Book Comment: Star Trek FAQ

            Those who love science fiction television and movies are usually enthusiasts of either the Star Trek or Star Wars franchises, but often not of both. I admit to being a Trekkie.

FAQ, for those who do not know, is frequently asked questions. Clark’s book discusses every question you might ask and then a few more. Subjects include the developmental starts and stops of the television shows and movies including planned but never-released projects, the historical and literary background leading up to the first appearance of TOS (The Original Series), as the original Star Trek is often known, corporate backroom deals, the animated series, actor feuds, clashes with producers, gadgets and props, costumes, special effects, and the pre-Trek careers of the directors, producers, network executives, and the actors, including even the “redshirts” and other minor recurring character actors. Clark pulls no punches about some of the abrasive personalities and faults of the people he discusses.

For the hardcore Trek enthusiast, these things alone make this a good read.

Now, as to why this book is being mentioned on this blog: When they actually look at it in depth and with critical thinking, some are surprised that there are religious undertones in much of science fiction, and even in many horror films. The undertones can show an orthodox Christian slant but often they do not. Even those which are actively atheist can touch on religious themes and atheism can be viewed as a religion or, at the very least, a philosophical stance on the subject of religion.

The creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), was raised in Texas (USA) as a Southern Baptist. As an adult, he rejected organized religion and was often spoken of as an atheist but could more properly be described as a pantheistic agnostic. He thought that in the future mankind would reject religions and become more religiously numinous in an unfocused way with a sort of progressive humanist and secularist religiosity or spirituality. Mankind would not be actively anti-religion but would mostly just ignore it.  Along with this, Roddenberry also exhibited a belief in the ultimate perfectibility of man.

Roddenberry rejected a suggestion from National Broadcasting Company executives to include a chaplain in the Enterprises’ crew. In TOS episodes religious leaders are most commonly troublesome people even when they are genuinely well-meaning. Many are depicted as repressive of original thought.

When seemingly divine almost omnipotent beings occur in the series, they are eventually exposed as being computers developed by long-extinct species or as mortal beings possessing highly advanced technologies.

It was not until the third series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, that a religion was presented as a possibly positive force. The Bajoran people worshipped the prophets, whom other species referred to as the wormhole aliens, not actually divine but highly advanced in their technology.

Some Trekkers (who view Trekkie as a perjorative) will argue for hours about minutiae of Star Trek information, especially about what is canon and what is not. In 1994, Michael Jendra, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, published “Star Trek Fandom as a Religious Phenomenon” in the academic journal, Sociology of Religion. Film director Nicholas Meyer has described Star Trek as a “religion without theology.”

Gene Roddenberry is quoted about this: “I’m not a guru. … I certainly didn’t write Scripture and my feeling is that those who did weren’t treated very well in the end.”

Live Long and Prosper!

Clark, Mark, Star Trek FAQ. Everything Left to Know About the First Voyages of the Starship Enterprise (Milwaukee, WI: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2012)

Film Comment: The Box

The premise of The Box (2009) is simple. A nice couple's world is going nowhere. They (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) are not poor but are having money troubles. Norma and Arthur Lewis are comfortable but not satisfied. They are in careers which do not bring them personal fulfillment. Then Mr. Steward, the always creepy Frank Langella) arrives with The Box and the proposition.

The box is just that, a wooden box, otherwise totally empty. On the top of the box is a red button. Mr. Steward explains the offer being made by his "employers." He opens a briefcase and shows the couple the $1,000,000 carefully stacked inside. All the couple has to do is to push the button. These are the conditions of the offer:

1. When you push the button someone whom you do not know will die.
2. Mr, Steward will hand you the briefcase and walk away.
3. You are not allowed to ask any questions.
4. If you say no, Mr, Steward will simply walk away with the box and the money.
5. If you tell anyone else about the offer, the offer is terminated.

Of course, the couple decides to push the button, not really believing that anything will happen.  Then Mr. Steward delivers the money.

When Norma and Arthur try to give back the money, Mr. Steward tells them, "I'm sorry, Mr. Lewis, the button has been pushed." And later, he says, "If you didn't want anyone to get hurt, you shouldn't have pushed the button." It is obvious that the only way to pass the test is by not pushing the button.

There are numerous ideas invoked by this film.

1. Mr. Steward can be seen as a type of the Serpent and Norma and Arthur of Adam and Eve.
2. Eternal damnation and the possibility of redemption are mentioned but there is no mention of Jesus.
3. Arthur and Norma are being held personally responsible for their actions but their actions also have global consequences.
4. The belief that "we" are somehow superior to some unidentified "other person." If we profit by their death but are not personally involved in that death are we in some way guilty? What if they were a "bad" person?
5. Is there any way we can undo the bad things we have done?

