Anomaly Podcast

[X]

Great podcast, ladies. I loved every aspect of the movie--even though I had some baby issues of my own--and your points of view are always interesting, fun, and quite valid.

On the subject of Uhura, I kind of disagree with the idea that making her a love interest sets her back a little bit. It was a little weird at first because I wasn't really expecting it from the episodes I've seen. I liked it though, and I have a few friends who liked it as well, and they're more well-versed in the Star Trek universe than I am. I personally think the idea of a relationship between the two adds a new dimension to their characters as well as draw in the female crowd with something other than attractive leading men. I saw an added vulnerability for Spock and Uhura, who have this guard up from the very beginning of the film. I don't think Uhura's character loses any of her feminist-like qualities because of that. Then again, I'm a romantic at heart and seeing anybody a relationship makes me happy inside. Well, almost anybody. I would've been upset with a Kirk/Uhura pairing too. :P

BTW, I too am against a Buffy movie without Joss. I don't mind reboots, sometimes they work out, but riding on the coattails of Star Trek's reboot and Twilight's vampire craze for the sake of making money is just something I will not condone.

I just sent them my comments on Uhura and a new Buffy movie. I loved the podcast, but they wanted comments

[Jen]

Great job ladies. But I have 2 things that I have to add:

1. I understand where you're coming from on prefering that the Captain gives the "These are the voyages" speech, and I'm sure in the next one that Chris Pine will be the one to do that. However, I think the point of having Leonard Nimoy do it (and this is just my opinion, I haven't read this anywhere), in addition to what you said about respect for him and this possibly being his last movie, is that it's part of passing the torch to the new cast. Just like his comment at the end on the balcony "Thrusters on full...", he's partly reminiscing and yet he's also looking forward to what this new crew is going to experience out there.

Some people have said that they don't think Leonard Nimoy was crucial to the story, but I disagree; to me, he was there to sell us on the new cast. The moment in the cave when he turned around and said "Jim! How did you find me?" At that moment, Chris Pine became James T. Kirk, because Leonard Nimoy's Spock had said it. So, in my opinion, having him give the closing speech was a way of saying "I'm Leonard Nimoy and I support the new cast of Star Trek. These are the characters that you know and love. And their mission continues..."

2. Y'all know I have nothin' but love for ya (DISCLAIMER: I throw that in to appeal to your kindly southern nature 'cause I certainly don't want to offend, nor do I want you to fly to Vegas and beat me senseless, or more senseless depending on who you ask), but I'm a little dissapointed that you self-professed Star Trek fangirls still have not picked up and read the prequel comic, Star Trek: Countdown. So many of the little nitpicks you brought out are addressed by that comic. I know some people think that you shouldn't have to read something additional to understand the story, that the movie should fully flesh out the story, and while I agree with that in most cases, doing so in this instance would have made the movie too long for the general audience, which would then defeat half of the purpose of the movie, which is to draw new fans. Besides most of the nitpicks you mention are really only going to be caught by the fans, or by those who dig deeper and get more analytical. The general audience is going to walk in, enjoy the rollercoaster, and walk out. The writing team had every reason to believe that the fans would hear about, and subsequently buy, this comic and read it prior to opening day (although, I admit, it could have been marketed a little better, I barely found out about it in time, and my buddy didn't know about it at all). So while I understand your point, I just can't in good conscience dock them points for that.

I'd threaten to revoke your geek card, but I'm still sore from the last time I tried to do that.  :old_bash:

First, thanks for the comments everyone. We do appreciate feedback, even if you don't agree. Secondly, to tweak the words of Charlton Heston: "you can pry my geek card from my cold dead hands". LOL, I think you're forgetting that we are Anomalies. There are certain aspects of our 'geekish nature' that walk the line between mainstream and nerdom. That's why we do the show.

