Comments on: Geeky Mom Likes New Star Trek Movie

By: Maria B.

Maria B. — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:20:55 +0000

For Avti-
I’m just curious about your comment from May… Do you really think this kind of negative, self-righteous talk really helps build others up for Christ? Do you help lead people to Christ with this type of attitude? I hope this message touches you, no harshness intended.

By: Mark Szewczak

Mark Szewczak — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:52:03 +0000

Finally got to see Star Trek this weekend on a date afternoon with my wife and….well….I was a little disappointed. Not so much in the plot changes from the original series but perhaps the pacing of the movie…felt rushed. Special effecs were good and the humor was great but somehow I felt something was missing. Mybe without overanalyzing, I was “expecting” the beginning of “the” story and what I got was an alternate reality without a clue up front that it was alternate until the end. I understand the change allows for a whole new story thread and sequels. I suppose I will just need to see it a few more times before I work it all out…lol.

By: Avti Expistos

Avti Expistos — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:59:03 +0000

Lisa,

I am aware that Mr. Abram’s work contains Christian themes and allusions. However, his themes are mostly centered around Gnosticism, something deemed highly heretical by us Catholics. His work also contains pagan themes and themes based on science attempting to disprove God’s existence. I warn you that you must be careful when enjoying his work (and especially when allowing an easily-persuaded child to view his work), and I would suggest dismissing it altogether. I pray for you and your family and hope that you are not led off the path of the righteous.

Best Wishes.
–Avti

By: Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:32:28 +0000

Mark – you will definitely have to come back and share your impressions once you’ve seen it!

By: Mark Szewczak

Mark Szewczak — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:07:21 +0000

Got to see this next weekend. Gotta! I was a total Star Trek geek when I was a kid and remember the first season and becoming totaly hooked. Thanks to all for the great chat here….I hear that the way that the original series was worked into this movie was masterful. Can’t wait!

By: David Buckna

David Buckna — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:35:59 +0000

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A Star Trek quiz…Boldly going where no quiz has gone before
By David Buckna
Special to ASSIST News Service
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09050064.htm
========================================================
A Heavenly Enterprise

‘Star Trek’
By Ann Hornaday
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 7, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050603913.html?wprss=rss_print/style

By: Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:43:12 +0000

Avti, thanks for sharing your thoughts, but I find them a bit extreme. I have many sins to repent of, but I don’t believe that watching the Star Trek movie or LOST count as sins. On the point of science fiction being blasphemous, some of it is but I did not find anything of that nature in this movie. LOST, Abram’s television program, actually contains Christian and biblical themes on a regular basis.

By: Avti Expistos

Avti Expistos — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:48:34 +0000

Excuse my grammar if it is bad, I’m of a foreign land.

I found it funny when you said that “this is not a film for little ones.” It is a film for absolutely no one of a true Catholic faith. All who have watched and enjoyed this movie should be ashamed of themselves, even the bishops who have approved it. It is a blasphemous movie, it denies god, goes against the teaching of the bible, and pollutes Christian minds with scientific voodoo. I frown and shake my head in sadness for those who allow themselves to indulge in such pagan pop-culture. J.J. Abrams, along with his series LOST, advocates teachings of old magicians. He is subliminally corrupting the masses and you must deny him as you would a blasphemer. I hope this message touches you and that you repent your sins immediately.

Best Wishes.
–Avti

By: Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:54:07 +0000

Mike, I will hold you to that promise about being among the first to know! Thanks for putting the scene into some perspective in the context of the original series, which I haven’t seen. I agree that it’s a great thing that the series was able to be so forward thinking when it came to diversity – great metaphor! You’re also right that sometimes this mom gets more caught up in worrying about having my sons see “adult themes” than I do about violence or bad language – I definitely have a few double standards when it comes to prescreening what they will be allowed to view. I was very happy in that scene to see that all parties were at least partially clothed, which is not typically the norm these days. Thanks for chiming in!!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:54:47 +0000

While I’m definitely not a parent – and don’t worry Lisa, you would be the first to know if I was going to be – I didn’t find the bedroom scene bothersome or gratuitous. In fact, I actually found it to be pretty integral to the plot as well as the canon of the series. Kirk was, and still is, a very open and non-prejudiced male when it comes to his sexuality. This is a movie based on a series that had interracial kisses on national television in the late 1960s. Interspecies kisses were very much a metaphor for the same. Not only is the scene in question in the movie a nod to the groundbreaking nature of the original series, it’s a confirmation to us that despite the fact that we are in alternate reality in this new film, Kirk is very much the same man.

I am definitely sensitive to a parent’s quandary when trying to decide to take their child to a movie with a scene like this. However, I personally would recommend against not seeing this movie based solely on this one scene. Given the fact that this scene wasn’t much more graphic than some similar scenes featured in the original series, and considering that those were shown on national television in prime time 40+ years ago, I think the PG13 rating is more indicative of the fact that there is some serious action involved that might not be appropriate for younger viewers.

By: SuzieQuzie

SuzieQuzie — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:32:46 +0000

We decided our son (13.5) could see it only after he has seen “The Wrath of Kahn,” “The Undiscovered Country,” and hopefully some of the old series. It will make so much more sense to him and he might actually get the jokes. I agree about the steamy scene. My husband informed me that the “green ladies” were very “loose” in the series. I wish they hadn’t added it. It certainly could have been less steamy.

By: Joy Rebello

Joy Rebello — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:40:34 +0000

I think the alternate reality bit just made it possible for a whole new line of Star Trek movies series based in this new and unknown continuum. Comic books have been doing this for decades.

I absolutely loved the movie. I have been a Trekkie since I was quite small. I do recall the scene, but I noted it as one of those “gratuitous sexuality” scenes which seem rampant in most movies. I am not sure I would be comfortable taking teens to this movie.

I wasn’t expecting to see Spock and Uhura together. I always thought she was infatuated with Kirk, as was almost every woman who met him.

By: Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:59:46 +0000

Maria, as always you leave me laughing!! Anyone who wants to read Maria’s review can find it online at http://begojohnson.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/i-am-giddy-with-joy-in-the-nerdiest-kind-of-way/
I’m loving the “free will” analogy! We have an ongoing discussion around our house about God being a “macromanager” – your comment reminded me of that!
If you’ve posted a review of your own, link to it here in the comments. I’m also going to try to do a better job of indexing these reviews, now that I’m doing them more frequently. You can find them centrally located here at http://new.catholicmom.com/fun/movies/
I’m not really a movie reviewers, just a mom who enjoys going to the movies and writing about what she sees!

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:39:31 +0000

re: defiling of the “canon” — changes in the stories time line and license taken with some characters.

I think the time travel alternate universe is a good device …. because of it they will be able to mke Star Trek movies using the Characters we know anad love for another 30 years.

I think they did a good job of staying within the lines of what we know of these chacters – while further developing who they are as people.

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:37:17 +0000

Oops. Here’s something I forgot to say. Although they deal with a different reality, I like that their fundamental destinies stayed the same. In other words, some of the details of their lives were different, that is, Kirk’s dad was dead, Uhura and Spock (what was up with that?) and even Christopher Pike in the wheelchair–they ended up where they were meant to be, even though the minutiae of their lives were a little different.

It makes me think of free will and God’s plan for us. We end up where we are meant to be according to God’s plan, but the details–those seem to be left up to us.

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:31:20 +0000

Lisa, you can watch the whole original serieson cbs.com. Look up the classic shows and watch seasons 1-3.

Your review is spot on. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and while my review is abit more geeky and celebrating the “authenticity” of the movie, we both agree that it is spectacular. And nobody had to drink a tuna smoothie.