There are many criticisms which can be leveled at this film. One which bothered me very much as a Southerner was the totally awful attempt at a Southern accent by Cameron Diaz. James Marsden does not seem to have even tried to sound Southern.

This is not a Christian film. It is not even a very good film. Parts of it border on incoherency. The name of the polite and friendly "villain" is Mr. Steward, who is faithfully working for his "employers." The film hints at control of the Earth by an extraterrestrial group with the compliance and assistance of the American government. There is a hint that the Earth may face destruction if we are judged to have failed in this "experiment." This is somehow tied to a very amorphous and numinous idea of the afterlife. The idea actually works better in the original short story written by Richard Matheson.

The Lord's Prayer in Klingon

Klingon (actually Tlhingan) is a fictional language created by the linguist Marc Okrand for the Klingon race of aliens featured in the numerous Star Trek movies and television series. The Klingons are an interplanetary race of fierce warriors who control the vast expanses of outer space claimed by the Klingon Empire.

Klingon has been built up into a full totally functional language with a written form, literature, plays, operas, translations of The Bible and the works of William Shakespeare, and even dictionaries. There are now estimated to be 50,000 to 100,000 people who are fluent in the language. Below is The Lord's Prayer in spoken Klingon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbRTFfdeIj8  

Film Comment: Ancient Relic

The general consensus of the internet discussion about Ancient Relic (original title: Das Jesus Video), a German language made for television movie, is that it is rather lackluster and mundane.  The film will nevr win any awards.  It is a competent but obviously low-budget production.

Basically, the plot of Ancient Relic is this: an archeological crew in Israel discovers a previously unknown 2000 year old burial chamber containing a skeleton.  Nothing unusual there.  Then they notice that some of the skeleton’s teeth have modern amalgam fillings.  Then they notice the titanium rod and screws in the leg.  Then they notice the camcorder instruction manual.  Things really heat up when they find the word “Jesus” handwritten on the manual.  This would indicate that a time traveler may have made a videotape of Jesus.

Nefarious types suddenly appear and everyone begins trying to capture the young graduate student who discovered the tomb.  Everyone is convinced that he knows more than he actually does. Bullets fly, chases ensue, people are murdered, and the movie becomes a violent political chase thriller.  The persons pursuing the student are revealed to be associated with the Roman Catholic Church.

In case you think you might actually want to view this film, be aware that this next section contains SPOILERS.

A company owned by the ruthless man who has financed all the mayhem just happens to have also financed time travel research.  When the camcorder itself is actually found, the recording reveals that the graduate student is the time traveler.  The recording also reveals the dessicated corpse of a bearded man, presumed to be Jesus.

The film portrays the Roman Catholic Church as a giant political organization willing to use any means, even murder, to get what it wants.  The film is also a direct denial of the truth of the Resurrection.

On a simple story level, there are numerous plot holes present in this film.  The most glaring question: would a person not be expected to recognize his own handwriting?

What They Think of Us: God Blames Us for His Mistakes

“We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing, all-powerful God, who creates faulty humans and then blames them for his own mistakes.’  Gene Roddenberry (1921, Texas, USA - 1991), American television screenwriter and producer, World War II combat pilot, police officer.  Roddenberry was the creator of the classic television program, Star Trek.  He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

This is a common criticism of Christianity from nonbelievers and it should not just be dismissed out of hand.  It assumes that God, if He exists, is flawed and imperfect, or even that He is unfair.  The challenge requires an answer.  How would you answer?

Christian Illustrators: Tim Baron

This is a new recurrent feature on this blog.  I will provide links to the websites of Christian illustrators.  Today: Tim Baron .

Film Comment: A Clockwork Orange

I have to admit that A Clockwork Orange (1971) is one of my favorite films.  I believe it is one of the films, like Citizen Kane and Casablanca, which is nearly perfectly made.  Every element, every sound, every piece of scenery, every piece of clothing, every facial expression; it is all essential to the totality of the film.  This is not a pretty film and the "hero" is a monster of the worst sort.  The film grabs your emotions and evokes revulsion and horror at the creature, Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell).  What happens to Alex pulls the viewer into feeling sympathy, even pity, for him.  At Alex's triumph, the viewer may well feel that justice has been done.  The reason that this film is so important, and is studied in every film school, is that it forces the viewer to think.

Based on the same-named science-fiction novel by Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange was long thought to be unfilmable.  The film retains the odd slang and nihilist, crumbling culture of the novel.  The legal authorities are useless and ineffectual, so much so that Alex's gang, his three Droogies, can be deputized.  This is like hiring cannibals to babysit your children for a week.  

