Apple Foot

Trek on the picket lines

I'm not sure I support the Writers Guild of America position, but as a matter of interest I'd like to point to the fact that today was Trek Day on the WGA's picket lines (coverage at the LA Times).  The union has produced t-shirts that say, "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." I wonder what Surak's position was on collective bargaining?

From the ashes

Yesterday I gave platelets. This is an excellent opportunity to sit around eating snacks, chatting with phlebotomists, watching satellite TV, and feeling virtuous for my trouble.

It happened to be "Enterprise" marathon day on the SciFi Channel--I don't have cable at home, so I jump at the opportunity to watch SciFi whenever it presents itself. I sat down just in time for "Azati Prime," one of Enterprise's finest hours. I came away more convinced than ever that Manny Coto is a god. It's one of those hours of television that you can't believe is only an hour long--in a good way. How the hell did he fit all of that into one hour (or however many minutes it is when you remove commercials)? Another plus for "Azati Prime" is that Hoshi and Travis both get lines. More, they actually are shown to have expertise contributing to the greater mission. In season three, that was sadly unusual.

So I'm fully enjoying myself, getting teary-eyed and excited and anxious, and we get that final close up on T'Pol's eyes as Enterprise is reduced to shrapnel around her... cut to credits and commercial... Klingons. What the hell? I was wearing an old pair of glasses, and of course bird-of-prey sets are dimly lit, so I thought maybe it was some Xindi Arboreals and I just couldn't see properly. Nope. SciFi followed the tremendous cliffhanger of "Azati Prime" not with "Damage", but with "Borderland". You could hear my mental gears grind.

When I left Red Cross (about where Tucker beams Archer and Soong down to the Orion processing facility), I realized that I really miss Enterprise. I miss Star Trek generally, but I still mourn Enterprise.  Today I checked my feeds and remembered I'm not alone.

Trek United announced it is bringing SaveEnterprise.com back online in support of their continuing campaign. You wouldn't be wrong to roll your eyes at this news, but I--I like to think there are always possibilities.

I Read Superhero Comics

In the last year or so, there's been a growing community of feminist comic book readers in the blogosphere. Naturally, this has led to wider (and/or louder) discussions about the role of women in comics (as characters, creators, etc.) In recent weeks, comics blogs exploded over a few items, specifically the MJ-as-Grunge-French-Maid statue (what the hell's a comiquette, anyway?), the cover for Heroes for Hire #13, and the Nymphet collection. Since feminist comic book readers have been speaking their outrage over these issues, a number of other comics fans have predictably acted defensively, asking why we read superhero comics if we hate them so much, arguing that the misogynist state of mainstream superhero comics is due to market forces, and, when all else fails, calling feminists fat and ugly (or maybe not). A lot of this backlash is in reaction to the perception that critics of these items 'hate' comic books and are attacking them. Naturally, some comics fans react defensively to the perceived attack on their beloved medium. As comic fans, many are stereotyped as pimply, unemployed losers with Peter Pan Syndrome, so it's only natural comic fans might be oversensitive to criticism. There's a reason I don't tell people at work about my comic collection.

Why do I, a self-supporting, adult female, read superhero comics, despite the fact that I sometimes object to their depiction of females? Because the best are imaginative and interesting. As fantasy/wish fulfillment material, they afford the reader a gratuitous sense of power and strength--not just physical strength, but strength of character, poise in the face of danger, leadership of one's peers. When female characters consistently fail to display such strength, I feel like women still have a long way to go.

I like Star Trek for similar reasons. In addition to imaginative alien customs and things that go boom, Star Trek has a philosophy. It makes me feel good about humanity. Star Trek has ideals, its humans are resourceful and idealistic, they BOLDLY go where no one's gone before. That was my perception of even the original series when I was a child, because there were women officers on the Enterprise, and they were theoretically equal to men. As an adult, I often can't bear to watch those episodes, because even though they were ahead of their time forty years ago, their portrayal of women now seems hopelessly outdated. The regular female cast are basically a nurse, a telephone switchboard operator, and a secretary, none of them with more than a dozen spoken words per show. The female guest stars are largely either (a) the love interest of a fully-realized male character OR (b) irrational, even psychotic, shrews. I adore Star Trek, I enjoy watching it, I'll endlessly discuss it's deeper meaning, etc., etc., but I'm still going to complain that in the fourth season of Enterprise, after she's been commissioned by Starfleet, the fact that T'Pol is wearing those catsuits and high heels instead of a uniform like everyone else's is stupid.

