#40: live long and prosper

Star Trek was born on the television screens this day 40 years ago. 6 TV series, 10 movies, countless conventions and millions of viewers later .... the franchise is still trudging along. True, the series is now at best limping on life-support. But in its heydays, it was way ahead of the curve. It's found a place at the Smithsonian Museum of American History as an American icon, and it is one. Phrases such as "Beam me up, Scotty", "Live long and prosper", "Engage", and "Phasers on stun" are television folklore. NASA named its first space shuttle "Enterprise" as a tribute.
The original series was my first science fiction on TV at age 11. I remember watching it for the first time at my aunt's apartment in Alameda, CA. Soon it became a habit.

My idol, why – Mr. Spock of course – the cool, composed, rational, logical, and "slightly superhuman" vulcan-earthling hybrid. He was methodical, his thoughts were always precise and organised (type ISTJ) – unlike Dr. McCoy. I admired his special abilities – physical and intellectual, his control over emotional turmoils, and his self-restraint to strictly adhere to his moral code – to use these strengths only for the "greatest good". Plus he was almost always the saviour of the last-resort. In contrast, Captain James "Tiberius" Kirk's notion of making contact with aliens was principally through fraternising with the bimbos of those species. Notice how they were invariably blondes. Diplomacy for him was a post-seduction after-thought!

My favourite series was "The Next Generation" with Jean-Luc at the helm. The plots were better, the script far superior and less cheesy, and über-sanitised for political correctness. The special effects kept pace with times and technology. But Deanna Troi was irritating. The subsequent series all paled out in contrast. Most respondents to a BBC online survey share the same sentiment.

I'm not a hardcore Trekkie. But I wish it a happy birthday. And I hope the next movie titled ST-XI is better than the last few.

Update: Here's an op-ed piece in the NY Times from one of the writers of the show .... on the (intended) ideology of the series.