Taking Star Trek Seriously

In a recent interview with BBC, Stuart Baird director of Star Trek Nemesis said:

I know the fans take it hugely seriously. I took it very seriously to give you two hours of entertainment, with as much bang for your buck, and thrills, spills, emotion, and humour. That was my task, and not to get too precious about it(TrekWeb).

What Mr Baird does not understand is that Star Trek is not just a franchise to write in, Star Trek is the mythology that many SF fans grew up with. The characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy were not just people I watched on TV, they were role models who taught me what it means to be a responsible person.

Gene Roddenberry is responsible for the morality and ethics I still live my life by. The philosophy of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination) is the cornerstone of how I see the world. It is the philosophy I try to promote in everything that I do. My personal character was shaped by the logic of the Vulcans and the honor of the Klingons.

Star Trek is not just a group of characters that it is fun to watch, they are the archetypes that taught many of us how to live. These characters to us are like the Greek heros, or Beowulf. They are part of our culture. We are upset when we see our culture misrepresented and misused in an attempt to make a profit. It is even worse when that scheme fails.

I do take Star Trek too seriously, but these are the stories that taught me how to live. I do not like to see them denigrated. I would think that would be easy for people to understand.