Star Trek: This Side of Paradise
I watched the season one episode twenty-five of Star Trek : This Side of Paradise. It starts out with the Enterprise going to Omicron Ceti 3 because they heard that the people there are infected with some kind of alien exposure. Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Sulu are the main men who arrives on the planet and analyzes that everyone there are doing well with no dangers involved. They run certain tests and Leila Kalomi comes into the picture to help them out. She talks to Spock and, somehow, he is sprayed by the alien spore. Throughout the rest of the episode, Captain Kirk and the crew tries to determine ways of helping Spock and the planet. Leila also tries her best to help Spock because the two of them develop a sort of chemistry. In the end, Spock becomes himself once again and tells everyone that this was the first time he has ever felt the aspect of happiness in his life.
Comparing this classic episode to today's many shows, there are many differences and some similarities that I see. I feel like this Star Trek episode was very focused on the science fiction aspect of how a typical space show should be like. It was about ships, planets, and aliens. There was little romance involved! The only romance seen within this episode was between Spock and Leila. Unlike the classics, the current science fiction shows I have watched are different. They have the aim of total revenge to the other side. There are also a ton of romance and sex scenes involved. For instance, Firefly and BSG shows various sex scenes such as Mal and his females or the woman robot in BSG. To me, this is just a way to attract the audience. Besides the sex scenes and hardcore focus on revenge, I believe that the aim of current science fiction shows are to make them seem more realistic as well. Watching the shows nowadays, you can relate to the characters and the situations you are watching.
I do see similarities with then and now science fiction of what I just watched and the current shows I have seen. They share intense story lines in each episode about some kind of deal involving aliens or invadors. Firefly, BSG, and Star Trek shows that everyone is fighting invadors from robots to aliens. Compared to Angel, Charmed, or Buffy I observe that the classics have romance dealing with different "powers" or kinds of being. For an example, Spock is not fully human and Leila is not his kind. In Charmed, Piper is a witch and Leo is an angel. All the lovers in the different shows are taking huge risks to be with one another.
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I saw a huge gap between the classic sci fi and the modern shows as well, especially when it comes to romance. I feel like the modern shows you sex and explosions as cheap short cuts to attract the viewer, where as the classic shows have to work a little harder.
ReplyDeleteExactly! People still are glued to today's shows though just because they do find the sex stuff entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThat's why the classics are usually the longest lasting, they don't rely on cheap tactics to draw in viewers.
ReplyDeleteI think the sex stuff is ok. Because some writer claims that "sex is a big part of life". So modern shows just mix sex scene in. It is not just like attrack people by these scenes.
ReplyDeleteTo go along with what Trevor said, I think that society has evolved so much when it comes to television that we the audience expect to see sex and explosions and when they're not given to us, then it's not that good of a show. It seems that the people who lived when the original Star trek was made has a more puritanical approach to what they watched on tv, even if it may not have been the way that they'd lived their lives (it was close to the 60's!)
ReplyDeleteReally good post! I feel the same way as you; I get a really organic Sci-Fi vibe when I watch Star Trek, as oposed to BSG or Buffy
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