As someone who spent a fair portion of our 365 Days of Movies project covering the Marvel Cinematic Universe it truly pains me to say this but… I’m kind of over comic book movies: at least for the moment. As much as I heart Marvel and as much as I hate DC, I’m just… I’m good on the comic book front for a while. I’m a bit shell shocked from these larger than life struggles watching characters that are essentially gods use their magical powers and chemically enhanced talents to save space time forever while straining to save their personal relationships in the B line.
It’s fun, it’s been brilliantly executed (at least by Marvel), and I want more of it, just… not yet. I love the grounded realism and the honest human relationships that the MCU has built their success around but sometimes I want some subtlety, some nuance, and most of all some optimism.
The world of comic book movies has been a dark and serious place over the last decade and for the most part, that’s a great thing. Grounding such fantastical characters such as Thor, Loki, and even Superman in a realistic modern world with concrete motivations, abilities, and limitations is exactly what needed to happen for the medium to thrive in our present day. But in a world where death can rain from the sky at any time be it aliens through wormholes or planes through buildings, even the smartest, snarkiest, and bravest of SUPERHEROES can’t avoid a healthy dose of PTSD. So where does that leave US? Where can we turn when the ominous pressure of looming apocalypse gets to be too much? I believe the answer is the same now as it has been for the last 50 years.
The world needs Star Trek.
Now to be clear, I don’t mean JJ Abram’s masterful re-envisioning of the Star Trek Cinematic Universe, if you will. Although I love it and have literally received permission from my wife to name our first-born son Abram, the Star Trek television series have always dug deeper and swung harder than their big screen counterparts. While most casual viewers will remember Star Trek for it’s wild costumes and seemingly endless configurations of almost human foreheads, real Trekkies/Trekkers appreciate it for its deep geopolitical roots, it’s philosophical quandaries, and it’s glimpse into an ideal human future where the best weapons are our words, our integrity, and diplomacy. Maybe with a photon torpedo or two for flavor.
Trek has always been a home for morality, exceptionalism, innovation, and humanity. It asks questions that don’t always have cut and dry answers. As much as I love seeing city destroying robots take a hammer to the face, sometimes I want to see Captain Picard trying to explain to Data why terrorism is effective, and sometimes it’s the only choice, but that still doesn’t necessarily make it right. I know we still have seven whole seasons of TNG to get into that stuff but for one, I’ve seen them all, and secondly, we live in a very different world than we did twenty years ago.
We have new problems and new questions. We have technology (thanks largely to Trek in the first place) whose ultimate ramifications we may not fully understand. Of course there are elements of these issues in modern storytelling. Black Mirror for one does a jaw-dropping job of taking our current cultural and technological obsessions to their logical futuristic extremes. But coming from the mind of biting British satirist Charlie Booker leaves the entire series with a decidedly pessimistic tilt. Game of Thrones has a huge expanse of characters and settings but their politics are largely driven by scandal and flashy reveals. House of Cards is the closest we come to the geo-political aspects but it centers entirely around the sociopathic power grab of a literal murderer. In a world run by Frank Underwoods, we need a Captain Picard.
We need something to help us explore these issues in a way that doesn’t just pretend we can pound these problems into the ground. We need to see people ask questions, think them through, collaborate, and innovate their way to the kind of solutions that Trek always makes us believe are possible. We need a new signpost to the best possible versions of ourselves and that’s what Trek has always been. I need Star Trek. The world needs Star Trek.
You might remember Wil as the kid who played Gordie in the film Stand By Me. Or maybe from the half a decade he spent playing Wesley on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Or maybe from his multiple guest appearances on The Big Bang Theory, or CSI, or Family Guy, or Criminal Minds, or Eureka. Or maybe from the web series The Guild, or TableTop. So many things!
Thought I’d reblog this as Alan kindly put it up as the main image.
This is a poster I worked with Hank Green to make for Wil Wheaton’s debut line of merchandise at DFTBA. Was an awesome project with a really quick turnaround.
I love working with DFTBA. Happy to be making lots of work with them. I can never really eloquently explain how much I like making things like this. I just very much appreciate these kinds of opportunities, and happy Wil likes it too.
