isn't really supposed to be dead--I bet that's a timeline-altering boo boo." And the only time he could have done that is while in Starfleet and he had this whole saving-the-Federation thing to worry about at that point.
3. And we wouldn't be able to have a movie. This is a cool, fresh way to reboot it while still be respectful of TOS and even "Enterprise." (Poor Porthos!)
Okay, one criticism I saw is kind of valid. Old!Spock wouldn't let Jim tell Spock about him because he wanted them to become friends. Okay, that is great, but um, the fate of the Federation is resting them stopping Nero! So, really, gambling on Jim being able to do it...what if he hadn't been able to prove to Spock that he was emotionally compromised? They kind of lampshaded it at the end there, but still.
Also, as viewers, we knew it's supposed to be Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock, but, really, why not Captain Spock and First Officer Kirk? Why wouldn't Spock be able to pursue a successful course? Old!Spock knew that he was emotionally compromised, but, like Spock said, "Nero changed everything. This is a whole new series of events that cannot be predicted by either party." ...But now that I've written this all out, I'm thinking that Old!Spock was emotionally compromised, like he said, and he was stuck in this AU and his planet was gone and he needed at least his younger counterpart to have the friendship he so treasures with Kirk, so it's not like Old!Spock was thinking all that clearly, even though he maybe thought he was. Also, it's not like he had that plan from the get-go--he came up with it on the fly when he found out that he and Kirk weren't friends. So. Okay.
There was also a criticism that the female characters were used as tokens, especially for George Kirk, saving his pregnant wife, and Spock, defying Vulcan custom and such because of his loving mother. I don't agree with that at all. I do get what they meant by the "token mother/sister/lover" thing, but as a general rule, that argument doesn't really hold water with me. People do love their family and do things for them. I don't think it makes you less than a person because the person who saves you/is inspired by you happens to be a male related to you.
But also, in this movie, not so much. There's a lot balancing out the supposed tokens. For one thing, we have the theme of Jim wanting to make his dad proud. Pike dared him to do better than his dad. Jim asked Spock if he knew his father, if his father was proud. So yeah. There was also the balance of Bones joining because his ex-wife took everything. And Uhura was awesome.
And to speak directly about the scenes with George and Spock, the website said about George something like, "He was partly motivated to do what he did by his wife" or something like that. That is just bull to me. To me, for that criticism to be valid, the person inspired has to be primarily motivated by or do something extraordinary because of the woman. And neither George nor Spock fit that, for me.
George was saving the whole ship and all the people on it. It was absolutely heroic, and yeah, he called down to sickbay to make sure his wife was evacuating safely, but she wasn't the reason everyone was evacuating and he didn't do anything especially for her. It wasn't like hers was the last shuttle out and he needed to stay there to make sure she got away. He was a brave man doing what would save everyone. Oh, that opening. Oh.
Spock...this one is a little more complicated. Yes, it was when the other kids called his mother a whore that he freaked out. Yes, it was when the Vulcan Council insulted his human side that he decided to go with Starfleet. Yes, it was when Jim said he didn't even care that his mother was dead that made him realize he was emotionally compromised. But I felt it was that it was his parent. That is, if it had been a Vulcan mother and and human father, and the situations were the same, Spock would have reacted the same way. It was also part of him--they weren't just insulting his mother, they were insulting half of what Spock is, so he was defending himself, too.
Also, this link.
Anyway. So that's that.
Really really loved the movie.
But I can't find an icon of the whole crew! Generic "dork" icon until I can update, I suppose. I will use this Enterprise icon for now. What I'm really looking for is something like this only, you know, small enough for an icon or this but not missing Spock!
