Star Trek Wins More Than Just Box Office
Since the new Star Trek movie came out last week, there’ve been nothing but effusive reviews about it. And not just reviews, saying that it’s a good, exciting movie, but articles, in which people have thought about and analyzed the phenomenon of Star Trek, Captain Kirk, and the ways in which those cultural elements have been revisited for the 21st century.
But more than that, they are saying that “Star Trek marks a shift in the national mood,” in US News and World Report. Fox asks, “Is Star Trek a gift from God?” And the Minneaoplis Star Tribune declares that “the New Frontier is new again.”
Part of what they’re saying is that we’re getting tired of darkness and fear in our fantasy and science fiction. In part that’s because we’ve been living with it for eight years now, and people just can’t be afraid all the time. Chris Pine’s reinterpretation of James T. Kirk puts his own stamp on the character, but also gives us a old school hero…bold, brash, strong, and unabashedly American. In that sense, Pine’s not so different from Shatner at all.
To tell you the truth, I’ve seen a lot of Pine’s work, and I didn’t think he had the chops. He’s cute, but…I mean…Princess Bride 2? Just My Luck? But I’m glad to be proven wrong. I’m very glad this has been so successful for him and the others in the cast.
I have got to see this movie. I love dark, angsty heroes, of course…heck, I’m a Twilight Mom, and nobody’s darker or more angsty than Edward. But like everyone else, I could use some thrill, some excitement, some action for action’s sake. I could use a cocky, rebellious, masculine and honorable hero like James T. Kirk.
And if he gets his shirt ripped…well, that’s just gravy.
Photo from amctv.com
