(WARNING – RECYCLED POODOO – This is an entry from almost 4 years ago, when J.J. Abrams first rebooted Star Trek. This was my initial reaction, and one of my last TOS blog entries…)
Moose Poodoo
by: The Dark Moose
date posted: May 17, 2009 8:50 PM
I would have never thought this before seeing the new Star Trek, and I am still not going to say it is probable. But after seeing J.J. Abrams’ reboot, I can’t help but think it’s a possible trial run for a Star Wars reboot.
There was a great deal of Star Wars in Trek. Herein you have Kirk’s origins, not as just some young brash Starfleet cadet, but with more accentuation on his more humble beginnings as a lonely farm boy, whose father was the stuff of legends. Sounds familiar.
This farmboy at one point finds himself in an escape pod hurtling toward a barren planet. More common ground.
He lands on an ice planet, harried by the local predatory wildlife into a ice cave. Also familiar.
We all know Abrams’ fondness for Star Wars, but I formed the much intended impression that these scenes were not just whimsical homage. These were his versions of those kinds of scenes from Star Wars lore.
I’m a purist, and I like the originals. Did I say like? Love. Did I say Love? Adore. Did I say Adore? No, I’m a Judeo-Christian moose on the outskirts of idolatry. I worship them. Always will. They can’t be replaced, and I even cringe when the George attempts to tweak what was already a perfect piece of art.
That being said, if I had to endure a Star Wars reboot, if I were forced to witness the complete deconstruction and rebuilding of something so basic to my memory, even my personality, as Star Wars… if I could not stop it from happening, then I’d have to say I hope it was Abrams that did it. Because I think he gets it. He gets the quirky sci-fi drama strangeness that Star Wars represents – the idea of the “Space Opera” entangled with a Saturday cliffhanger matinee. And he gets the embedded humor in every scene – that humans are humans no matter where they are, even if they don’t seem to belong, and even if they aren’t even humans to begin with.
Here’s the hope that is the bane of old school Trek fans, but the boon to the original authors of the Trek empire – a revitalization of the fan base. New fans no longer shackled to old ideas. New blood surging into long since forgotten areas of Star Trek storylines. New merchandise, new plots, new takes on old characters, new takes on new characters. Folks, Trek was dying if you didn’t notice. The website was all but gone, the fandom undergoing a sad diaspora to the far off reaches of Serenity, Babylon 5, Lord of the Rings, Battlestar Gallactica, and even, yes,Star Wars, some begrudging all the while the betrayals over the years. Like, say, Enterprise.
With Abrams’ movie is offered, excuse the pun, “A New Hope“. So I have to wonder, even though this graying (ok, balding) high priest of an aging religion may shudder to do so, what could Abrams do for the greatness Lucas created?
To be sure, I don’t want to see Episode 7. There is no Episode 7. The George has been clear on this, and I believe him. The story stops at 6, with the redemption of Anakin and balance restored to the Force. I have happily read the stories that come afterward, and although I do enjoy them and even accept them as part of the continuing canon of Star Wars, they are not and should not be extensions to the original movies. They are, to me, lovely “what ifs”.
But now I am curious – what could Abrams do with the original? What could he do with Tatooine? Have we already seen a bit of his ideas for Hoth? Would he immerse us further in a Ralph McQuarrie wonderland? Could he do so in a way that does not bring insult to the original vision?
I don’t want it to happen. Really. But would I be so displeased? Would my curiosity not win out?
Consider this, then, if you are as intrepid as at least half of my mind. What if Abrams did three films to cover the original six? Or two films to cover the two trilogies? Or one film to cover the originals? What if his reboot was an intense, short, sharp whirlwind that reworks the imagery but leaves the spirit of the work intact?
I could endure that. I could learn from that. The best lessons learned are often the most painful. It might even rekindle something that I have not even noticed has dulled a bit – my sense of imagination, for which I owe one George Lucas for enkindling in the first place.
DM out
