J.J. Abrams Says 'Star Trek' Will Boldly Go Allegorical

In general, I think they should just...I don't know....explore new worlds...seek out new life and new civilizations...maybe go where no one's ever gone before?

Hey, they could even make it a five year mission! Brilliant!

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I think it is more than about tackling issues for the viewers. It's usually about a predominately liberal Hollywood trying to influence young minds and older minds alike to 'convert' more liberals. Due to recents events like tea parties and town halls, it may seem like it hasn't worked but it has. People became complacent and are supposedly just now 'waking up.' Since they didn't say anything in earlier years they are now viewed as unreasonable, out in left field, and a host of other falsely applied terms, so yes, it worked. So in my opinion, stick with just producing a good sci-fi adventure story with good action and great special affects so you will not alienate the left of the right-liberals or conservatives. Besides, you will probably make more money that way. Thanks.

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well thats just grand, turning an amazing story about seeking out new worlds into a bunch of hippie liberal crap.

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The trick is in what Abrams said - it should be allegorical, but not pretentious. When referencing the cold war, Roddenberry made a point of reducing it to fear of a relatively unknown equal, but opposite force.

When TNG tackled themes such as xenophobia, torture, or prejudice of any kind, when they got it right, they knocked it out of the park and created timeless plots. When they came off as ham-fisted and heavy-handed, the episodes didn't work in the first place.

So it's entirely possible that the writing team can get it right if they take modern-day issues and reduce them to their basic causes. Fear, conceit, arrogance, lies, and corruption aren't going anywhere, and if done right, these can be worked into a story in a way that seems relevant to issues today, but can be just as easily adapted to future ones without seeming dated.

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I think the success of "District 9" demonstrates that the moviegoing public is not exactly leery of allegory in science fiction. In fact, after decades of popcorn and cotton candy sci-fi from Lucas and Spielberg, they may be crying out for it.

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I just hope it's not a "bottle" show.

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So Kirk gets the clap from an alien slave girl while Spock wrestles with alcohol abuse and Scotty finds out his son is gay.

All of this while the Enterprise is introduced to the Klingons.

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No. Just no. I do not want politics in my movies unless I see a movie about politics. I hate movies about "social issues" and crap like that. I want entertainment in my movies and being beaten over the head with some idiot directors "message" is not entertaining at all. Which is why I will never see District 9. It's just the same tired liberal message with a new mask. Plus this is a Hollywood movie and whenever Hollywood gets political it's always the same thing. Attack the Republicans/capitalists/military/Unites States. When Bush was in office the bad guy in all these "message" films was the big bad government. Now that Obama is in office the bad guy is big corporations. They don't even bother to be subtle anymore.

Keep the politics out of Star Trek. The last movie was great, IMO the best one since Wrath of Khan, and it didn't need to latch onto social issues or a "message" to be great.

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The next one should have Khan manipulating the Klingons into a grudge war against the federation. Maybe not the high command but a splinter group of Klingons that just wanna go at the federation for the challenge. Easy enough for Khan to manipulate these guys into a battle and it would be a new first meeting for Khan and Kirk of course. You cant have this alternate reality and not have these iconic adversaries meet again. It's like totally cosmic dude!

Seriously though Khan and his other bio enhanced buddies would seriously have it in for the feds after creating them and then imprisoning/exiling them (cant remember which).

Your relevant issue being bio engineered humans, which is becoming more of an issue since the breakthroughs in gene identification. They could take this into a new realm of the surreal this time around also.

Plus last sequel was an all out war of Kirk against Khan and look how that one turned out... Let's see that again!!

Maybe this time Khan has cloned himself .... muhaha!!!

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I am all for an allegorical story if it is well written. Quite often Star Trek was at its best when it was telling a story that was making some point about the present. However, if the writing isn't good then you end up with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and no one wants that. The new Star Trek movie was quite good without having any allegory to it though so you don't need to have a message to be good Star Trek.

So, if the writers are up for creating a good allegorical story without shoving a message down our throats than I say they should go for it. However, they need to make sure they have a great script in place before starting the movie. If the writers aren't up for an allegorical story then an action/adventures story can still make a good movie. Personally, as long as they keep the characters well written then I will be happy.

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"Oh, no, those horrible Hollywood Lefties might try to make a 'Star Trek' movie with some depth! SOMEONE STOP THEM!"

