I've seen over the last few months a number of heated arguments over what is canon and what isn't. I've been discussing the subject with a friend and I wanted to give you my thoughts on the subject. Remember that it's my personal opinion and I'm not forcing it on anyone.

It's inevitable that over the course of it's life, Star Trek would come up with a number of inconsistencies. What I don't understand is that obsession some of you (I'm not pointing at anyone) seem to have about how everything seen on screen is official. I know there must be a common base of reference but sometimes it just goes too far.

For exemple, there are some here who are compiling lists over lists of starships registries which are 1) mostly unreadable on screen and 2) wrong half of the time. I've heard it's sometimes the fault of the artists who design them. I'm thinking the Prometheus and the FC ships for example. However, even if Okuda himself says it's an error and corrects it in the new encyclopedia, some people simply MUST find an explaination because it was shown on screen, therefore it's official and since it's not possible they just can't sleep at night anymore...

I know I sound a little agressive (it isn't my intent) but I just wonder why they just can't get over it. I know I'm not troubled in the least if the Prometheus's registry is wrong. I would be if the E-E were to suddenly change registry at the beginning of the new movie only to return to normal half-way through the story and even then I would disregard it as a mistake. However I'm sure some of you would try to find a very complex theory about why this would happen to make everything consistent.

All I'm saying, is there's a limit about justification. Personally, when something sounds too stupid in ST (VOY in particular), I simply ignore it, like the episode with the giant space worm where Seven vents anti-matter through the nacelle and it's detonated with a particule beam by the hunter-guy. Anyone care to explain how that is possible?

I like it when the writers respect continuity (which is kind of lacking right now) but I can get by without trying to justify everything. I don't want to start any arguments, I just want to get your opinion on this.

Anyway, this thread should be in General Discussion. So I'm going to put it there. :-)

We do get carried away sometimes, well OK, all the time. It's part of the fun for me, reading the post of starship lengths, or regitry numbers. Some of the more creative stuff is in those threads.

The thing with cannon stuff, is that it is supposed to be cannon if it hits the screen. If a mistake is made, then stuff hits the fan and we get a lot of posts. Which is a good thing.

(poster formerly known as The Excalibur, and still is at TNO)

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"One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor". George Carlin

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"But, it was so artistically done."
-Grand Admiral Thrawn

I was going to post something along a similar vein, but I just couldn't be bothered with the aggro entailed.

Although the obsessions can be fun at times.

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"So, no room for Bender, huh? Well I'll build my own lunar lander, with blackjack, and hookers.
In fact, who needs a lander, or blackjack?
Ah, screw the whole lot o' ya!"
-- Bender, Futurama.

To conclude, I can only advise people who think that *we* are obsessed with detail to check out Baring-Gould's Sherlock Holmes "biography". The level of analysis and juxtaposition of real history with the fictional character is obsessive, even for my standards.

Boris

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"Wrong again. Although we want to be scientifically accurate, we've found that selection of [Photon Energy Plasma Scientifically Inaccurate as a major Star Trek format error] usually indicates a preoccupation with science and gadgetry over people and story."

---a Writers' Test from the Original Series Writer's Guide

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Fabrux's Starship Page
Now with only 1 popup!

Hey, there's nothing wrong with canon-only. At the least, it's easier to keep the facts straight.

We merely need to decide whether we want to treat the two as real, or whether we want to treat them as made-up. I find it more interesting to treat everything as if it were absolutely real, because it makes you think harder and not use the excuse "it's a mistake anyway" when examining a particularily thorny issue such as the Prometheus registry. If there is no challenge in the thinking exercise, it seems pointless to memorize volumes of information about starships and everything else. Too much irrelevant info to warrant the purpose of "fun".

So, what TerraZ is basically suggesting is to examine the issues, but not stress over the details because the footage is fake. Here's a question: let's say the footage is fake, because after all, it is merely an artistic representation of the REAL Star Trek universe (not a documentary about the real Star Trek universe, but a real MOVIE about the same, like James Cameron's Titanic as opposed to old Titanic footage). How would that influence our interpretations?

Boris

I'm a technology and physics freak myself. I'm obsessed with all the details (especially about starships) but I don't care for registries myself. I'm just saying that everyone is free to take or reject whatever they see fit. Of course, like you said, it's fun to try to find an explaination for errors, but when it's too far-fetched, I think it's easier to simply dismiss it.

Glad I didn't offend anyone. Thought I might have struck a nerve or something.

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Red-shirted ensign: Captain, the Borgs are heading toward us! We have to do something!
Captain: *Looking at ensign in a strange way* Indeed we do. Transporter room, beam a couple of red-shirts on that cube. That will keep them occupied...
Red-shirted ensign: Mommy...

Lets say Paris never hit warp 10. He got so close that, without the proper shielding, the experiance changed his makeup. He's also had the hots for Janeway, ever since she sprung him from stir. So as his mind begings to come down to the size of a lizards, the breeding instinct kicks in, and he kidnaps janeway and exposes her to the same phenomina(sp). she has a faster metabolism, and becomes a lizard at the same time as Paris, they have little lizards, and then return to normal.
When I started I had a point, but it eludes me now, so I'll stop.

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"One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor". George Carlin