The Letters to the Editor department is intended to be a forum for our readers to express their own opinions and ideas. While we appreciate the many complimentary letters we receive each day, you won't find them on this page. Instead, you will find letters that go beyond or even contradict what we have written, letters that offer a different perspective and provide a different view of science fiction. If you would like to submit a letter, please use our feedback form or send a message to scifiweekly@scifi.com.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
Ultimate Trek Was Ultimately Bad
liked John Platt's review of the so-called Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments. Unfortunately for me, I didn't read it until after the show had aired. For years I have made a practice of avoiding anything with the word "ultimate" in its title or ads, and I wish I had continued to do so.
Platt says "the jokes are only somewhat amusing." In actuality they were so bad, I didn't even realize the trio was trying to be funny. The whole idea was stupid, the writing was done by people who have absolutely no respect for Star Trek or its fans, the acting was some of the worst ever on UPN (and that says a lot). Even the title is misleading: "Star Trek's Greatest Moments." Maybe "A random collection of five-second cuts from various episodes" would have been more accurate.
I hope UPN loses a lot of money on this turkey. TV Guide indicated that it was to be the first of several similar "specials." I certainly hope not.
Jon Schild
jjs@gte.net
Ultimate Trek Brought Back Memories
just read the article in Science Fiction Weekly #137 about the UPN special Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments. I will admit, it was corny, the clips were not the best choices for
their categories, and the man who played Bones did a bad job. However, it
was funny, in a nerdy sort of way, it brought back memories (granted, I'm
only 16, but still, memories are memories), and I liked it. I'm not
saying I hate you because you gave it a bad review, but I'm just saying I liked it.
Robert Schreier
sandj@icanect.net
Ultimate Trek Propagated Geek Stereotypes
ast night, I had the dubious honor of watching Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments. While my wife and I really enjoyed trying to guess what moments would be chosen and which episode would be selected as the ultimate Star Trek episode, the tie-in sequences of Jason Alexander and his "crew" were painful at best to watch. I found it hard to believe that during filming, no one had the decency to think, "Hey, this is really stupid! Maybe we should get some material that's funny." All it did was propagate the stereotype that Star Trek is only entertaining for nerdy, geeky goofballs that go around dressed in costume trying to live in a fantasy world. Suffice it to say that I wasn't particularly surprised to see that Jason Alexander was the executive producer of this ultimately bad tribute to Star Trek's greatest moments. This great franchise deserved much better.
Andrew Wang
aywang67@hotmail.com
How About A Star Trek Anthology Series?
f the producers of Star Trek want to really make things interesting, the next Star Trek series should be an anthology, along the lines of The Outer Limits. That way, they can bounce back and forth from the 22nd to 24th centuries, and fans could get interesting Trek stories without being tied down to one ship and crew. We could see an episode about cadets from Star Fleet Academy; watch Robert April command the new Enterprise; or see what's happened to Wesley Crusher since tagging along with The Traveler (scratch that, we don't care about Wesley). There's plenty of sets and costumes and props to keep everybody happy and on budget. So how about it, Paramount?
Marc Morisseau
m.morisseau@worldnet.att.net
Let The Shows' Fans Give Their Input
have a small suggestion to anybody wanting to boost ratings of the SF TV shows. Creators own these amazing worlds and they can do with them as they will, but sometimes, they need that breath of fresh air. Listen to those diverse, "insane" fan suggestions. Why? Well, I as a fan of Star Trek may not be an expert on budgets and special effects considerations and all the other stuff the professionals may be, but I know what I want to see on Trek. So, if you want a breath of fresh air, who should you go to, a fan like me or someone who has been suggesting ideas based on budget concerns and the past. In order for The X-files, Star Trek, and all the other pop culture shows to thrive as fresh ideas, companies should consider listening to a few fan suggestions. They may be wild or unfilmable, but they may breathe new creative air and create masterpieces as well. The industry is getting too stagnant, let a few "untrained" and non-conforming people scare some life into it.
James Thomas
captain_scott@hotmail.com
Lucas Dilutes Star Wars Himself
tar Wars novels are nowhere near as profit-margin based as the Star Trek
novels--the same group who recently released a thinly veiled ploy to get
fans to buy six books together with a vague plot similarity (Double Helix).
I don't believe that they "dilute the wonderful universe that George Lucas
built" at all. Lucas is doing a fine enough job of that himself--in
explaining the Force's mysteries with midichlorians and creating a weak
messiah framework for Anakin Skywalker to disappoint.
I'm tired of people complaining about books that are, in my opinion, better written than The Phantom Menace. New fully-developed characters and story-lines in my opinion are better than the predictable, CGI-laced modernist crap that
spewed forth from Lucas to the general public on May 19th, 1999. Who gave the impression that characters with no humanity--designed by computers--would be entertaining? How is an audience supposed to identify with "battle 'droids"?
At least the stormtroopers were human.
Personally, it's the human connection (even with aliens because they have very human feelings, at least those we can relate to) that draws me to Star Wars. With CGI-rendered villains and friends everywhere you turn and
one-dimensional villains (don't tell me you think Darth Maul and Darth
Siddious were anything but token villains that could have been replaced by
cardboard for all of their acting), there's nothing really to connect
to.
