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Fan is hoping Abrams can pull off remake of beloved 'Star Trek'
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, May 03, 2009
I confess. I'm a Trekker.
Please note that's ''Trekker,'' not ''Trekkie.'' I have a life, thank you. Then again, those who know of my passion for collecting Star Trek items may disagree.
At last count I owned 200 action figures (that would be dolls to some of you) ranging from Star Trek to Enterprise, all 10 movies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dressed as members of the original crew and even a set of Ken and Barbie dolls dressed in the garb. Then there are the porcelain plates from the Hamilton Collection — they saw me coming from a mile away when they mailed that form to my home many years ago.
And last, but certainly not least, I own a tattoo of the symbol of the Klingon Empire on my left shoulder blade with the word ''honor'' in the Please see 'Trek', E5
Continued from Page E1
Klingon language beneath it. The level of devotion (or is it obsession?) is obvious.
But Paramount Studios, the Hollywood entertainment factory that owns the Trek franchise, did everything it could to kill that. They rode the success of the original series — even the abysmal third season that featured space hippies among its many terrible storylines — to rebirth in the form of Star Trek: The Next Generation (a classic). Which begat Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (my favorite). Which begat Star Trek: Voyager (got better after Jeri Ryan came aboard as Seven of Nine). Which begat Enterprise (errrr . . . ummm . . . I was desperate for anything Trek?).
Sensing a trend here? Yes, Paramount prodded the goose that laid the golden eggs to lay a couple of serious goose eggs instead with the last two series. Voyager was allowed to fly off under its own power. UPN (remember that network?) mercifully canceled Enterprise before it could get too much worse — as if that were possible.
Then there are those 10 flicks, uneven exercises in placating the Trek fanbase, as opposed to seeking common ground with those who were foreigners to the universe Gene Roddenberry conceived some 45 years ago.
Supposedly that's changing next week with the release of Star Trek, a reimagining of the concept by J.J. Abrams of television's Alias and the director who turned Tom Cruise's convoluted film version of Mission: Impossible into something palatable and enjoyable in the third outing.
So am I a Trek purist, enough so to stay away from Abrams' vision? Despite my devotion — OK, I'll cop to obsession — I have no problem with it. In fact, I'm looking forward to sitting in on the critics' screening.
The first reason: Abrams. I have profound respect for the work the guy has done in the action, sci-fi and adventure realms.
Secondly, nothing in the entertainment world is sacred, leading to a do-over of most ideas. The difference here? Abrams and other contemporaries show respect to the source material.
Here's an example: Ronald D. Moore rebooted the god-awful '70s-era Battlestar Galactica and made it a critical and popular success, creating a classic series that rivals some of the best television in the genre, including Twilight Zone. It ended its four-year run on cable's Sci-Fi Channel just last month to great fanfare and with an extremely satisfying ending.
Abrams' task might prove more difficult, however. It's easy for someone like Moore, who came from the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, to update and reimagine kitschy television, but reworking a classic? Risky.
Judging from the few clips, a host of reviews from New Zealand and London and the film's trailers, it looks as if he may have pulled it off.
But this newfangled version for the 21st century won't fly at warp speed with folks like myself if Abrams forgets a basic aspect of all things Trek (even the bad stuff) — the characters' humanity. At its heart, Trek has always been about the characters, be it the swashbuckling Capt. Kirk, the Pinocchio-like character of Data (Brent Spiner), the android who wanted to be a man, and a certain Klingon known as Lt. Worf Roshenko.
As much as I enjoyed the original series — a gem my mother turned me on to — Worf, as played by Michael Dorn, captured my attention in Next Generation and even more so when he reprised the character in Deep Space Nine. Though initially a mere sketch, the character, a Klingon raised by human parents on Earth, evolved into someone I easily recognized — me.
Worf fought a constant battle to maintain his dignity and honor in two cultures and it wasn't always easy. He felt the pull of both and neither offered easy answers as to what his rightful place was in either.
Growing up African-American in what was once a predominantly white eastern suburb in Greater Cleveland, I faced the same problem. I straddled the fence between cultures looking to find a personal identity, my rightful place.
Ultimately, that's how this new Star Trek will be judged by those like me — how it relates to those who watch. Obsessive? Maybe, but I defy anyone to name another pop culture phenomenon that has influenced so many people.
Star Trek has lived long and prospered for that very reason. Here's hoping Abrams remembered that.
George M. Thomas, former movie critic for the Beacon Journal, currently covers the Cleveland Cavaliers. He can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read the cavs blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/thomas. Read his tweets at http://www.twitter.com/CavsABJ.
I confess. I'm a Trekker.
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Comments
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Canton, OH
Posted 08:14 AM, 05/03/2009
Live Long & Prosper. . .
Akron, OH
Posted 10:29 AM, 05/03/2009
Zach "Sylar" Quinto FTW!
Posted 12:09 PM, 05/04/2009
The previews are enticing and I'll try my best to forgive Abrams for re-designing the, "if it aint't broke, don't fix it" original Enterprise.
Mayfield Heights, OH
Posted 11:28 PM, 05/04/2009
Ed:
Trek was very broken. If you are a big fan, you probably think not, but by the time I got to Enterprise, I was cooked and done.
Posted 01:04 PM, 05/05/2009
George:
I was referring to the ship, not the series. I'm unhappy about Abrams having the original Enterprise re-designed. I can understand the interior shots however, they should have left the external parts of it alone! That ship IS Star Trek.