Regarding the more "Conservative" postings here, those "liberal" writers and directors need to start with a theme to base a plotline on, and it needs to be something a mass audience can hook into. Claims of indoctrination and/or conversion have always struck me as moronic. These people are in business to make money, regardless of politics. May I remind my conservative friends that 'Star Trek IV', a total tree-hugger flick, was wildly successful? And even so, we continue to devastate our environment. Don't worry guys, conscienceness raising is hard work for the average human. They will revert back to their old ways to soon to be any threat to you and your kin

I think if Abrams & Co. do go for a more socially relevant storyline, the most important thing will be how they deal with the characters relating to it. That is how the story will live or die, not what pecieved political leanings it represents. If they follow the example of the recent 'Battlestar Galactica' reboot, and not shy away from any abiguities their subject matter or characters might present, they'll have a good chance at telling us a good story.

P.S.
What was the last great Conservatively-themed film? 'An American Carol'? If that's the best you've got, I'll stick with the Libs.

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I am not sure if the Abrams team is able to do this well. Have they done so in any of their films. The original Star Trek team were quite deft at doing it well.

It took the Abrams team this long to figure out that the original Star Trek dealt with social issues? Wow.

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I hope the next movie, unlike the last, is actually about something, allegorical or not. Sure it was fun watching all the familiar Trek characters meet, but the plot barely existed.

So the bad guy, Nero, wanted to kill Spock and destroy the planet Vulcan because, despite his best efforts, Spock was unable to save Nero's home planet from being destroyed by a supernova. WTF? How about, "thanks for trying to save my planet from the supernova. I knew it was a pretty tall order, but at least you tried."

Stupid villain.

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Keep shooting, teleporting and blowing up stuff.Oh and have some Space Babes. You can miss that way.

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If this new Trek really wants to pay more homage to the original and pursue, as you said, themes of gender and race, how about working on Uhura.

The original Uhura was so important culturally and politically. In the middle of the civil rights movement you have a black woman on tv. In the middle of the 2nd wave feminist movement, you have a woman on tv. A black woman who was in a position of power, who was not overly sexualized and who was a respected member of the Enterprise crew. She was never represented as lacking due to her race or gender. THIS WAS HUGE.

So in this new Trek, this ICONIC character that represented so much, was reduced to a prize to be fought over by Kirk and Spock. She was always worrying or throwing herself at Spock. She never used her linguistic skills to defeat Nero, nor did she really do anything at all except be the love interest.

Its sad when a character from 40 years ago was more progressive than the version today.

So JJ, fix your Uhura....channel whatever it is that created Olivia for FRINGE, cause she's fabulous.

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Those who fear a real story just don't really understand Star Trek. Roddenberry from the beginning saw the show as a way to comment on society but in a less direct way. Dozens of the more than 700 episodes from the 5 series were allegories which left the viewer richer. Anyone can make a shoot 'em show (see Transformers 2). It's Star Trek's willingness to tackle everything from the Cold War, Vietnam, and race to religion, gender, and sexuality that sets it apart from most Sci-fi and it is this that has attracted such committed fans. JJ, go for it!!

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Though it's a thin line to tread, I think that it can be done in a modern way. Just look at The Dark Knight. You can totally make an arguement of the underlying theme of terrorism vs the US that's in the movie.

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"Those gosh durn liberals trying to make a movie that says something about the world we live in instead of just being just a collection of empty calories everyone will forget about in 6 months! Oooooh!!!"

If you look at the highest grossing films in history, most have a little something to say about the world.

There's nothing wrong with making entertainment socially relevant. And that was always Star Trek's strength. The new movie was largely popcorn, so I'm all for injecting a bit of Star Trek back into the franchise. The series was created to explore the human condition. It's not Star Wars.

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Greetings to all in that mighty name of "Jesus":
Each Christian of whom know him in the power of His resurrection...or, maybe I should say...those who are well acquainted with the fact, that He truly did come back from the dead...also appeared to His disciples.

Thomas was invited by Jesus to feel the nail prints within His hands. So, those who also have been convinced by only having His spirit to convince them, having never had the opportunity to feel the nail prints in his hands, as did Thomas: Jesus said blessed are those who have seen and then believed, but greater are the blessings that rest upon those who have never seen, but still believe.

I am a full time writer and an ordained minister. I have written three books so far. My first book: Reviving the dead church, by reminiscing the day of Pentecost. The second one is: Beyond the Golden Sunset and by the Crystal Sea. My third book: Off to visit the Prophet Elijah, on this one, the contract to publish has been completed and soon the book will be published.
Warm regards

William Dunigan
www.eloquentbooks.com/BeyondTheGoldenSunsetAndByTheCrystalSea.html -

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I completely agree with what Mia has said. I liked how Uhura was originally portrayed.

This Uhura seems to be nothing more than Spock's romantic interest which is really very sad.

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