Face it, George Lucas has been blinded by the "high dollar special
effects,"
trying desperately to "wow the eye, but dull the brain" so that we won't
notice how bad it's become.
Sarah Colgan
idlesatire@aol.com
Pokémon Could Be Occult Forces
ven though I am a huge fan of SF and horror stories, I am particularly worried about this Pokémon thing here in the U.S. I am not a religious fanatic by any means, however the somewhat occult theme that it encourages with the likes of Dungeons and Dragons and other somewhat occult influences advertised to our children should be a major concern to us as parents. There are many seductive "delights," if you will, for children who have no concept of how dangerous these games can be.
People [need to be aware] of occult practices in this day and age. Things such as ouija boards and séances and things of that nature are invitations to the demons who constantly surround us waiting for a chance to introduce themselves in the lives and souls of unsuspecting adults, not to mention children who do not realize the danger of this.
Doris Jones
pook@pdq.net
Merchandising Isn't Responsible for Society's Ills
s a parent, I certainly do not consider Pokémon to be
a form of cockfighting, any more than any other competitive
sport would be considered thus. The emphasis on care and
concern for the beings, the attitudes of cooperation and
fair competition, the striving to improve ones knowledge
and skills, the fact that we have seen a number of times
the beings choose not to battle, out of respect, concern,
or friendship.
What I don't understand is why, just because a particular
franchise is popular, people have to find ways to criticize it.
Look how crazed people have become over Barbies, Furbies,
Tamagotchis, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and more over the years.
How many children have convinced their parents to buy designer
jeans or athletic shoes costing $80-$200 or more? And
a year or two ago there was the fad of sports-related jackets,
which resulted in numerous reports of robberies until
a number of schools had to ban them.
Don't blame a merchandising franchise for your social woes--look elsewhere for that.
Larry W. Virden
lvirden@yahoo.com
Kids Are Normally Maniacs
t saddens me sometimes when I read the Letters to the Editor because an outsider
might take away an impression that science fiction fans are a grim
humorless group. The latest frenzy seems to be inspired by the Pokémon
craze. As the father of a 12-year-old Pokémon fan, I've watched a great
many episodes, bought the cards, listened to the replays described over and
over again. Let's get a few things straight. First, studies show that
"manias" are normal for the age group fascinated by the
"pocket monsters." This too shall pass, just like everything else. It's a
phase and it's normal. We'll all live.
Second, having to do with the evils of mass marketing. Again
nothing new,
we're just more dedicated to the concept. Remember the movie Doctor
Doolittle? When 20th
Century Fox put out that movie they launched a huge line of every
imaginable product to sell to kids. And they bombed. Conventional wisdom
said the whole idea of juvenile tie-in products was dead. What revived the
concept? Star Wars when yours truly was of the age to be sucked in by
something cool.
Finally, Pokémon as anime cockfighting. Sorry, watch the program
more closely. Pokémon can and do refuse to fight. They refuse to evolve, and one even refuses to go into a Poke-ball. The trainers care for their monsters, making sure that they get all the nurturing that their particular breed requires. The Pokémon wins because it is a partner with its trainer.
Jay Phillippi
jdrp@cecomet.net
Other Shows Are More Violent Than Pokémon
just don't agree that one can compare Pokémon to cockfighting. If adults would regularly watch the show with their children, they would see that each show is intended to bring out the best in each person. The characters work together and the "fighting" between the Pokémon is not a fight to the death. Rather, the "matches" as they are called are required to build skill and strength. The Pokémon are attached to their Masters and vice/versa. Kindness is shown between the two, with each caring about the other. Wake up and realize the Pokémon phenomenon is far less violent than Power Rangers or Beast Wars.
Sandra Winn
scm25@juno.com
Pokémon Repeats History
ne of your readers claimed that Pokémon is nothing more than "Japanese cockfighting." She also implies that this fighting nature that the Pokémon have is an ill influence on the children of America. I'm sorry, but if every child in this country were so easy to influence, they would have jumped off a building wearing a red cape and a big "S" on their shirt a long time ago. This brings to mind Frederic Wertham, an American psychiatrist who published a book called Seduction of the Innocent in 1955. In this book he claimed that comic books led to child delinquency. Several of today's beloved comic book icons, such as Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman were among his many targets. According to Wertham, Batman and Robin were homosexuals (the fact that Robin was a young boy who wore leggings did not help matters) and Wonder Woman was a lesbian with sado-masochistic tendencies.
While many of these claims are now considered hogwash (these are, after all, fictional characters), the fact of the matter is that the people at the time took his words very seriously--much like how the people today take the nonsensical Pokémon-bashers so seriously.
Bottom line? History repeats itself. Over and over and over. When the comic book backlash incited by Wertham occurred in the '50s, the comics industry was extremely popular--just like Pokémon is today. Remember when rock 'n' roll was introduced? The media thought that was evil too. And video games in the '80s? The same thing. When the social order is disrupted, people react--often in ridiculous ways.
Yes, Pokémon is a money-making empire. So what? The only thing that sets Pokémon apart from smaller franchises is that it is more successful, not because the smaller ones are more noble or less greedy. Nintendo found a hit and ran with it, period.
Dave Wong
ultima8@excite.com
