Question for the Star Trek people

[Daumantas]

I'm not a hardcore fan, but I watch "The Next Generation" and the original series often enough to know who's who and what's going on and the like.

My question arose the other night while watching the "Generations" movie. The movie presents a gateway (or something) called the Nexus, where one is whisked into a paradise-like state. Picard finds Kirk there and yanks him out.

The rationale the movie presents for why they should leave the Nexus? "It isn't real."

This is the thing that bugs me the most about Star Trek - its insistence on one cold, hard, scientific reality as The Real Thing, and every notion of an alternative plane of existence as illusion. (Or, to paraphrase David Brenner, if you can't eat it or cut it with a knife, it isn't real.)

The ending of "Generations" felt flat to me for this reason. Naturally, if you're in some paradise being fanned and fed grapes by Cindy Crawford and her identical twin sister, and it's pointed out to you that this is just a hallucination, you can't make a strong case for staying.

But how much more intriguing it would have been, say, to suggest that the Nexus was a real, viable alternate plane of existence; but that both Kirk and Picard, despite being tempted, felt they had to leave (out of duty or loyalty or the like); yet they both yearned for what they had given up.

Just wondering how the hardcore Star Trek folks here feel about this. Anyone else feel that the series take on Reality (there is but one comprehensible Reality; anything else is "not real") is confining?

 

[qjakal]

Script...

needed tweaking. "Generations" was a manufactured commodity used to "link" the fans of both shows, and the script reflected this desire above all and at the expense of plot points such as the one you've mentioned. Most movies have similar holes, some big enough to drive trucks through, and I've begun to despair of the damn media. THEN along comes LOTR and does a spectacular job overall and you see what can be done with a bit of professionalism and some work (as well as a trillion $ budget, of course...lol).

Hopefully Nemesis will be a bit tighter at the very least... Q

 

[Flatfoot]

If I remember correctly, there was an episode of Star Trek TNG in which Worf was in a shuttlecraft, which broke an opening in reality, allowing a bunch of alternate realities to spew forth. He was getting confused and ticked off because stuff kept changing on him. One minute, Riker was romantically involved with Counselor Troi, the next thing you know, HE was involved with her. At some point, the hole burst open, and Enterprises started materializing all over space, and the sh*t was going crazy. Well, meaningless rant set aside, they have tapped into alternate realities before. As far as Generations and the Nexus, they probably could have had Picard yearning for what he had in his grasp, since it was supposedly desirable enough for the villain to go chasing after it for a lifetime. It would've made sense. It's hard to put yourself in his shoes, though, since who has ever actually had losses or regrets about things in the past, and then have an alternate reality thrust in their face in which they could live without those losses and regrets? Since it doesn't sound possible, it's hard to judge appropriate feelings. If it was me, I'd probably have to raise the bullsh*t flag. Never been in the situation, though.


Chris