I've said for years that the reason I love Star Trek so much is because it's about exploration and the investigation of the human spirit. That it's used to ask questions about ourselves that are hard to ask in other settings. It is also the only science fiction universe I can think of where people try to talk things out before getting into pew pew laser battles.
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I mean… that’s the point of all good sci-fi.
It’s important to delineate between “action, just in a sci-fi setting” and “sci-fi”. The former is entertaining; the latter will have you discussing the movie/episode with friends and family after you finish watching, and actually makes you think about the human condition a bit.
Side note: if that’s the only sci-fi universe you’ve seen that’s less action-packed and more deliberate, I strongly encourage you to read more sci-fi (n.b. specifically sci-fi, and not amusing but often morally vapid sci-fi thrillers).
This is why Star Wars is a fantasy series with sci Fi trappings and not sci fi.
Star wars is futuristic space magic adventure time. It's entertaining in It's own way. I do prefer the more profound sci fi for sure though.
investigation of the human spirit.
yoink - don't mind me, just stealing this phrase for the next time someone asks me about Star Trek.
Q: You just don't get it, do you, Jean-Luc? The trial never ends. We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons. And for one brief moment, you did.
One of my favorite quotes from all Trekdom, where they come straight out and say it's about the inner voyage.
Please do. It's a phrase we should be using.
Every series tends to have a character who's main purpose is to explore "human spirit", through the eyes of anther species.
- Spock
- Data (and maybe Worf)
- Odo
- Neelix
I always thought it was the Doctor more than Neelix. He was more comic relief.
The Borg are the perfect antithesis to this too. Like the intimate adversary is one that's dangerous and just can't be negotiated with. Thinks of you as so primitive to them that they don't even stop you from crawling around on their ship until you start fucking around. They're an absolute force of nature.
But even The Borg were used to ask 'what is human' and 'what makes you an individual' multiple times, most notably with 7 of 9, but also Locutus and Hugh. So even there, it's being philosophical on a level that people who appreciate that sort of thing can understand while still being enjoyable sci-fi for people who don't.
...until the Borg Queen retconned all that, anyway.
A lot of most sci-fi out there is people talking to each other. It's more a case of the people watching them having selective memory and ST fans memory selecting things the other way around.
Talking to each other and talking to each other to avoid a fight are two different things. Most sci-fi TV does not shy away from shooting first and asking questions later.
Babylon 5 tried diplomacy for the first couple seasons, but once the humans started fighting ourselves diplomacy kinda went out the window.
That's why I enjoy Babylon 5, you want space battles? Got em, want a diverse group of alien species trying their best to live and work together, got that too, you want lots of coutroom stories, yup go that too.
While I swear I usually feel the opposite, the court room episode in Strange New Worlds is straight fire 🔥
SERIOUSLY. I couldn't manage to get more than 2 episodes into Discovery because it was all action no philosophical questions. Like, if you can't give us a courtroom challenge, at LEAST give us some Prime Directive nuance.
Don't forget the spinning 45° cameras that flip upside down twice in every scene.
Don't forget the shitty lighting
Don't forget the ridiculous story lines that completely ignored decades of startrek history
Don't forget all the cursing
Don't forget all the murdering without remorse or consequences
Don't forget about the characters that completely changed. Beverly crusher now is a sharp killer. Seven of nine is now a lesbian double phaser wielding mass murderer, Picard is a mumbling sad little man who gets put in his place and ridiculed by everyone. Klingons?aaaahaaaaarrgghh... But yeah, "Klingons now represent Trump voters".
All new start trek has been made by people who by their own admission don't know star Trek, nor like star Trek, they just wanted the large fan base for money and use it as a their personal political platform
To (very sadly) quote new star strek: Sheer fucking hubris
Both can be good, but used carefully. The 2nd and 3rd season of the Orville had some of the best space action I've ever seen and gave me the same feelings as the dominion war in ds9. Discovery never had any space action that got me remotely excited.
But drumhead, measure of a man etc are crazy good too.
Explain then why more sci-fi in courtroom than in most space pew-pews.
Wow, just noticed how true this is. Maybe that's why I love Better Call Saul so much. Haha