Bad Science in Star Trek...
...does not mean it can't be inspirational:
[E]ven movies with bad science can still inspire the science-minded. Aside from James Kirk, the main characters in Star Trek are a science officer, a linguist, a mathematical wiz kid, a doctor, an engineer and a starship pilot who's good at fencing. Which is to say they're all geeks. If you think real world geeks don't look at that, say I want to live there, and then work to make it happen, you've not been paying attention to all the technical progress of the last few decades.- Sci-Fi Author John Scalzi
Also, Jim Kirk comes off smarter in this new version than in the past. It has nothing to do with the portrayals of Kirk - no disrespect to Shatner intended. The dialog of the new movie refers to Kirk's genius level test scores. I'm pretty sure that was never brought up before.
Comments
TOS has references to Kirk's seriousness as a cadet, his deep familiarity with regulations, etc. But I don't recall any test scores quotes, either.
Posted by: mark baard | November 20, 2009 05:32 PM
I seem to recall something from either the original series or the second movie about Kirk's not needing to "cheat" the Kobiashi Maru scenario for academic reasons - that his academic standing at the academy was already very high (the implication being that his need to "win" was somehow problematic or a character flaw). That isn't test score quotes either, but I think it illustrates that none of this is an original contribution to the character's personea except in the degree of revealled detail. Which might be a good summary description of this movie - a brilliantly fleshed out depiction of seriously flawed source material.
Maybe Sally has a better recollection than mine?
Posted by: Will Brown | November 21, 2009 10:13 AM