I just don't get it. What is the freaking problem of those directors, trying to rewrite federation into some kind of dystopian tech fascism?
I was annoyed by the first Star Trek movie by JJ Abrams, with those police cops. I was alienated by those anti-android resentments in Picard. I stopped watching Discovery after the first episode, because the main protagonist was sent to some kind of labor prison for disobedience, where prisoners regularly die. I didn't think it could get any worse but just watching the first 10 minutes of Starfleet Academy makes me want to bury the whole franchise [edit: and stopped watching]. Some drumhead court-martial, lifelong prison sentence, violently separating a mother from her child and some goons beating up a prisoner. How in the hell is this the same federation of TNG, Voyager and DS9?
Star Trek is supposed to be the ONE fiction with a positive, utopian view on mankind and the future. I totally get the attraction of dystopian settings but for that I can read some Warhammer 40k novels. This really makes me furious.
Fortunately there is still Strange New Worlds.
Please spoiler me, when this bullshit in Starfleet Academy gets turned around in some twist, because otherwise I will just ignore the show.
Not a big trekie, but I never trusted the "Earth is a giant utopia and everything is perfect" story
Like, I'm sure there's a class of people most of Starfleet is made up of like Picard, but not everyone on earth owns a fucking vineyard.
I always thought The Expanse was probably how it really was. No one "has to work" because there's not enough work. So the majority of the population gets a little UBI and blows it on drugs and alcohol to numb the emptiness
Like, do they even show "current earth" that much in Star Trek? Or is it just wealthy Starfleet members talking about how awesome their lives were?
I dunno, it's just an unbelievable story. If it's really supposed to be a perfect utopia, it's just unbelievable writing.
I get you. Utopia does't seem very probable. But it was nice to have at least one single franchise that commits to it.
That's the very reason I don't like the Picard show as well. No one is supposed to own a vineyardfor themselves in Star Trek Earth. DS9 did a good depiction of life on earth with Benjamin Siskos dad who just loves cooking and provides a restaurant for everyone.
In the 24th century, wine isn't a lucrative business venture. It's an ancient cultural tradition. Chateau Picard is a heritage location placed by the government in the custody of the Picard family, as long as they continue to teach the ancient art of winemaking. It's not for them, it's for everyone.
I haven't seen Picard.
Is that something included in Picard? Cause it seems like a significant departure from the rest of the idea of the series. The government of the federation doesn't allow people to do things at it's whims, it facilitates people's freedom to do what they want to better themselves.
His family has had vineyards for generations. Why wouldn't they be allowed to? Space isnt exactly a luxury since they have dozens of worlds you can move to and have your own.
Keep in mind the "Gay Space Communism" isnt the soviet dictatorship kind where everyone is allotted their resources and you're only allowed to do what the state says. Its a post-scarcity world where people can follow passions and personal drive just because they want to. (As long as you learn calculus) Something explicitly stated multiple times in the series.
They have the luxury of the philosophy of improving one's self and the environment for others.