A few weeks ago I walked into my local comic shop, and they were watching an episode of the 1980s "Spider-man and his Amazing Friends" cartoon. I vaguely remember watching this as a kid, and I was so hungry for female characters of any significance at that time, I'm sure I liked Firestar. In the episode being shown in the store that day, Dracula ensorcells Angelica to be his love slave (or the closest G-rated analogue), and at some point Angelica is so overcome by conflicting inputs, she faints. I observed that of course the female character faints, as well into the 1980s female characters passed out at the drop of a hat. The store clerk added that he'd seen several episodes of the cartoon in recent days, and that Firestar was always falling in love with the male guest (even Kraven the Hunter).

I expect better these days than delicate, fainting flowers desperately seeking a boyfriend.

Think of the average comic book large-breasted woman in jeopardy as an actor in blackface. That's not a woman--it's a man in disguise, playing the stereotype of a woman, and doing it with such broad strokes that no one is fooled by his disguise. Some people find any man in woman's clothing funny. As soon as a guy with a mustache straps on fake boobs and a skirt, some people laugh (see the Hasty Pudding Club's extravaganzas). I've never found that sort of thing funny, any more than I find blackface funny. Real drag queens, however, can imitate women in a way that makes you wonder what gender they were born into. I want a comic book superheroine who's so well-written and drawn, I can't tell if the creator is female, and I don't care.

I enjoy good story, a plot that makes sense, dialogue that feels realistic, emotions. I love fight scenes and big explosions and technobabble, but those things can't exist in isolation, without a coherent story and characters. I want characters who don't exist solely in relationship to others; characters who do not exist solely as decoration or damsel-in-distress; characters who are consistent in their behavior (not unchanging, since growth over time is to be expected, but not multiple personality disorder, either--Typhoid Mary excepted). I want to be able to tell one character from another, to see individual personalities.

Can we keep Checkers?

SCI FI Wire is reporting that Trekdom isn't gonna have Brannon Braga to kick around anymore (link via the Great Link).   To be fair, in his 15 years with the franchise Braga did some terrific work.  But, as he says now, "there just comes a point where I'm not sure what else I would have to give [to Star Trek]. I certainly could see the financial value in it, but at this point, creatively, I would not want to be involved in something that I couldn't give to."  So, then, Mr. Braga, are you admitting that you as the executive producer are fatigued? Does it follow that perhaps the franchise as a whole is NOT?

The need to be about something

This week, Star Trek, sci-fi TV and screenwriting in general suffered a great loss when Michael Piller died at the age of 57.  Piller took over as showrunner for Star Trek: The Next Generation in its third season, which he ended with the phenomenal Best of Both Worlds.  His insistence that the episodes be about something didn't merely save the show from cancellation: it created a hit.  He did it while demonstrating great respect for Gene Roddenberry's original vision.  He also nurtured younger writers, including Ron Moore.  Eric A. Stillwell, writer and fan, penned a lovely tribute over on Trek Nation.

Trek's suffered a couple of big losses this year-- Enterprise, Jimmy Doohan, and now Michael Piller.  I imagine Mr. Doohan's buying Mr. Piller a pint in Ten Forward now.

Dogpile on Berman & Braga

Following reports of Shatner's "Killer B's should retire" comments at the Vegas convention, startrek.com has posted a con report, where Levar Burton joins in the dogpile:

"Aren't we sad that there is no more Trek," he began. "I'm so pissed! Because I love Star Trek. Long before I became a member of this family, I was a fan of Star Trek ...  And take it very personally when those who are in charge of driving the ship tend to let it crash."

Read the whole thing, where Burton talks about what Trek meant to him as an African-American (supporting many comments over the years by Nichelle Nichols and Whoopi Goldberg, and meaning a lot coming from the guy who had such a central role in the groundbreaking Roots.)

Shatner on Future of Trek

I hereby forgive William Shatner anything stupid he has ever said or done, or may say or do at any time in the future.

From TrekWeb, via the Great Link, what Shatner would say to Trek's producers about the future of STAR TREK:

"I would say, take a broom, let's clean everything out and start absolutely [from scratch] with some wonderful writers who love STAR TREK."

Hallelujah.  One only has to look at the absolutely unholy mess Bermaga made of Enterprise's final episode to know that it's time for fresh blood.  Like Manny Coto, for example.  While Berman & Viacom execs continue to cite "franchise fatigue" as the reason for Enterprise's demise, it's apparent to me that Trek itself is not tired, nor are its fans tired of Trek; its executive producers, however, need a nice long break.