Re: Patrick Stewart is back as Captain Picard!
Yeah, tho I can. Can't remember the context but waaay back some high schoolers were shown a film on 1950s manners and ironically instead of laughing they were kinda wistful, like that was a gentler time where folks were more polite and u didn't have to WORRY all of the time (as they saw it). Look at the outrage over Cap being portrayed as a Nazi, or Luke Skywalker not being purely heroic (as some fans saw it).
IMO people still need to believe, even if popular culture thinks out-snarking each other is the way to be cool. After a while it just gets old and u just wanna take your dog out and play Frisbee.
I think the risk is that while people are indeed looking for something sincere to be inspired by (the success of the straight laced Captain America and Wonder Woman demonstrate that), it is admittedly harder to pull off by an actor with a lack of charisma. Snarky geniuses constantly spouting off sassy one liners are like junk food. Fun to eat and an easy way to feel happy quick, but often don't leave you feeling satisfied. Moral characters who live by a pretty standard set of ethics can easily come off as dull.
However what irks me now is that Star Trek was largely always able to demonstrate the best of humanity and make it entertaining. Its what Trek was since its beginning. You had the occasional one off Federation bad guy; but it was mostly to show us what we can aspire to, and that the greatness of humanity will prevail.
For some reason people are so obsessed with making life more entertaining than it really is that we have made enemies out of each other and found true evil around every corner; obsessed with some idea of "revolution" without any real constructive idea on what a better society should look like outside of vague moralizing generalities; and pointing to rare one-off instances of wrongdoing as blanket proof that evil is deeply entrenched in society that the only solution is to tear it down to studs.
The reality however is that we live in the most technologically, culturally, medically, and morally advanced civilization that has ever existed. We have literally never been closer to Rodenberry's vision than we are at this time, and we are getting closer every day. No human being on earth has ever lived as comfortably or as freely as the average person in modern western society. And what have we chosen to do now that we live in paradise? Find reasons to complain and hate each other.
And maybe that is the true answer to what Star Trek envisioned. When we finally get to the point we are at now we don't use the tools we have to come together as a species and build something even greater, we become indolent and whiney since there is no threat to motivate us to move forward, and we invent one out of innocuous political events just to give us something to do. Seeing anyone that dare defy the arrogance of our beliefs that we have come to be so sure of as an enemy. (and for the record, that criticism is leveled at every side)
The threats that motivated humanity day-to-day went from animal predators, to disease and famine, then to warring countries who legitimately posed a threat to the average man, and today with nothing else left its just the neighbor down the block who has a different view of the world.
And now, since art is reflection of modern culture, even Star Trek is doing it.