In a near-future dystopian England, Alex DeLarge leads his droogies on nightly rages of rape, bloody violence, and murder.  Alex and the boys respect no one and nothing  and fuel their rages with "milk plus" (milk spiked with mind-altering drugs).  The mindless sprees are set to classical music because the only thing Alex loves, besides himself, is the music of "Ludwig van" (good old Beethoven).

On a particularly violent night, Alex is betrayed by his droogies and is captured by the police.  In prison, Alex becomes the subject of a horrifying mind-altering experiment which causes him to become nauseous at the mere passing thought of committing violence.  And to Alex's horror, nausea upon hearing any music by his beloved Ludwig van.

Released as a totally reformed gentle man, Alex soon finds he has a very big problem.  His former victims remember him very well and he vomits at the thought of defending himself against them.  A true lose-lose situation.

The horrified authorities hadn't intended this outcome and feel that they have little choice but to change Alex bag to his old evil self.  Alex, of course, is delighted.

This film raises many questions: personal responsibility, free will, determinism, the nature of evil, and society's legitimate response to violence.  As surgical and pharmaceutical advances make transformations such as this entirely possible, should they be used in violation of the free will of the transgressor?  Would  a transformed criminal really be a reformed man?

Does society have the right to incarcerate or even to kill to maintain the public good?  Does society have the right to force individuals to submit to procedures which may "correct" their behavior?  Who decides what is "correct" behavior?  Does "correct" behavior include "correct" thought?  Does society have the right to screen and "treat" persons because their genetic profile says they may commit crimes in the future?

Realize if you decide to view A Clockwork Orange that it portrays extreme violence, rape, human medical experimentation, sexual situations, nudity, and phallic images.  Two excellent films with similar subject matter are Minority Report and GATTACA.

Film Comment: Splice

"She's not human ... not entirely."  This is the tagline for the truly disturbing 2009 Canadian science fiction film, Splice , starring Academy Award winner (2002) Adrien Brody, Canadian actress Sarah Polley, and French actress Delphine Chaneac in the role as the adult creature/specimen/thing/woman.  When I saw this film , I heard someone say that they felt like they needed a bath upon leaving the theater. It is that intense, bizarre, and perverse.

A male-female genetic research team (Brody and Polley) at the Nucleic Exchange Research and Development laboratory (N.E.R.D.) are working on creating hybrid animals (mixing genetic material from several species) for medical use.  When their funding is threatened they rush to accelerate their results and secretly add human DNA (their own) to the mix.  A viable little bird-like thing results.  They name it Dren (N.E.R.D. spelled backwards) because the female researcher almost immediately takes a mothering attitude toward the creature and insists that it is not a "specimen."

Dren cannot speak, after all, she is an animal; she coos like a bird.  She proves to be inquisitive, intelligent, graceful, and she grows at an alarming rate.  She is an adult within days.  She is tall and slender with a beautifully innocent face, her knees bend backward instead of forward, her feet resemble hands, and she has a long prehensile tail tipped with a poisonous stinger.

As she matures, Dren becomes very noticeably female and increasingly seductive. "Poppa" makes the mistake of spending time alone with her and willingly/unwillingly ends up as the object of her intense attention.  Then his wife catches them.  He is having sex with his "daughter," he is having sex with an animal, he is having sex with himself.  Dren is all three.

This film touches on the subjects of cloning, responsibility toward our offspring, aberrant sexuality, intense self pride, and amoral scientific research just for the "science."  It is, in reality, a variant on the Frankenstein theme.

The most disturbing thing about this film is that it is on the edge of no longer being science fiction.  Much of science fiction eventually becomes science fact.  Jules Verne wrote of space travel and submarines; now they are established fact.  On the first Star Trek television series, the characters would reach into their pockets and pull out their personal communicators; we now call them cell phones.

Modern molecular biology can already insert DNA sequences into bacteria and cause them to produce synthetic chemicals they would normally not produce.  The entire human genome has now been deciphered with the prospect of the ability to insert healthy DNA sequences in place of faulty ones.  The mutant genetic sequence which causes the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus to be resistant to methicillin (MRSA) can be detected in one hour from a nasal swab.

Artificial life may be just around the corner.  It may already be here.  In 2010, Dr. John Craig Venter of Utah, USA announced the creation of an artificial bacterium using synthetic DNA.  His research is aimed at producing modified microorganisms which can produce clean fuels and biochemicals.

Christians believe that God is the Creator.  There are so many questions. What will it mean if man also is a creator?  What will God think of our glorification of the human intellect?  Does God intend for us to learn all things?   Are there things we should not learn?  Are there things we should not do even if they are possible? Do scientists bear any responsibility for their discoveries?  What if our science creates a Dren?

The Christian Origins of Several Science Fiction Writers

Science fiction is often considered to be an atheist endeavor and many science fiction writers would agree.  It is interesting though, how many of them had religious upbringings, many specifically Christian.