I have freely admitted this before: I DISLIKE comic books. I've tried them, believe me, but I can't get into them. Here's why: I am an artist/designer. Aesthetics is a HUGE influence on me. Oftentimes I cannot purchase a book because I dislike the jacket design. I know...I know...'never buy a book by its cover'. Sorry, I do that for a living...I can't move past it.  If I can't get into the art in a comic, it distracts me from the story. I can not read if the art screams at me. And, as I mentioned in our latest episode, I remained spoiler free until the movie hit the theaters. I wanted to watch the FILM and get the story from the movie, not a supplemental comic book. :)

As for Angela's views, they are just that, opinions. And while I found them interesting, and I agreed with some of her points, I did play Devi's Advocate. I brought up Uhura's strong suits to play against Angela's points. Yet, Uhura was the only female on screen and the majority of her screen time was spent being the point in a potential love triangle.  If you email the show, I'll have Angela address the comments you guys have and allow her to elaborate on her own in the next show. BUT I like that the controversy has sparked debate!!!!!! I think this is the liveliest this thread has ever been! LOL :D Stay tuned for the next genre dis. Maybe we should tick off Star Wars fans in the next show. ;)

I think it's healthy to look at the pros and cons of things. I don't believe this movie is the best Trek film I've ever seen. I am a Star Trek fan but I am one who likes fine points, unlike nonfans who came into the theater knowing nothing of Star Trek; they were wooed by action. They weren't looking for depth. I had fun and enjoyed it because it's more of my beloved Trek, but I'm not going to give it a pass. First Contact is still my favorite; I thought he story was more solid. But that's just me. :) To each his/her own.

[Jen]

Well, just as I posted the comment above, I checked Anomaly's email and saw we had many comments on our Trek minicast. Dude...we need to make waves more often. ;)  Anyway, Angela actually replied to someone. She's so busy, she never has an opportunity, but since the email pertained to what she said about the Uhura/Spock relationship, she took some time to reply.

Here's what she said:


   
show details 7:21 PM (2 hours ago)

Well, this makes me feel like we need to have controvertial stances on all of our podcasts.

About Uhura.... to be honest the point that I brought up was very "of the moment". So I don't know if I am prepared to do a college level argument that would satisfy anyone's or everyone's inquiries. But I will try. As Jen said, in the Treks in Sci Fi podcast I mentioned that I enjoyed the relationship because Uhura is an intuitive, emotional character and Spock is just the opposite. I enjoyed that thematically. I don't know that I would have done anything different. Please understand that my criticism is only from a certain point of view, not even MY only point of view. And I do not see this as a question with a right or wrong answer, but a matter of discussion that is worth bringing up.

That being said, historically she is a female empowerment role model. Whether I agree or not, my point was that the argument could be made that by making her a love interest, regardless of her other strong and positive qualities, it relegates her to the role of Spock's chick. Jen had said that she was playing Devil's Advocate, conversely I believe I began by playing Devil's Advocate and brought up the topic purely for argument's sake.

I am glad that this started a discussion and that we can spark more discussion. I hope we hear from more fans about this subject. Thank you for writing.

Respectfully,

Angela

P.S. I adore Troi and Crusher who both had relationships in the crew that did not diminish them as women or powerful women. So it can be done.

[Jaames]

I have freely admitted this before: I DISLIKE comic books. I've tried them, believe me, but I can't get into them. Here's why: I am an artist/designer. Aesthetics is a HUGE influence on me. Oftentimes I cannot purchase a book because I dislike the jacket design. I know...I know...'never buy a book by its cover'. Sorry, I do that for a living...I can't move past it.  If I can't get into the art in a comic, it distracts me from the story. I can not read if the art screams at me. And, as I mentioned in our latest episode, I remained spoiler free until the movie hit the theaters. I wanted to watch the FILM and get the story from the movie, not a supplemental comic book. :)

At the risk of sounding creepy, I would be happy to narrate the comic to you so that you don't have to suffer through the artwork. :ohmy

I was adamant that my wife read the comic prior to going because I wanted to give her the best possible chance of enjoying it. However, she is not much of a reader and subsequently asked that I just "read it to her".

"It's a GRAPHIC novel", i said. "What good is it without the pictures?"

"Honey, just break it down for me" she replied.

So I proceeded to give her a 30 to 40 minute summation of the events contained in the comic.... maybe that's why she didn't like the movie very much... my storytelling was SOOOO good that JJ and crew just paled by comparison.

Huh? What's that? That's not it? Oh... oops.

[X]

This is why I love your podcast! I think that your points and counter points were both quite valid. I try to respond to when you ask for comments and I hope this didn't cause you an avalanche of emails.

[Bryancd]

Fun show, gal's! I wish you both had the time to do more. I completely understand where Angela is coming from. I felt the Uhura character was so much better defined as a strong individual character than ever before but then making her in a relationship with Spock made her character a bit more traditional or movie pedestrian, if you will. I think it would have been more interesting to see the relationship actually devlop as opposed to it already just being.

