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.
A neighbourhood watch would be way cooler. Daddy Kirk's neighbour pulling up next to little Kirk and going "Whatcha doing with dad's car, kiddo?" would be way more Trek but wouldn't satisfy JJ's craving for pointless action sequences.
If we want to be way more Trek, going by all the times that the shuttles got stolen, it should instead have been a scene of his stepfather going "my car!" upon seeing an empty, open garage, and then doing basically nothing about it.
It's an interesting idea, but it also tiptoes right up to the line of "neighbours spying on each other on behalf of the state" - not great!
LPT just buy a Ring doorbell instead
Who has time in this day & age for all of their civic duties, amirite?
Join your smarter neighbors today! Farm out that friendly 24/7 vigilance to a "dutiful", "well-trained", "totally incorruptible", perfectly "safe", 100% "benign algorithm" that simply "stores all data" to keep "everyone" safe!
Join us, citizen.
While you still have the choice to. 😶🌫️
🎶🎵🥳🙇🏽♂️🥳🤫
Yes, it's Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™! The high-tech "community safety"™ sensation that's sweeping the "nation"! Only $249.95 at participating stores! Get yours today!
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, children under 10, and unwitting enemies of The State should avoid prolonged exposure to Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™.
Caution: Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ contains "AI"™, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, engaged with, or looked at.
Do not use Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ on new or old construction.
Discontinue use of Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ if any of the following occurs:
itching
vertigo
dizziness
tingling in extremities
loss of balance coordination
slurred speech temporary blindness
profuse sweating or heart palpitations
inability to comply
If Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ may stick to certain colors of skin.
When not in use, Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ should be ignored entirely and kept completely free of particulate matter. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™, MAGAt GrIFTS, LLC, and its parent company, Glottal Plugs Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ include an untested morass pf profit-squanched code which fell to Earth in multiple steaming piles across the techbroverse, presumably from adult diapers.
Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ has been shipped to our troops in numerous "at-risk" "nations" and is being dropped by our warplanes on others.
Do not taunt Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™.
Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™ comes with a lifetime warranty. Yours.
Friendly Neighborhood "Doorbell"™! Accept no substitutes!