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Starfury2
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Name: Alexander
Location: Houston, Texas, United States
Birthday: 11/5/1990
Gender: Male
Interests: Darkspace, Computer Games, Soccer, Tennis, Chess, eating candy, Karate.
Expertise: Computer Games, Chess, Soccer, Tennis, eating candy, sprinting, technical theater, metabolism.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Hospitality
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  uV rednaxelA
Member Since:
4/22/2005
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| Alexander Vu
The first half of this movie was pretty interesting…better special effects, props, and most notably, the aged characters (and the new Scotty and Chechov).
While we didn’t finish the movie, the mood of it was notably different than the original episodes. Not have Kirk and his crew dropped the cavalier attitude, the good, righteous people going out to defend democracy, but also the fact that the mission has changed. It seems that the Enterprise’s original mission (to explore space) is over, and now Kirk is back to being a normal Captain of Starfleet. Also, the lively, adventurous mood that was present in the TV shows is gone, now replaced by a more somber and dark mood that prevails throughout the movie.
There are references to Shakespeare and a quote about Nixon. One question I ask is how would the Klingons know of this? It’s pretty unusual for them to know about Nixon or Shakespeare, them being aliens, and presumably constantly hostile to the humans.
Overall, I think the original episodes were better. They were lighter, and carried a more adventurous mood. And perhaps the bad graphics makes it more likable.
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| Alexander Vu
Today’s episode I rather liked, and was unusual in the way that Kirk did not play a central role. Rather, this episode focused on Spock.
The episode highlighted a few of Spock’s qualities: extremely logical and rational, without room for (much) emotion. The episode also showed us how Spock’s way of thinking would work if put in command. Obviously, his logical and rational ways of solving problems infuriated and repulsed the crew at times. (Him bluntly saying that three people will have to be left behind for the others to live, and that he personally would choose them) His seeming lack of emotions sometimes leads the crew to believe that Spock actually doesn’t care about them at all. However, this is not true. Spock shows that he cares at least a little bit about the others; he risks his own life to find and return Gaetano’s body, and he also suppresses his rational side for a moment by letting Boma and McCoy bury the bodies of Latimer and Gaetano. It is also shown that he does have a great regard for life. While he seemed utterly indifferent to Latimer’s death (a reaction that actually makes sense; there’s no use breaking up or mourning, once a person has died, you cannot bring him back. It’s better to acknowledge his life, perhaps reflect on the good qualities and deeds of the person, give a little toast, and move on.) He prohibited his men to harm the aliens, stating that ‘I’m surprised at how little regard you have for life.’ a quote that is quite ironic to the men, as they saw Spock’s reaction to Latimer’s death.
Also, on the nature of logic, and is it always effective. In the sense of this situation, yes, and no. Logic can be useful, but when dealing with humans, we don’t do the ‘logical’ things all the time, therefore, as seen in the movie, throwing a wrench into Spock’s logical plans, as Spock cannot fathom a world outside logic, suppresses his human emotions, and therefore cannot predict what the cavemen were going to do, not going too deeply into his own emotions himself. In this case, one like Captain Kirk could have achieved better results. While cold logic may offer logical solutions, based on probabilities and chance, one like Kirk may have inspired the men, give them hope, inspiration, and by doing so, give them strength. This is true in battle as well. Men do not look favorably on a leader that does things purely logically, such as sacrificing lives because it is logical. It makes one think that in the commander’s mind, his life is nothing but a statistic.
The completely rational course of action for humans, is only acceptable in certain situations, usually ones that are not regarding life and death. Perhaps in a way, it would be better, as a logical solution would most likely achieve the desired result. However, as in such matters as battle, it would decrease the perceived value of life itself, life being something that all of us hold in high regard.
