"Rape Culture" - part 2
Previously (delted content)
Well. So ... I've been watching Strange New Worlds yesterday. Taking that free 7 day trial of Pramount+ ... to watch
the rest. I've had that trial a year ago; Apparently it refreshed. And yea, that whole ... streaming nonsense has
gotten a bit out of hand, did it not?
I mean, that's Capitalism. Can't have monopolies - but ... Jesus seriously Christ!
Is that "using the LORD's name in vain"? Well, I was thinking ... that's probably more a matter of ... "in the name
of Christ" something.
Anyway. So there was that Crossover episode with the Lower Decks. Which ... I quite enjoyed. Made me think of how
I was swayed into not liking the Lower Decks. But then, to be fair, it didn't quite capture me either. Maybe because
I was biased. And while that could be fuel for a discussion - I actually meant to get to a later episode; The one
with the Klingon ambassador.
I mean, a cool think about SNW is that it stays true to the Material; Mostly; While still expanding and exploring
territory. And I feel like dealing with Klingons is thusly a difficult subject. Because you are going to have this
harsh contradiction between Starfleet and Klingon culture - where you can't really write stories where the conflict
is resolved. So, you can't write post TNG stories in a pre TNG setting.
Part 4 I guess
now I remember where I wanted to go with this. I mean, there's a lot I could think of that I might want to talk about;
But ... the real point I was trying to make was going to be about forgiveness and holding grudges; As that's kind of
a theme about that episode - and I think what caught me off guard is that this episode leaned a lot into justifying
the holding of grudges.
I mean, on the one side I think that it was a bit too much to turn M'Bega into this super edgy Character; But on the
other side it makes a lot of sense. At least ... I always kind of hated the Character, as ... he had these really
strange vibes - but on the other I also ... couldn't really hate him. And with this ... extended Lore ... it makes a
lot of sense. Like, he's a legitimately Complicated Character.
So, short summary? Maybe not.
For what I'm trying to get at is that ... for all the talk about TV versus Reality, TV - or fiction - has this enormous
power to produce hypothetical scenarios - pushing them to the forefront and treating them as though they were real. And
yea, that's what makes Art compelling and special. And ever so often people don't have ... solid responses to those
situations. Like ... how the Characters deal with M'Bega's "ethics" tells a lot more about us - who wouldn't have any
much more compelling response either. I mean, usually it would be up to the writers to write up some conditions by which
the good guys end up being right ... 'regardless'. And ... whether you like those twists or not I suppose depends on how
much you believe in Real Life Karma.
Or, maybe, how much you NEED to believe in it. Which, to be fair, is like ... why I take issue with some of these
hypotheticals.
Part ... 2?
I guess another theme of this cluster of episodes is the matter of faking it till you be making it. I never really
liked that line either, but it too makes some sense.
I mean, it's similar to the "you can't serve two Lords" line in the Bible. I get the idea, but sometimes it feels ...
like a bad take, actually. "Oddly" enough however, the Bible also gives an example. So, it's not presented as a
general truth, although implied as such, but in context of something. God versus Money/Mammon. So, a juxtaposition
in which a conflict of interest requires someone to choose. And the same I suppose goes with "faking it till you be
making it". I mean, I'd argue that often enough we default to it in a bad way. Being discouraged, pessimism - fear
and panic - things that only go on in our head that lead us to actions that end up being counter-productive. Mistrust
would be another such thing.
Like so is it easy these days to try and be "rational" - that is, to lose hope in humanity, lean into all the pessimism
and thus giving up on the needed politics that all the chaos is produced to stop in the first place - I'd argue.
And right now I don't feel like expanding on these things any further ...
Peace!