Go and take a look at the other shirts and posters too.
do you think Hardison’s nana calls him about random computer stuff like every other grandparent ever? I bet she does. I bet Alec has a great easy to use set up for her too. Like imagine that, middle of a stake out, Hardison in the back of the van patiently talking Nana through how to get her email back since she accidentally deleted the internet explorer icon or something.
“No, Nana, you didn’t delete the internet. The internet is fine. Yes, I’m sure. I’ll come put the icon back for you later, okay?”
Okay so like yes I do LOVE this. Like I really do love it. But can we consider for a moment the exact opposite? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the show so this might be completely contradictory BUT I present to you:
Tech savvy Nana.
Nana who was one of the first human computers. Nana who worked for JPL when we were trying to put men on the moon. Nana who fought very hard to learn everything about this new machine so she would be absolutely essential to any company that used it. Nana who was the first black woman hired by IBM. Nana who bought an Apple computer from that eccentric man in a turtleneck because he was probably on to something. Nana who cursed Bill Gates with every breath in her. Nana who first put her grandson in a keyboarding class at the age of 8 because if he was going to keep sneaking on her computer at night he damn well better learn proper form. Nana who bought 9 year old Alec his first laptop. Nana who answered her grandson’s questions about the internet and hacker name etiquette. Nana who taught Alec Hardison everything he goddamn knows about coding because she practically invented the word. But now computers are just so hoity toity and any Tom dick or Harry with a buck can start calling themselves a hacker. So Hardison doesn’t think she keeps up with that stuff anymore. Except she does. She just calls him to ask silly questions because she wants to hear his voice, wants to make sure he’s safe with that nice girl and boy he brought over for Sunday dinner one night. She just wants to make sure he’s happy.
Ohh, I love this idea!
And when you go one step further, imagine Hardison thinking he got hacked by Chaos because this looks like Chaos’ MO- BUT! It’s Nana. She first hacked into Chaos system (and uses everything she dug up on this hacking-spree to make Chaos do as she says (which is basically just her trying to make him into a better human being, even if he argues she’s blackmailing him. “The groceries for the retirement home are not gonna be picked up by anyone else. Now, you don’t want those people to starve, do you, young man?”)). And now she knows Chaos’ MO.
And she’s bored, okay. So bored. So while she’s on the phone with Hardison, asking him where her Email program went, she’s hacking into his system using Chaos’ MO.
She’s having a VERY hard time not to laugh at Hardison and blow her cover. Because she can seehim - she hacked into his webcam. And it’s hilarious how he tries to talk to her, not wanting to hang up on her while at the same time, his whole system crashes and he tries to evade the attack (she has to admonish him once or twice because “Language, Alec! I taught you better than this.”).
Kudos if Parker is sitting next to Nana, eating Popcorn and recording everything as a Christmas present for the whole team.
And why was Nana hacking Chaos in the first place? Because Chaos thought he’d make trouble for Hardison by scamming his sweet little old Nana out of her retirement savings. Nana had so much fun raining digital hellfire down on him while pretending she was trying to figure out how to wire him money for that nice Nigerian prince he was calling about.
[ID: An LGBT+ progress flag, which is a rainbow flag but with 5 triangular stripes on one side. In order from outer stripe to inner stripe, they are white, pink, blue, brown, and black. End ID]
Book Gordie has quite a different interaction at the market!
“I won’t come in again,” I said, walking over to the screen door and pushing it open. The hot afternoon buzzed somnolently along its appointed course outside, sounding green and brown and full of silent light. “Neither will none of my friends. I guess I got fifty or so.” “Your brother wasn’t no smartass!” George Dusset yelled. “Fuck you!” I yelled, and ran like hell down the road.
During the casting process, 300+ boys auditioned for the four main roles in “Stand By Me.” Director Rob Reiner then interviewed 70+ of them to find the perfect Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern.
“Rob Reiner found four young boys who basically were the characters we played. I was awkward and nerdy and shy and uncomfortable in my own skin and really, really sensitive, and River was cool and really smart and passionate and even at that age kind of like a father figure to some of us, Jerry was one of the funniest people I had ever seen in my life, either before or since, and Corey was unbelievably angry and in an incredible amount of pain and had an absolutely terrible relationship with his parents.” -Wil Wheaton interview with NPR, 2011