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| Alexander Vu
Although I have not remembered too many dreams (lack of sleep plus alarm clock), I have been able to recall enough of them to write a short essay on a recurring theme. And this theme, I think, is conflict. Not all the times, but in the majority of dreams I have, I’m struggling with something. In one it was the law, in another it was a wrong accusation, in another, something that I can’t remember, but know that I was struggling with something. They aren’t scary, however, just deal with me being targeted for no apparent reason, or me trying to overcome some obstacle. As with everyone, I get happy dreams, weird dreams, scary ones, etc. But the most recent ones have been involved with conflict, probably influenced by the video games I’ve played. There are no recurring characters, or other recurring themes. In one dream, I was falsely accused of pushing a ladder off of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, (weird, eh?) and had to hire a lawyer and such. (Albeit a lawyer with a large mood swing, mocking me at one point, and then supporting me strongly at the next) This conflict, I suppose, can be related to just about anyone’s life, as we all do have our personal struggles, and will probably dream about them if it is particularly worrisome. In my life it could be a number of things; schoolwork, parents, relationships, etc. And while this conflict theme could be matched to my life, it’s probably influenced, as said, by video games I play, which, predictably, include much fighting, whether it be with futuristic weapons or good old swords. Again, my recent dreams with conflict were not scary; they weren’t matters of life and death, and throughout it all, I never felt threatened in any way. The strongest emotion I remember is worry.
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| Alexander Vu
This episode was a bit interesting, being the first of a differing season we have watched so far. Changed special effects, changing characters, etc. Anyways, all in all, I thought this episode was…alright. The fighting scenes were more fast paced and…realistic, I suppose, that’s for sure.
This Star Trek episode is, in truth, just like the majority of the others, dealing with issues of equality, ethics, good and evil, right and wrong, etc. All human perceptions and constructs.
The Trogldytes, presumably retarded yet quite aggressive, turn out to be, in reality, the same species as the cloud-dwelling Ardanians. However, the Ardanians do not know this, looking upon the Trogldytes as a similar yet much more inferior species. This brings up an interesting question. Had the Ardanians known the Trogldytes were their kin, would they have treated them as such? Probably not, as answered by the ending, when Kirk proves the theory that the zenite causes mental retardation, forcing the High Advisor to accept the truth. This said, bringing it into real world terms, perhaps if the white men (Spaniards, Portugese, etc) had understood that the people of the African and Native American nations were just like them in all ways but for skin color, would they have treated them so harshly? The African slaves were referred to as ‘inhuman’; the Native Americans as ‘savages’ (sort of implying they weren’t truly human). Perhaps, if the white people knew and accepted that those two ethnicities of men were the same as them, they wouldn’t have sparked the racism and bigotry (perceived or not) or issues of race that are so evident today. (bigotry and racism not so much so) If perhaps both races looked upon the other as equals, people wouldn’t make a fuss about whether something is racist or not. (because honestly, I think there’s a bit too much perceived racism around today, when it could just be the facts and have nothing at all to do with race e.g. more black criminals in jail)
Another question: does the end justify the means? Kirk obviously thought so in this episode. He went directly against the Prime Directive as well as the laws of Ardenia, in the hope that the end would be sufficiently reasonable and rewarding that both the Federation and Ardenia would forgive him. I personally think that it just depends on the type of ends you achieve, and the types of means used to get there. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. At one end of the spectrum, if I were asked this question, where I had to do extremely bad things to get an extremely good end….well….I don’t know. I don’t think anyone can decide until a choice of such a nature is forced upon us.
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| Alexander Vu
This episode was one of the better ones I have seen so far. Although the story doesn’t make much sense, it explores interesting possibilities, such as the possibility of Rome not having fallen to outside forces. It explores the possibility of what such an empire might be like if those Roman values and styles were carried on into the 20th century.
The Roman Empire of the 20th century still seems to retain most of the qualities it did in the past. Gladiatorial games, an Imperial system, and slaves. All that’s really changed is the technology, yet it seems that the police units still use old Roman swords as well as guns. I also find it interesting to note that there is no mention of other powers in the world. Perhaps this Roman Empire went on to conquer the entire world, putting everything under their imperial rule?
Another question is why Captain Marcus chose to stay on the world. Yes, this world did offer him a comfortable life, free from troubles, but to condemn his crew to the games? In my opinion, this would require a special kind of heartlessness…but whatever evil he did by condemning his crew to this world, he achieved redemption in the end, sacrificing his life in order to get Kirk, Spock, and McCoy back to their ship.
I also can see that this is one of the episodes in which Kirk fully obeys the Prime Directive. In this particular episode, he talks nothing about democracy, nor pushes for it. He’s adamant in not interfering with the development of this roman empire, and gives Scotty express order not to interfere.
I think this episode also was interesting because of the revelation about Spock’s formerly unknown human side, but I don’t think this relates to the Cold War or democracy at all.
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