I am greatly enjoying the current surge of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel television shows. In particular, Strange New Worlds and Obi-Wan Kenobi have been nearly everything I could wish for, and much that I did not expect. Sadly, they have only four and one episodes remaining, respectively.
In general, I've been trying to watch these shows as they come out each week due to the amount of spoilers that pop up on the Internet. Generally, the response to them have been extraordinarily positive (as they deserve). However, as in the case for the most recent episode of Strange New Worlds, there have also been vitriolic rants from people who claim to be fans, but clearly don't like the show. Especially in the cases of Star Wars and Star Trek, there seems to be a great deal of people who are "fans" of the originals, but have almost nothing but hatred for everything since. These "originalists" seem to have no concept of the spirit of these franchises and are determined to hate on anything that they feel deviates from their strict interpretation of what Star Wars or Star Trek "really means."
Don't get me wrong. Not all of the episodes or even design choices in these shows have been great. There are sections of The Last Jedi whose existence I try to ignore, and don't even get me going on the design choice for Star trek: Discovery's revamped Klingons. Still, I recognize the heart and effort that have been put into them, and I'm particularly impressed with how deftly they pay tribute to their roots.
Unfortunately, many fans seem to be blinded by their hatred and perhaps feelings of betrayal. In particular, a common tactic is to review bomb shows and episodes that these toxic fans believe are too "woke" for their taste--as was the case for the most recent episode of Strange New Worlds and the entire fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery. For that matter, even the new Lightyear movie is getting that same treatment.
I suppose that I hope that people who truly believe in the spirit of these universes will be able to overcome these toxic "originalist" fans. Being stuck in the past, when the universe is a system of change and progress, is not the answer, and true fans will recognize the need to move forward and enjoy the greatness that results. Granted, I feel the same way about our nation's Constitution.
In general, I've been trying to watch these shows as they come out each week due to the amount of spoilers that pop up on the Internet. Generally, the response to them have been extraordinarily positive (as they deserve). However, as in the case for the most recent episode of Strange New Worlds, there have also been vitriolic rants from people who claim to be fans, but clearly don't like the show. Especially in the cases of Star Wars and Star Trek, there seems to be a great deal of people who are "fans" of the originals, but have almost nothing but hatred for everything since. These "originalists" seem to have no concept of the spirit of these franchises and are determined to hate on anything that they feel deviates from their strict interpretation of what Star Wars or Star Trek "really means."
Don't get me wrong. Not all of the episodes or even design choices in these shows have been great. There are sections of The Last Jedi whose existence I try to ignore, and don't even get me going on the design choice for Star trek: Discovery's revamped Klingons. Still, I recognize the heart and effort that have been put into them, and I'm particularly impressed with how deftly they pay tribute to their roots.
Unfortunately, many fans seem to be blinded by their hatred and perhaps feelings of betrayal. In particular, a common tactic is to review bomb shows and episodes that these toxic fans believe are too "woke" for their taste--as was the case for the most recent episode of Strange New Worlds and the entire fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery. For that matter, even the new Lightyear movie is getting that same treatment.
I suppose that I hope that people who truly believe in the spirit of these universes will be able to overcome these toxic "originalist" fans. Being stuck in the past, when the universe is a system of change and progress, is not the answer, and true fans will recognize the need to move forward and enjoy the greatness that results. Granted, I feel the same way about our nation's Constitution.
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