T'Pol gets an PTD? Would that be the term? I guess this is a mandate from the Paramount parent company to promote AIDS awareness (from the actual magazine, not in this article).
I'm not quite sure what to think. Maybe someone else has a thought.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
wieeeerd...
as long as they frame the story properly in the Trek universe, it should be acceptable. and even have the possibility of being more meaningful than the ENT eps we've already seen
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Yes. Another chapter in the annals of the blow-to-the-head allegory genre...
TOS was pioneering for its time, simply because the topics it addressed weren't present on TV in any other way. Today, practically ANYTHING can get on TV, and so it's nothing all that interesting. Berman may think he's being clever, but he's actually quite shallow.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Here is where I might say "ha ha!" and "Tom broke this news a year ago!" and "I am full of hunger and pity and sloth." But, anyway, this is part of a Viacom mandate sweeping through its entertainment arm this season.
This is also the least helpful thread title ever.
Anyway, according to an interview with Bakula over on, uh, I don't know, somewhere, this episode supposedly deals with why Spock and Tuvok were willing to toss mind melds around like cheap candy at a fair, while Vulcans in the 22nd century look down on the practice.
Posted by E. Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Raising public awareness is fine and good and noble and commendable, but the bludgeoning way in which B&B usually approach these Social Issues tends to have an adverse effect on people's receptiveness.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
continuity-wise, recall that in its earliest TOS appearances, a mind meld was regarded as a personal experience, and Spock was always reticient to do so. it wasnt cheapened until later productions, when it was like 'Spock, i can't remember what happened last friday.. mind meld with me and tell me where i left my keys'..
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Hahaaa...I have to admit, that was pretty good..."where are my keys?"...
I think the stuff that got weird with mind melds is when Spock is controlling people through walls with them. What I want to know is when B&B are going throw the origin of the Vulcan nerve pinch and salute into Enterprise and steal those Nimoy-inventions as their own.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
The hell?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
It was actually a good episode!!!!! I thought it was more of a comparison to how homosexuals were treated in the initial stages of the AIDS epidemic.
...and the subplot with Trip was great.
Finally a good episode....and next week's looks good too!
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
So, did they say where the disease came from? Did someone mind-meld w/ a monkey?
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Charles, can we get a "scowl" smiley?
Posted by Fleet-Admiral Michael T. Colorge (Member # 144) on :
So I guess this is the "gay" episode that Berman has talked about... since 1991.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Futurama Guy: What I want to know is when B&B are going throw the origin of the Vulcan nerve pinch and salute into Enterprise and steal those Nimoy-inventions as their own.
The bastards! And what about the writer of "Sarek", eh? They stole Nimoy's inventions there too!
And what about English? They stole English! And they don't even live in England! The stupid fuck witted arse-clowns!
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Exactly!! B&B like to play every idea we see today on Trek as their own; especially English, and I have to reinforce that statement with the simple fact that they have an English dandy on that ship of theirs, which bares a name they stole as well!!
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Malcolm Reed is based on, and looks and sounds EXACTLY like a fan we have up here in Calgary. Seriously - even the nose. I wish I had a picture.
Mark
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
There are Star Trek fan groups in Calgary?
Back to Moose Jaw, then.
Also:
Futurama Guy's reaction to Psyliam is priceless. You'd think someone who watches Futurama'd have a better grip on sarcasm and/or wit.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Im not sure how to take that; I love you too, I guess? I am not familiar with this characteristic you call "scarcasm", but I sure as hell thought that that was what I was conveying from the start.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I think there's some sort of sarcasm and/or wit confusion thing going on here...
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: So, did they say where the disease came from? Did someone mind-meld w/ a monkey?
is this supposed to be a virus virus? I'm trying to ponder how a virus would be transmitted through mind-meld only, and not through the normal routes. unless its something thats only called a virus, like the thing in 'Flashback' or the thing in 'The Naked Now' where the writers are too stupid to know what a real virus is compared the The Thing They Need to Advance Their Precious Yet Stupid Plot.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
As long as it isn't capable of generating antigravity like "Macrocosm".
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
To be fair the Macrocosm virii make a buzzing sound like wings... Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I have'ny seen that one myself, but anything that stupid had to come from Voyager: home of the Transwarp Lizard.
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Yep. And Berman's wondering what's wrong with Trek Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, I bet the nature of T'Pol's illness is at the very heart of it!
I watched, say, 20 minutes of this episode thanks to class + roommate + American Idol. But my impression was that T'Pol's problem had to do with her neurochemistry being all messed up as a result of the mind meld. Information can be a virus too, you know.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
...but the file read " I love you".
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sol System: Information can be a virus too, you know.
well, actually.. hm
'virus' in the traditional sense would be a self-replicating DNA strand in a protein sheath or somewhat, a physical object. i realize that now, we have computer viruses which are self-replicating information.. and that 'flashback' originated the idea of a thought virus, a self replicating telepathic contact which was passed infecting person to person, but the flaw i'm pointing out is that the writers of Trek can't be bothered to know either definition and use the term virus to describe anything 'which makes bad things happen inside people' .. their ignorance of basic cellular chemistry has been showcased a few times before, makes me wonder why they even bother to hire a science advisor.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Did they actually use the term "virus"? I didn't pay enough attention. They called it by name ("xxxx Syndrome"), and "the disease" (like the constant silly-sounding references to "The Minority"), but I don't recall if "virus" was said.
[ February 10, 2003, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: TSN ]
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
ok, i've seen the term here.. understand my only exposure to ENT is through this board, i don't actually watch it (ran out of tinfoil and antennas for UPN reception) so when people here were using the term virus i was wondering if it was the writers being dunderheaded, or just not being explained right to me. (did they explain what the disease was, or just kinda leave it at 'its bad and its like AIDS, ok, so shut up and let us sledge this allegory into your skull'
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Has Bakula had anything to say regarding this? How about for the rest of the Enterprise series, wasnt he supposed to have a heavy say in the direction which the series went? I havent heard much from him lately with regards to the series and his promotion of it as much as he did the first season.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Just watched it tonight...I have to say I was more intrigued by the B-plot than the AIDS allegory, although Phlox's lie of omission & T'Pol's attempted martyrdom was interesating. Man, those Denobulan smiles are FREAKY! I allus figgered that it was just Phlox that smiled like that...but DAYUM. They's ALL like dat!!
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
...but I'd still bone Phlox's wife! ....assuming that only the smile grins open like that! Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
I am not familiar with this characteristic you call "scarcasm", but I sure as hell thought that that was what I was conveying from the start.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)