 |
| Messin with Sasquatch. |
In a first season episode of Fringe, "The Transformation," a man transforms into a monster on a plane at the beginning of the episode. In the fourth season episode "Nothing as it Seems," we get the exact same opening. Same camera shots, same dialogue. The only difference is that the transformation takes place after the plane has landed. What lazy writing! I mean, just rehashing a first season episode like that? Copying the dialogue? Like, that's so cheap! Oh wait, this takes place in an alternate timeline. So what they are doing is exploring how this plot point plays out differently in the fourth season timeline, which is quite different than the first season's. It's interesting to see how the same event plays out differently when the circumstances around it have been altered. Only in science fiction can you do cool storytelling like this.
In STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, a scene plays out toward the end between Kirk and Spock, who are separated by a sealed door. It is heartfelt and touching. However it has also become a lighting rod for people who are complaining endlessly that it's just a lazy rehash of TWOK and is cheap pandering. I tend to look at this as I do the Fringe episodes: it's an exploration of a similar event played out around different circumstances. The scene itself has completely different themes as the original scene did. As TWOK was about the end of a friendship, this was about the beginning, about Spock realizing that Kirk IS a friend. And for Kirk, it's about understanding what being a captain truly is. It's about actually facing his own no-win scenario head on. The true rip-off of TWOK will always and forever be STAR TREK: NEMESIS. This movie is totally different in structure. Re-exploring classic scenes (and villains) doesn't automatically make a rip-off if you add something new to it. In the end, STID transforms into a whole different monster.
But not all fans see it that way. Because of this and some other plot issues, this is quickly becoming the most debated movie in the franchise, to the chagrin of the writers. Due to the hot debates and intense scrutiny STID is getting, Roberto Orci himself recently lashed out at a fan in the comment section of an article about how Star Trek is Broken.
Orci wrote: "I think the article above is akin to a child acting out against his parents. Makes it tough for some to listen, but since I am a loving parent, I read these comments without anger or resentment, no matter how misguided."
Later he said to a specific person (perhaps a couple people) who was agitating him: "You lose credibility big time when you don't honestly engage with the F**KING WRITER OF THE MOVIE ASKING YOU AN HONEST QUESTION. You prove the cliche of s**tty fans. And rude in the process. So, as Simon Pegg would say: F**K OFF!"
Oh my. No anger or resentment there. He later calmed down and started engaging more rationally with other people on the thread. You can find all his interactions if you are willing to scan through the 1300+ comments going on right now at the site! Of course Orci will have to face some scrutiny himself now for that emotional outburst. There may be consequences to this. Perhaps there's an alternate reality somewhere where he chose to not hit send...
Let's break this down. First of all, how crappy was this fan, or group of fans, being to set Orci off like that? It looks like some comments had already been deleted, so I wonder if something particularly nasty was going on. Secondly, on the other side of the coin, people are going to have their opinions. This is Star Trek. Maybe you shouldn't even try engaging with this intense fan base...or find another way to do it. Obviously he and the other writers are very proud of their work and both of his/their movies were very successful. It's hard to read people tear down something you, no doubt, worked on for a long period of time. With Star Trek, there are usually things, as a fan, you have to work out in your head in order to make all the continuity work. This is why I'm always willing to give something the immediate benefit of the doubt until I have time to think about it later. Does it all make sense? Am I getting all the themes? Are the characters' actions logical? With STID, I was able to work pretty much everything out in my head. I have no problem with the revisiting of an old adversary, with the similar scenes and scenarios, even with the parallel dialogue. This all worked for me, as I explained above, but it clearly didn't work for everyone. And man are these people vocal! Does that justify Orci going off on someone? Probably not. And I certainly hope this is a learning experience for him and his team if he or anyone else ever gets tempted to start engaging with the fans on the internet. It's not worth it. Keep the interactions at the conventions, where people are less likely to try to get under your skin.
Though I'm always up for a friendly discussion if you have time, Mr. Orci!
-Starbase 133
