From: "TurquoiseBee turquoi...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com>
From: salyavin808 <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <turquoiseb@...> wrote : I know this probably marks me for derision, but I can't stand to watch the original Star Trek episodes. While I *understand* its quasi-historical significance and recognize that some good scifi writers contributed to it, there is one thing about it that prevents me from watching more than about 30 seconds of *any* episode -- B A D A C T I N G There simply has never *been* a worse actor in the history of television (and, according to people who worked with him, more of an egomaniacal asshole) than William Shatner. Watching him do his thing is like fingernails on a blackboard to me. Interesting. I've been thinking the exact opposite! Talk about different eyes seeing different things. He isn't Oscar material for sure and sometimes he's a bit self-conscious maybe but I think he does what he does really well. Go figure. The rest of them are great, Spock in particular. But what I really like is the way it's aged. It's part super-stylish sci-fi and part old style Hollywood movie. Every time a woman walks on screen there's soft lighting and violins, it's hilarious. But mostly it's the stories I like and the way the writers get free reign to explore whatever aspect of the ship and crew they like. Time travel, parallel universes, interstellar bikini's. It's the show with everything! OK, maybe I'll give it another try sometime. I'm basing the above rant on the last few times I watched episodes from it, and perhaps either it's mellowed since then or I have. :-) Spock was OK, and to their credit the writers did interject the occasional note of humor into the series, which at the time was near-heretical in mainstream scifi. I'm not sure it would stand the test of time for me. But if you ever want to chat about a series that for me has SO stood the test of time, it's "Firefly." *That* is the kinda crew I want on *my* spaceship. Just on the level of sheer babe-age it blows all variants of "Star Trek" away. My memory for Star Trek Babes is probably faulty, but I mean, really...the only female characters I can remember in any of them who gave me a fanboy woodie were Beverly Crusher and Seven Of Nine, maybe the Borg Queen. Compare to Kaylee, Zoe, River, Nandi, YoSafBridge, and <genuflect> Inara. 'Nuff said. :-) :-) :-) Lest anyone think that I'm being overly sexist and base by appreciating "the women of Firefly" as I do above, give a listen to this award acceptance speech from the guy who created these characters, and his perfect answer to the question, "Why do you write such strong female characters?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaczoJMRhs I've posted this before, but I'm reposting it in hopes anyone might be interested in the larger questions it brings up -- why *are* strong, independent, and powerful women characters so rare on TV and in movies? And who are some of your favorites?