I do have two other questions. Did you say Kirk's mother dies at the beginning? I was under the impression she survived and only George died. Also, Jen, did you say Saavik was Spock's wife?   :confused

[billybob476]

Yes, Spock's mother survived. With regard to Uhura: I really like what they did with her. They fleshed her out a lot more then she ever was in the show. On top of that, they gave her the 'relationship' responsibility for marketing purposes. Every movie needs a relationship.

What I DO like about the relationship is that it WAS NOT with Kirk. Also I think it's an interesting relationship as Spock was clearly one of Uhura's instructors at the academy. Scandalous! :)

Also, now that you mention it, Uhura really does remind me a lot of Dee from BSG. Very interesting show.

[Feathers]

Yes, good show but I have to stick my head above the parapet with Jaames...have the comics read to you!

I agree that you shouldn't 'need' the extra meterial but then I don't think most people do need it. It's only the uber-Trek geeks that it helps and having the film cater for them/us would probably break it too much for everyone else.

[X]

Fun show, gal's! I wish you both had the time to do more. I completely understand where Angela is coming from. I felt the Uhura character was so much better defined as a strong individual character than ever before but then making her in a relationship with Spock made her character a bit more traditional or movie pedestrian, if you will. I think it would have been more interesting to see the relationship actually devlop as opposed to it already just being.

I do have two other questions. Did you say Kirk's mother dies at the beginning? I was under the impression she survived and only George died. Also, Jen, did you say Saavik was Spock's wife?   :confused

Yeah, she said Savvik is Spock's wife. In the novels, she becomes that. One of the cut scenes in search for spock actually reveals that she got pregnant from helping Spock with his pon farr. Later book writers turned that connection into marriage. There are a lot of books on it and On screen picard mentions that he was once at Spock's wedding.

[Archangela]

TO Bryancd: I do agree that it may have been different if we had seen the relationship develop. Very good point. Thank you. 

[Jen]

Yes, good show but I have to stick my head above the parapet with Jaames...have the comics read to you!

I agree that you shouldn't 'need' the extra meterial but then I don't think most people do need it. It's only the uber-Trek geeks that it helps and having the film cater for them/us would probably break it too much for everyone else.

LOL. Jaames is going to read them to us? Cool...Record it and we'll play clips on our next show where we sift through all the feedback we've had on this topic. That would be cool!

Someone emailed us and told us that he read the comics and they did not explain anything about the timeline because all it did not take place at the same time and it simply talked about Picard or something. Can someone elaborate?

[Jen]

I do have two other questions. Did you say Kirk's mother dies at the beginning? I was under the impression she survived and only George died. Also, Jen, did you say Saavik was Spock's wife?   :confused

No. I don't think we said Kirk's mom died. We were talking about Amanda dying at one point in our conversation...  Oh and Saavik and Spock were married in Vulcan's Heart written by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz.

[Feathers]

Yes, good show but I have to stick my head above the parapet with Jaames...have the comics read to you!

I agree that you shouldn't 'need' the extra meterial but then I don't think most people do need it. It's only the uber-Trek geeks that it helps and having the film cater for them/us would probably break it too much for everyone else.

LOL. Jaames is going to read them to us? Cool...Record it and we'll play clips on our next show where we sift through all the feedback we've had on this topic. That would be cool!

Someone emailed us and told us that he read the comics and they did not explain anything about the timeline because all it did not take place at the same time and it simply talked about Picard or something. Can someone elaborate?

Correct. The comics take place in the Prime universe up to and including the destruction of Romulus and Spock's attempt to destroy the supernova with the Red stuff.

I think the comments you saw about the film background itself came from the bbo thread here (Kirk's wife being an officer too).

Oh...and you did say Kirk's mum died...I think you just got the wrong parent. :)

[Jen]

I guess it was a slip up. I didn't even realize I said it. My bad.

[Bryancd]

Oh and Saavik and Spock were married in Vulcan's Heart written by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz.

Ah, never read that one. But here's a question. You said you shouldn't have to read the comic to enjoy the film and I agree. But you thought the film having a Spock/Uhura relationship stepped on the fact that Spock was married to Saavik, but that was from a book! Do the books/comics count?