Robert A. Heinlein, Baptist; Gene Rodenberry, Baptist; Jules Verne, Roman Catholic; J.R.R. Tolkein, Roman Catholic; Stanislaw Lem, Roman Catholic;  Karel Capek,  Roman Catholic; Anthony Burgess,  Roman Catholic; Jerry Pournelle,  Roman Catholic; George Lucas, Methodist; Stephen King, Methodist; Beverly Cleary, Presbyterian; Piers Anthony, Quaker. 

Marcher Lord Press

In medieval times a marcher lord was a knight who was given lands on the extreme borders of the kingdom.  His charge was to patrol and protect the territory and to develop it to the point where it would no longer be the "frontier."

Jeff Gerke is the founder and owner of Marcher Lord Press, which publishes Christian speculative fiction.  Marcher Lord (http://www.marcherlordpress.com/ ) is an actual small run publisher, not a vanity press, and uses a POD (printing on demand) format.  Instead of print runs in the thousands, a print run is one book.  A successful book may sell hundreds of copies instead of thousands.

Seminary trained Gerke is a novelist, editor, and now, publisher.  His company fills a niche, with Christian fiction which a Christian Booksellers Association publisher would not consider.

My own personal interest in Marcher Lord came about because I have several unpublished science fiction novels either completed or in progress.  Marcher Lord is not Doubleday or Putnam or Scholastic, but it apparently has hundreds of aspiring authors who have submitted novels for Mr. Gerke's consideration.  So many, in fact, that he has had to close his acquisitions for up to a full year because of his backlog of submissions.

Science Fiction Writers

Science fiction is often considered to be an atheist endeavor and many science fiction writers would agree. it is interesting though, how may of them had religious upbringings, many specifically Christian.

Robert A. Heinlein, Baptist; Gene Roddenberry, Baptist; Jules Verne, Roman Catholic; J.R.R. Tolkein, Roman Catholic; Stanislaw Lem, Roman Catholic; Karel Capek, Roman Catholic; Anthony Burgess, Roman Catholic; Jerry Pournelle, Roman Catholic; George Lucas, Methodist; Stephen King, Methodist; Beverly Cleary, Presbyterian; Piers Anthony, Quaker;

"Dear Lucky Agent" Contest

I have submitted an entry into the "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest currently being run by Guide to Literary Agents, one of the blogs in my list below. The genre for this particular contest is Fantasy and Science Fiction and I have submitted my novel, Chosen, which is best described as a Crossover Christian Young Adult Military Science Fiction Romance. The designation "crossover" means that the novel could be considered for publication into both the Christian and secular markets. Crossover Christian novels such as Chosen often contain no overt supernatural elements.

As you may know from my profile, I am a published writer; not at the level I would wish, but published nonetheless. Some say that science fiction is atheistic, but that is because we have not yet adequately staked our claim to at least one corner of the genre. My novel, Chosen, is my attempt to do so and is in keeping with the stated aims of this blog.

κηρυσσων την βασιλειαν του θεου και διδασκων τα περι του κυριου ιησου χριστου μετα πασης παρρησιας ακωλυτως.
A themed blog based on the idea that Christians should be, and are, in every nook and cranny and that they should, and do, excel in every field. Comments on films, current events, doctrinal questions, ethics, science, humor, etc. Recurrent postings will feature Christians, Film Comments, Book Comments. Readers are encouraged to comment and to suggest new topics.

My Bibliography

A new item on my blog is my bibliography page. The link is located in a sidebar on the right side of the page. The bibliography lists books and magazine articles I have written plus reviews and listings of my work.

Film Comment: Vegas in Space

Vegas in Space (1991) is one of the weirdest movies you will ever see.

Three outer space soldiers take pills to transform themselves into women in order to go undercover (as showgirls!) to Vegas in Space, the capital city of an all-female planet. They're there trying to find out who stole Queen Veneer's jewels.

All but two of the parts are played by drag queens, two of whom died of AIDS the same year the film was released. There are unrelenting gowns, glitter, wigs, thick pancake makeup, 27 cent sets, and atrocious over-acting. This movie is up your nose with all it's garishness. I suspect that it is not really intended so much as a film but as an in your face "so what do I care what you think?" statement. It drips hostility to societal norms from every sequin.

What the film actually represents is the final level of moral relativism, where each person defines their own "truth." Each person lives as they choose unconstrained by any norms or common moral ground; "being themselves." Man has no higher judge and any moral rules are merely individual preferences. Many see this as ultimate freedom and personal valuation but, in truth, it declares that there is no real value to anything, including human life. Human life can be manipulated and even discarded, The door is open to the development of fascism.