BACK TO THE FUTURE- FOR REAL!

For something that so many "serious" people have been making fun of for so long, I find it amazing that commentary about the new Star Trek film is filling not only blogs but news and opinion columns all the way up the ladder to the NYTimes. Their editorial and the likes of Maureen Dowd and other prime bloviators are contributing the the feeding frenzy over J.J. Abrams' reinterpretation. Should anyone be surprised that a film with characters who personify the term "iconic" as regards American media/popular culture and emphasizes the power of personal struggle, the clash of reason and passion on a socratic level of seriousness and the fact that if we transcend our baggage as individuals and a civilization we can find hope and optimism for the future has a titanic appeal? This is a future that runs shiningly in contrast to the banal, violent and dark remainder of contemporay science fiction and fantasy films of the last decade, and one that finds a sturdy grounding in reality when seen agianst the backdrop of America's current tranformation under Barack Obama from self-absorbed, short-sighted and childish excess to a healthier, more introspective and intelligent consciousness. It should be no surprise living the fake future of the last eight years that we have to look back and past that to find Where The Future Begins!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/opinion/10dowd.html?_r=1