Talya wrote:
It was a fun action movie starring star trek characters.
It still didn't feel like star trek.
Four weeks ago I probably would have said "that's a good thing" since Roddenberry's vision of: hippie free-love "Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you're part of a team" and how you can win the day if you just roll diplomacy checks good enough, is something that I never really subscribed to. At least not after seeing where Trek could be taken with some of the very awesome and far darker episodes shown in Deep Space 9 ("In the Pale Moonlight" being the best of the bunch).
But...
My best friend in high school is also the person who really turned me into a fan of Star Trek. His love and passion for The Next Generation rubbed off on me and I came to love it as well. It was something we shared and bonded over, and something we knew the rest of our peers wouldn't understand or accept (being a geek in the early-to-mid '90s was not as cool or accepted as it is today). He was also the person who, in all honesty, kept me from committing suicide. And he likely never even knew it. He made me laugh every day that I saw him and let a lot more light into my darkened life. He could let me unleash the most insane and darkest humor that I had inside of me, things that most people would ask "What is wrong with that kid?!" and not only laugh but build upon it.
I haven't seen him since 1998 or 1999. I've tried to track him down a few times through facebook and mutual friends a few times over the years, but never came up with anything. Last I heard he had joined the air force and moved to Texas. My 20 year high school reunion was last Saturday, and he was the one person I was hoping to see most. I even put my foot down to my wife, since our family vacation was last week and said I am going to fly back specifically for it. Three weeks ago, as I was perusing the reunion page, someone made a comment about how we should honor the folks who passed away since graduation. One person mentioned my friend and his battle with brain cancer.
Apparently he died 11 years ago and I never knew. Another close friend in our circle that I asked about didn't know about it as well. He kept his illness to himself and a very small few people.
I'm still devastated by the news. No other name of a person who could have died from my class would have affected me remotely as much as his. It's made me look at The Next Generation again with a different perspective. I can't watch a single episode without thinking of him. I can't not think about our many, many inside jokes and MST3K-like liners we had. I can't help but see why he loved TNG so much. I don't ever want to lose any of those memories and will continue to honor them until the day I die.
So, yes, now I again agree that Star Trek should absolutely continue to be about hope and positivity. That the idea is to explore outward as well as inward and become better than who we are. That all life is precious and friendships can define us all.
"He accepted me for what I am. And that, I have learned, is friendship."
-Data, The Next Phase
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