To boldy blog

So when I said "movies," I apparently meant "movies and t.v." because I've been leaning towards television lately. I've only been watching one show, and I bet you can guess from the title of this blog what it is. Go ahead. Take a stab in the starry vacuum of space. That's right it's Star Trek. For the past two weeks I've been Netflix streaming the classic trio of Kirk, Bones, and Spock. I'm only part way through the first season, but I feel the need to share my entirely nerdy current obsession. I even gave a crocheted Spock figure to my uncle for his birthday because I've got ST on the brain.

Here is the point where I make a confession. Before my current endeavor, I'd previously seen a few episodes of Star Trek classic edition on daytime t.v. when I was about seven. I vaguely remember an overdose of fuzzy burbling creatures and a guy in a yellow shirt yelling "Khaaaaaaaaan," but that was about it. It's embarrassing how little I remembered and how very low my expectations were when I began to watch it. I thought it was going to be another early color kitsch fest. You know, Cheesy in the extreme. Oh, how wrong I was.

The show is sooooo good. I want to take this moment to figuratively applaud the writers. They wrote some meaty stuff. I also noticed that a certain book series (Gone) is startlingly similar to the episode entitled "Miri." Coincidence? I think not! It's just too good an idea to pass up. I was especially struck by the lighting, camera work, and make-up (not the special effects make-up, but the regular kind). The crew knew what they were doing and it shows.

I do have a problem with the blatant sexism in the show. Women are always in subordinate positions, and they're shown as being fairly "illogical." Their arguments are always appeal to emotion rather than reason. Not that using emotion as part of an argument is bad, but is your superior officer really going to listen to that? The few women who have higher positions rarely do anything for themselves. And the skirts, I have to talk about the skirts. In one of the episodes Nichelle Nichols falls out of her chair and flashed her underwear at the camera. It was an obvious accident, but come on! What kind of militaristic organization has their crew wear skirts so short they can't do their jobs. At least the women aren't stick thin. If any of them tried to get a job in t.v. today, they'd be told to lose weight and (best case) come back after the weight loss.

Despite the sexism, I still love the show. It was groundbreaking. The diversity on the show changed t.v. forever. In light of that, here are some life lessons I've taken from Star Trek.

1. Basket-weave beehives are irresistible to men.
2. Never trust people who wear eyeliner or sweat excessively. They're probably bad guys.
3. Make sure you always disinfect your crew after visiting a new planet.
4. Don't feed Tribbles.
5. Don't wear a red shirt in dangerous situations.

"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."