Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis agree with me. *smile* How often do I get to say that? Not often enough. For those of you don't know or have forgotten, Dorn and Sirtis are two stars from Star Trek: Next Generation, Worf and Troi respectively. The two were asked what they thought of the upcoming Star Trek movie.
Dorn said referring to Paramount, "From what I hear, they're tired of it." And when asked about Star Trek XI being a prequel, he replied, "that would be a mistake...you don't go backward in Star Trek."
Sirtis stated, "Gene Roddenberry always said that Star Trek should go forward...I just don't think anyone at Paramount gets Star Trek anymore."
Sirtis also joked that the studio was only interested in reaching a new "lost" audience, punning on producer JJ Abrams' series Lost.
Truth is, they're both right. Star Trek is about moving forward. It's exploring new frontiers and expanding mankind's boundaries. Doing a prequel isn't doing anything new. And it doesn't please those who know anything about Trek.
And Paramount's quest for the "lost audience" is the wrong way to approach a movie with an existing fan base. Let's walk through the logic. Paramount (and other studios) believe: Star Trek fans will see the movie no matter what. So, we don't need to make a movie they will enjoy. We practically have their money in our hands. What we need is to get all of the people who won't go see a Trek movie, or who are undecided to come see the movie. Then we could make *lots* of money.
They need to step out of themselves and ask, has that ever worked? Has alienating your fans ever worked? Did it work for Star Wars? For X-Men? Anything? No. When you make a movie that will please the fan base, they draw others. If I see Star Trek XI and I love it, I will tell other people. I will convince them that is good and that they don't have to be Trekkers to love and enjoy it. And more importantly, I will return to see it again. I will buy it on DVD. New fans will be born as well.
A short analogy: Perhaps lately I have been hearing a lot of good things about motorcycles. I'm a little curious so I do my research and decide I want to buy one. So I go to a dealer and look around. One of the salesmen comes out and starts to show me the various bikes. We come to a scooter and he says, "Now this is the motorcycle for you!" I look at him funny. "That is not a motorcycle." I say. But he insists. He pushes me and tries to get me to buy. Will I buy? No. I wanted a motorcycle. And I will definitely not recommend that dealership to anyone else.
Trek isn't anything but Trek. We shouldn't remake it into something else and sell it as Trek. It will make fans upset and they will tell the "lost audience" that they should not see the movie, after all it isn't Trek.
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