I ended up saying a lot more than I thought I would...
Things about me:
1. I am mostly fine! Working a lot, walking a lot.
2. Tonight I'm going to go see a play starring Darth Vader and Jessica Fletcher. I am excited.
3. I went to see Star Trek 2: Electric Boogaloo, the following are my scattered thoughts:
A) I enjoyed the movie for the most part, although I did laugh a lot at Kirk's dying scene. My brother Nick was seriously pissed off with me for how funny I found it. I'M SORRY. IT WAS SO CLICHE. HE DID A LITTLE COUGH. I did bounce around like a spring when they did the hand thing, though. That was kind of gorgeous. Expected, knowingly referential, but gorgeous.
B) I appreciated the humour. The trailer made it look there wasn't going to be any, so I was glad there was. Some of it was funny, too, which is always a plus.
C) I was REALLY disappointed in the score. I adored Giacchino's first reboot soundtrack, but not enough to want to hear it again without any noticeable change.
D) I felt like there was TOO. MUCH. JEOPARDY! all the way through. I think the first reboot movie is like that too, but I was willing to ignore it barring the stupid monster chase scene, because it was the first reboot, and I was stupidly charmed by everyone's faces, but here I found it super grating. I wanted more of the character moments, because I thought they were done pretty damn well. By the end, I was kind of plot twist and jeopardied out.
E) I didn't like that Benedict Cumberbatch was Khan. The fact that Abrams lied about it annoys me, but the thing I mostly found was that it was unnecessary. I love Benedict, I think he's a great actor --- just look at the original pilot of Sherlock and the actual series to see how nuanced and clever he is, but he didn't bring anything particularly special to the role, so I really didn't see why he had to be cast over an actor of colour. I subscribe to the idea that it was always awesome that a superhuman, brilliant villain was played a person of colour. Because, yes, villain, but not a Caliban, not the stereotyped portrayal of a villain of colour being a savage thug: a preternaturally extraordinary example of excellence. If you're going to fuck with that, at least have the actor you use be the most amazing thing ever. But he wasn't. I was just kind of --- eh --- about him the whole time, and I really don't think I should have been.
F) I wasn't keen on how they underused both Carol Marcus and Nyota Uhura. Considering the fact they were the only two significant female characters and that they're awesome characters in their own rights, I was pretty pissed that, well, Carol was shown in her underwear for NO REASON AT ALL, got fucked over by her father, and then was grievously injured by Khan --- that, while being awesome with her linguist expertise, Uhura almost got grievously injured by a Klingon, that she served as an annoyed love interest for a huge portion of the movie and then her rescue of Spock was shoved aside and hugely downplayed for a Kirk/Spock scene (and I am usually DOWN with Kirk/Spock scenes. I don't OTP them, but I appreciate them.)
G) It comes down to me having to reconcile that I was quite entertained for two hours with all of this other stuff, particularly regarding representation. Because, no, the Star Trek franchise has never been perfect, but fuckdammit, it's got a long tradition of being better than the rest when it comes to casting people of colour, of having awesome characters that are male and female, of being philosophical. I feel like some of the philosophy has been shoved aside for some flash and bang and I like flash and bang well enough, but I don't connect with it. Star Trek is something I hold dearly because it speaks to outsiders, courts them with characters like Spock, Uhura, Data, Geordie, Worf, the Siskos, Odo,Janeway, Seven of Nine, B'Elanna, The Doctor, T'Pol and yes, even Khan. Because differences are shown, and usually not shown to be a bad thing. Because, as the great Philip J. Fry once said, because it... it taught me so much. Like, how you should accept people, whether they be black, white, Klingon or even female... But most importantly, when I had no friends, it made me feel like maybe I did.
(I just really feel like the reboot could do so much more, and it relies upon THIS EXCITING CHASE SEQUENCE WITH A SWIRLY COAT, this casually sexist scene, this mandatory catchphrase, this white British-sounding villain like all the white British-sounding villains that have gone before.)
