Recently, Patricia and I saw the new Star Trek movie. We have been life long fans of the originial television series. We grew up watching James Tiberius Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scottie and of course Aurora. The new edition was an account of the beginning of the beginning. Though I thought it had its flaws, it was thoroughly entertaining. There were some not so subtle changes in the narrative and characters that we have come to know.
The most interesting was Mr. Spock, he was a new creation. It seems that the writers and maybe the director thought he was out of date and maybe not appealing to the newest of audiences. They may have thought you and I would overlook this and understand the market and culture and yes, that our political sensibilities have moved into the new times.
You may remember that Mr. Spock was the epitome of modernity. He was logical and looked for exact answers to every situation. He was nearly unfeeling. He was unswerving. But this Mr. Spock differs. He was new. He was physically attracted to an accommodating Aurora, the only major female character in the movie cast. ( I thought that they characterized the black female to seen well, fast and …) I was not ready for that. However, she was attractive and what ever sexual tension that occurred in the 1960’s between Kirk and she in the original television series, that was replaced with her outwardly emotional affection for Mr. Spock. By no means did he object either.
In the final scenes the originial Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, returns, well as, Mr. Spock, sort of…. You will have to see the movie. But he explains to a younger version of himself, that he no longer must rationally think for answers but do what he feels. You heard me! Mr. Spock has now changed with the times. He learns to have an appreciation for earthlings like James Kirk. Kirk’s character is the model leader of the new age and he is an intuitive feeling leader who follows his instincts and hunches. He breaks rule and seems to have a low regard for authority. Does this sound familiar?
Here is the point, everyone who watches the film is introduced to post modernity. Truth and feelings are subjective and the right answers are those that seem right to the group but mostly to the individual who feels a certain way at the time. The movie is anti - epistimological (anti roots of absolute truth). Star Trek 2009 is an example of our culture transforming from modernity (scientific or soft objective proofs) to postmodernity (subjective proofs). Stunning and maybe a trope for our newest cultural beliefs. I will say more later…
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