10 Reasons Bob Orci Directing Star Trek 3 Is The Dumbest Decision Ever
3. He Doesnt Understand Star Trek
The one thing that would really help the rebooted Star Trek movies achieve some credibility is relatively a simple fix. They just need someone on the team who has watched and understood Star Trek more than just on the superficial level. JJ Abrams made it quite clear from the beginning that he was never a fan of Star Trek. Out of all the team at Bad Robot, Bob Orci was the one who was wheeled out as their resident Star Trek fan. But has he demonstrated that he knows what Star Trek is about in its core? No he hasnt! He might be responsible for the inclusion of Tribbles, Section 31 and the nonsensical remake of The Wrath Of Khan that was the climax of Star Trek Into Darkness, but that isnt what Star Trek is about. In an interview with the Wall Street journal, Bob Orci said this when asked about Star Trek:
'Star Trek' has always been great because it mirrored what was happening. The original 'Star Trek' mirrored the Civil Rights movement. It mirrored some progressive ideas that were not exactly popular at the time, like relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War as represented by having a Russian officer. We felt that 'Star Trek' was always embedded in its best forms in the world that we live in. The world that we happen to currently live in involves issues of terrorism and of war and of sovereignty. So surely recent events and the things happening in the century were part of our calculus.
What he doesnt realise is that Star Trek dealt with those issues by making them look trivial and show that humanity has moved on from petty squabbles and got together to explore space. When the Enterprise encountered the two aliens from Cheron in the Original Series episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," and they hated each other because they were slightly different in colour, it was presented as something stupid to the audience who were in the middle of the Civil Rights movement. The Next Generation did the same with many social and political issues on a weekly basis. Orci claimed Into Darkness did the same by tackling the issue of terrorism. But having watched the film many times, we're assuming he is referring to the scene where the Section 31 office was blown up and Starfleet looking for excuses to start a war with the Klingons. Not really what the message of Star Trek is about. If Orci was the expert of Star Trek he claims to be, he was in the perfect position as the writer to put together a story that dealt with social issues and package it in an action-orientated movie that appealed to the masses. The Wrath Of Khan, The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country managed it and with the increased budget of the rebooted Star Trek movies, Bob Orci had an opportunity to do the same on grander scale. But as we know, Bob Orcis understanding of Star Trek extends to having Spock shout KHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN.