1. I am mostly fine! Working a lot, walking a lot.
2. Tonight I'm going to go see a play starring Darth Vader and Jessica Fletcher. I am excited.
3. I went to see Star Trek 2: Electric Boogaloo, the following are my scattered thoughts:
A) I enjoyed the movie for the most part, although I did laugh a lot at Kirk's dying scene. My brother Nick was seriously pissed off with me for how funny I found it. I'M SORRY. IT WAS SO CLICHE. HE DID A LITTLE COUGH. I did bounce around like a spring when they did the hand thing, though. That was kind of gorgeous. Expected, knowingly referential, but gorgeous.
B) I appreciated the humour. The trailer made it look there wasn't going to be any, so I was glad there was. Some of it was funny, too, which is always a plus.
C) I was REALLY disappointed in the score. I adored Giacchino's first reboot soundtrack, but not enough to want to hear it again without any noticeable change.
D) I felt like there was TOO. MUCH. JEOPARDY! all the way through. I think the first reboot movie is like that too, but I was willing to ignore it barring the stupid monster chase scene, because it was the first reboot, and I was stupidly charmed by everyone's faces, but here I found it super grating. I wanted more of the character moments, because I thought they were done pretty damn well. By the end, I was kind of plot twist and jeopardied out.
E) I didn't like that Benedict Cumberbatch was Khan. The fact that Abrams lied about it annoys me, but the thing I mostly found was that it was unnecessary. I love Benedict, I think he's a great actor --- just look at the original pilot of Sherlock and the actual series to see how nuanced and clever he is, but he didn't bring anything particularly special to the role, so I really didn't see why he had to be cast over an actor of colour. I subscribe to the idea that it was always awesome that a superhuman, brilliant villain was played a person of colour. Because, yes, villain, but not a Caliban, not the stereotyped portrayal of a villain of colour being a savage thug: a preternaturally extraordinary example of excellence. If you're going to fuck with that, at least have the actor you use be the most amazing thing ever. But he wasn't. I was just kind of --- eh --- about him the whole time, and I really don't think I should have been.
F) I wasn't keen on how they underused both Carol Marcus and Nyota Uhura. Considering the fact they were the only two significant female characters and that they're awesome characters in their own rights, I was pretty pissed that, well, Carol was shown in her underwear for NO REASON AT ALL, got fucked over by her father, and then was grievously injured by Khan --- that, while being awesome with her linguist expertise, Uhura almost got grievously injured by a Klingon, that she served as an annoyed love interest for a huge portion of the movie and then her rescue of Spock was shoved aside and hugely downplayed for a Kirk/Spock scene (and I am usually DOWN with Kirk/Spock scenes. I don't OTP them, but I appreciate them.)
G) It comes down to me having to reconcile that I was quite entertained for two hours with all of this other stuff, particularly regarding representation. Because, no, the Star Trek franchise has never been perfect, but fuckdammit, it's got a long tradition of being better than the rest when it comes to casting people of colour, of having awesome characters that are male and female, of being philosophical. I feel like some of the philosophy has been shoved aside for some flash and bang and I like flash and bang well enough, but I don't connect with it. Star Trek is something I hold dearly because it speaks to outsiders, courts them with characters like Spock, Uhura, Data, Geordie, Worf, the Siskos, Odo,Janeway, Seven of Nine, B'Elanna, The Doctor, T'Pol and yes, even Khan. Because differences are shown, and usually not shown to be a bad thing. Because, as the great Philip J. Fry once said, because it... it taught me so much. Like, how you should accept people, whether they be black, white, Klingon or even female... But most importantly, when I had no friends, it made me feel like maybe I did.
(I just really feel like the reboot could do so much more, and it relies upon THIS EXCITING CHASE SEQUENCE WITH A SWIRLY COAT, this casually sexist scene, this mandatory catchphrase, this white British-sounding villain like all the white British-sounding villains that have gone before.)