I think there is still a strain of anti-intellectualism at work in our culture. One might think that the “nerds” who like Star Trek would be grateful for a nerdy Captain hero, but I guess they would rather fantasize about what they are not rather than hail someone who represents what they are.
It is interesting how the TV show and movies only tell us how dedicated and smart Kirk is, and inferring it by the many times he gets them out of a pinch (or when we have Spock watching and approving of his innovative skills when he’s building a cannon out of potassium nitrate, carbon, and sulfur to defeat the Gorn). In these movies, they establish his brilliance by having Pike refer to his “genius level” on tests, the fact that Pike picks him out of the crowd and mentors him, and that he finishes Star Fleet in three years instead of four. In this movie, he is the only one of the top-level officers in the conference who figures out that the next terrorist attack is going to target them. The audience must believe in his intellect while we watch him do everything else impulsively and without regard for the rules – and that is the genius of this movie, that they are answering that discrepancy and saying yes, maybe Kirk does get busted down for thinking he’s above the law and smarter than everyone else.
I am not sure how I feel about the fact that they are now starting their “five-year mission,” because I have so enjoyed the prequels. I hope that not everything that happens is derivative of the TV shows, although I do enjoy the threads of themes they pick up to please fans who have loved the TV series. Now that we know they are willing to play role-reversals and change what happens to people, because of the alternate universe time-line, it should be interesting.
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It is interesting how the TV show and movies only tell us how dedicated and smart Kirk is, and inferring it by the many times he gets them out of a pinch (or when we have Spock watching and approving of his innovative skills when he’s building a cannon out of potassium nitrate, carbon, and sulfur to defeat the Gorn). In these movies, they establish his brilliance by having Pike refer to his “genius level” on tests, the fact that Pike picks him out of the crowd and mentors him, and that he finishes Star Fleet in three years instead of four. In this movie, he is the only one of the top-level officers in the conference who figures out that the next terrorist attack is going to target them. The audience must believe in his intellect while we watch him do everything else impulsively and without regard for the rules – and that is the genius of this movie, that they are answering that discrepancy and saying yes, maybe Kirk does get busted down for thinking he’s above the law and smarter than everyone else.
I am not sure how I feel about the fact that they are now starting their “five-year mission,” because I have so enjoyed the prequels. I hope that not everything that happens is derivative of the TV shows, although I do enjoy the threads of themes they pick up to please fans who have loved the TV series. Now that we know they are willing to play role-reversals and change what happens to people, because of the alternate universe time-line, it should be interesting.