Richard Brandt

I do not dislike Jennifer Lopez but she is often mis cast. However, just like I couldn’t buy Kelly McGillis as a fighter jet instructor in Top Gun (yeah, right?!?!) The movie feels like Ms Lopez went to her agent and said “I want a movie like Sigourney Weaver in ALIENS” and Atlas was the result. The movie is fine for lovers of sci-fi and special effects, but having a hot babe with a Bronx accent (I grew up in the Bronx) as the brains behind all AI on the Earth hundreds of years from now is a tough sell.

I have been a huge Star Trek fan since the very earliest days of re-runs. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the entire cast, stories and, well, everything about TOS. Now that I’m 57 and went through every permutation of ST TV and movies, I am now extremely devoted to Discovery! What is most difficult for me, and I believe many others...nothing is ever like your first! But, you must look beyond those trappings of what is sentimental and look watch closely, and if you can see the true Trek, the Roddenberry dream then you should get there as I have. Suspended your preconceived notions as warp drive and matter/anti-matter power suspended our disbelief. It’s true that it’s not easy to go from low budget Trek to big budget, movie quality Trek. But will season 9 of Discovery move back to plywood sets and blinking lights? No, it’s TV, and it’s 50+ years later. Sure, It’s difficult to have to face the fact the latest Trek is NOT targeted me at 57 in their crosshairs- it MUST appeal to people who are half my age and don’t know what a “Horta” is! William Shatner doesn’t look the same today as when he fought a Gorn. That is LIFE! I absolutely love Michael Burnham and many others. It’s difficult to swallow the super technology 10 years prior to Kirk and that the tech is SO MUCH more advanced. But is it TRUE TREK in its heart? YES, VERY MUCH SO! That this is not a dystopian future, ST is all about what humankind CAN do, we didn’t fail, we fought for love to trump hate, Discovery is a show that is a prism that looks at today, but opens up tomorrow- Imagine a WH run by such character and devotion to humanity? Realize, science fiction is the vehicle that delivers the excitement and cool stuff- but so long as our best values solve all problems, that all people are truly equal- Then Roddenberry’s dream has lasted and is still relevant!