Star Trek that went off course.
When it comes to Star Trek, what is canon?
Surely, the answer isn't "anything bearing the Star Trek name," otherwise the universe would be a jumbled mess of parodies, fanfiction, and official works all contradicting each other. I have trouble accepting "whatever is declared canon by The Powers That Be," both because that puts the universe at risk of radical revisions (see: Star Wars) and because I was raised to think critically about what I accept to be true. At the same time, "whatever I want" seems far too subjective.
However, Star Trek has reached a point where "whatever I want" is the only answer that makes any sense to me. All I want is the Star Trek I grew up with: optimistic, allegorical, reasonably coherent, mostly family-friendly, character-driven sci-fi with an imperfect but respectable attention to continuity. As far as movies and television shows are concerned, this description more or less applies to everything before 2009 and nothing since 2009. This leads me to believe that whatever modern Star Trek is, it isn't canon—at least, not for me.
In this section:
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek Into Darkness
- Star Trek Beyond
- Star Trek: Discovery
- Star Trek: Picard
I have not seen and have no intention of watching Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, or anything else claiming to be Star Trek that isn't already on the list.
Surely, the answer isn't "anything bearing the Star Trek name," otherwise the universe would be a jumbled mess of parodies, fanfiction, and official works all contradicting each other. I have trouble accepting "whatever is declared canon by The Powers That Be," both because that puts the universe at risk of radical revisions (see: Star Wars) and because I was raised to think critically about what I accept to be true. At the same time, "whatever I want" seems far too subjective.
However, Star Trek has reached a point where "whatever I want" is the only answer that makes any sense to me. All I want is the Star Trek I grew up with: optimistic, allegorical, reasonably coherent, mostly family-friendly, character-driven sci-fi with an imperfect but respectable attention to continuity. As far as movies and television shows are concerned, this description more or less applies to everything before 2009 and nothing since 2009. This leads me to believe that whatever modern Star Trek is, it isn't canon—at least, not for me.
In this section:
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek Into Darkness
- Star Trek Beyond
- Star Trek: Discovery
- Star Trek: Picard
I have not seen and have no intention of watching Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, or anything else claiming to be Star Trek that isn't already on the list.
