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Sundays are now lazy days for me. Going forward, I’m just going to re-post other people’s work or just do something silly. Today it’s … well, let’s just say I refuse to let this go, both the meme and the underlying issue.
Star Trek >> Star Wars.
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I love Star Trek: Discovery, but season 3 of DISCO ended with quite a let down. There were two basic premises of the season that really hooked me: A jump to the far future, and the mystery of the “Burn.” The crew probably won’t ever be going back in time, so we’ll always have that. The mystery of the “Burn,” however, was quite disappointing. That’s a lost opportunity to tell a cool story. I did like that they had a good reason to show Doug Jones without all the makeup. 🙂
The one constant complaint I have about all seasons is that the crewmembers are often people that have no business serving on what is (despite the claims to the contrary) a military vessel. This season exacerbated that by, among other things, having characters asking permission to be leaders. Seriously. More than once. That’s not how leadership works, but it’s how non-leader types want to believe it works, and that’s a lot of the fanbase. That’s harder to believe than warp drive and energy beings.
Still, I don’t regret watching the show. It’s Star Trek. I’m always going to watch, but I’m very concerned with the direction of the writing. A shake up behind the curtain is probably needed. DISCO has a lot of haters, and I don’t want this new wave of Star Trek television to fail.
YMMV.
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When I provide my opinion of movies and TV shows, I try to explain why I liked them. That is, I share a personality trait or life experience that likely made me like or dislike it. If you and I share that trait or experience that the movie or show triggered, then you can reasonably rely on my review. Otherwise, my opinion shouldn’t mean anything to you.
For example, imagine you’re a professional food critic. You tell me that there’s this new product from Kraft called, let’s say, Cocktoasten. You tell me that the combination of herbs and spices are phenomenal and like nothing you’ve ever tasted. I should absolutely try it. The problem is that it’s simply a new form of mac and cheese, and I hate cheese. (I know, I know. That’s weird. Try to stay focused on my point.) It doesn’t matter how good the cheese is; it’s cheese, so I hate it. That’s true of any food. It’s all subjective and pretending that your critique is solely objective is dishonest to your audience and probably yourself.
Clearly, the same thing is true of movies and TV shows, though it’s anymore complex analysis. Certain themes draw some of us in that may leave others uninspired. These often override any objective measures of filmmaking (though these measures are still important). After all, I liked Green Lantern. Because movie and TV critics tend to arrogantly think that their opinions are objective truths, I never listen to them.
The Midnight Sky
This movie is getting hammered by the critics, and obliterated by the audience, and I understand why. It’s not good storytelling, bouncing between two stories that meet at the end in the most predictable of ways. Some people make some dumb decisions along the way. Nevertheless, I really liked it. Why? Because it hit a particularly strong chord with me. As predictable as the ending is, sharing this nature of this chord would be a massive spoiler. That demonstrates yet another reason why reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. The things that may turn you off or on may not be sharable.
I can’t expect anyone else to like this movie, but if there’s a lesson in this post, it’s that ultimately you must form your own opinions, which can vary wildly from the masses. Hence, the notion of guilty pleasures. Unfortunately, with all the content out there and limited time to watch, that can be frustrating.
Obviously, YMMV.
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As you probably know, YouTube left the “original streaming content” business and sold Cobra Kai to Netflix. Season 3 dropped yesterday, and of course I watched all 5 hours of it immediately, even though it’s not all good.
First off, the good. These writers know how to appeal to the nostalgia, in part because the Karate Kid intellectual property was their favorite. Almost every moment with Daniel, Johnny, and the other characters from the movies hits old guys like me (52 years and counting) right in the gut. They also know how to write in general. The scripts flow brilliantly from one scene to the other. I hate flashbacks, but even that works here.
Now for the bad. As I said, I’m an old guy. The entire storyline surrounding the kids is uninteresting to me. I know why they’re doing it — that’s what the entire intellectual property is about — but I’ve never understood my fellow nerds’ obsession with child protagonists. Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Ender’s Game … none of those interest me. Our primary function as adults is to protect children, not to worship them or even place them as equals. It’s a dynamic I always found weird (and counterproductive), so as an old guy, I just don’t care about the conflict between the kids, and the unrealistic portrayal of what they can do.
In fact, there are many problems with how the show deals with the law, and, sadly, martial arts itself, but as I’ve written about in other contexts, that’s almost always the case. Sometimes you have to beat the audience over the head with overstatement and extreme imagery in order for them to get your point. Ergo, we have Hollywood’s unofficial mantra: Never let the law, science, or common sense get in the way of a good story. Who am I to judge? I love the MCU. 🙂
Again, I don’t fault the writers. This is what the Karate Kid is all about, and they’re not just writing for me. I’ve just outgrown the original genre. But despite that, this show is still fantastic because, unlike many writers, these writers know how to write for multiple audiences. Based on what I’ve seen recently, that’s apparently not an easy feat.
There’s just too much in this show I love for me to be distracted by the things I don’t. I’m looking forward to season 4. As always, YMMV.
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