Overly Positive

So everyone is up in a tizzy about the brand spanking new Star Trek trailer that is up on the Net – and by tizzy I mean they are separated into two camps – the “OMGWTFBBQ this is going to be great” camp and the “OMGWTFBBQ they are raping the franchise” camp.

I’d like to address the latter group of people this day. Folks, I’m not sure where you’re getting all these comments about J.J. Abrams needing to do all kinds of embarrassing sexual things to Star Trek fans, or the idea that the next Star Trek looks like Twilight, only with ships and aliens instead of magic and vampires, but c’mon, give it a chance! 

I mean, it’s not like the franchise isn’t hurting to need an injection of freshness, right? Let’s be honest here, Trekkies – the last time you saw a Star Trek series or movie, it was going boldly where no one has gone before – into the cancellation trash can. Even the dude from Quantum Leap couldn’t save Enterprise, so why not hit the big old reset button (again) and see where it takes us?

Maybe the thought of having some unknown guy rather than your beloved Shatner playing Kirk unnerves you – or perhaps maybe the thought of having the evil, head-slicing Sylar for a First Officer and the casual, doobie-smoking Harold for Ops makes you want to clutch your Jean-Luc Picard pictures in fear. But try something new for once – after all, every single other thing from your childhood has received a modernizing and a pseudo-successful attempt at grabbing your nostalgia, so what’s one thing more.

Really, people are over thinking themselves. Star Trek is a space opera? A commentary on modern man’s struggle to explore the unknown? A philosophical debate on the advancement of technology and our place in the universe? Let’s be honest with ourselves here – you watched Star Trek because Shatner was unique and arrogant as Kirk with a healthy dose of halting speech, Nimoy was the perfect emotionless foil, and the rest of the crew provided the healthy “token ethnicity” that people desired way back in the day.

So let’s give the new kids in Star Trek a chance and not dismiss them as the next emo series from the WB, yes? The worst that could happen is that J.J. Abrams makes something like Cloverfield, and we all know that Star Trek has plenty more room for giant monsters and things from space.