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Star Trek Sequel Will Reflect Contemporary Political Issues

by Ethan Anderton
September 16, 2009
Source: LA Times

By now we all know that a sequel to Star Trek is on the way, but we're going to be waiting until summer 2011 to see it. There haven't been any official script pages yet, but we do know that director J.J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof (of "Lost" fame who has also been added to the writing team) have been tossing around some potential story ideas for the follow-up to the box office behemoth that has grossed over $383 million to date. The LA Times sat down with Abrams and Orci where they divulged a little bit more information regarding where the Enterprise crew will boldly go next.

Here's what Abrams had to say about what they really need to accomplish with the Star Trek sequel:

"The ambition for a sequel to 'Star Trek' is to make a movie that's worthy of the audience and not just another movie, you know, just a second movie that feels tacked on. The first movie was so concerned with just setting up the characters -- their meeting each and galvanizing that family -- that in many ways a sequel will have a very different mission. it needs to do what [the late Gene] Roddenberry did so well, which is allegory. It needs to tell a story that has connection to what is familiar and what is relevant. It also needs to tell it in a spectacular way that hides the machinery and in a primarily entertaining and hopefully moving story. There needs to be relevance, yes, and that doesn't mean it should be pretentious. If there are simple truths -- truths connected to what we live -- that elevates any story -- that's true with any story."

So dealing with our current political climate, it seems issues would need to circle the tense war times, the ethics of certain war strategies (interrogation, torture, etc), and the dilemma one has using violence to stop more violence. LA Times' writer Geoff Boucher equated these touchy issues to that of a conflict that might erupt between Starfleet and the Klingons in the Star Trek universe and Orci was all about that exact idea:

"Well yeah, those are the kind of issues we're talking about. Wow, you're good! But seriously that's the way we're thinking, that's an approach. So if you have any ideas…"

Well now we're starting to get an idea of just how Star Trek will use this generation's culture to craft the world inside of this science fiction series. If there's one thing I love about motion pictures, it's the message that soaks through them because of the climate of the times in which they were made. Especially because when a film stands the test of time, you can tell that a filmmaker really honed in on the human factor of a story, and it can hit on a personal level with everybody. Certainly I hope that the political messages in Star Trek aren't over-zealous, as it's supposed to be fun, too. But I know Abrams won't steer us wrong at all.

Find more posts: Hype, Movie News, Opinions

33 Comments

May 2011 can't come soon enough!

Keith on Sep 16, 2009

Gonna suck like the first one.

Calibretto on Sep 16, 2009

Calibretto, What didn't you like about the first one?

Ethan Anderton on Sep 16, 2009

The first one was great. Can't wait to hear more about the second!

Sabes on Sep 16, 2009

Orci/Kurtzman - one of the worst writing duos in cinematic history.

Hack on Sep 16, 2009

LOL! The new Star Trek franchise exploring "relevant political issues". That's like Uwe Boll making a good movie. The last Star Trek movie was the most empty Star Trek film yet. Lame plot, lame villain and significantly devoid of subtext.

1-7 on Sep 16, 2009

The first was the best yet, cant wait for the second. #2 go troll somewhere else

OCP on Sep 16, 2009

Awesome flick! I sure hope the sequel is worthy of the series and extends farther beyond what the 1st one established. 🙂

Spider on Sep 16, 2009

we all hope the sequel is awesome but don't screw it up by getting political!

cat on Sep 16, 2009

#7 - He can voice his opinion, I agree with him as well.

DiR3ct on Sep 16, 2009

Can't wait!

Brandon on Sep 16, 2009

a little off topic but why was star trek a decent flick but transformers 2 was a god awful unholy abomination? was it the writers strike or something?

Silver on Sep 16, 2009

#5 I fucking agree with you...fucking HACKS!!!!!

esophus on Sep 16, 2009

#12--they started shooting Transformers 2 without a script. They just shot action scenes. The script was written later during shooting to accomodate the action. That's why it sucked.

Jonathan on Sep 16, 2009

I hope they aren't gonna try to get Klingon's "Universal" health care.

bracomadar on Sep 16, 2009

I've been a fan of star trek for almost 40 years: the haters are full of hot air and out the lunch. This Star Trek movie rocked. And racists that try to hide behind 'slogans' - We can all see you, see right through you, and know that you aren't just wrong...your harmful.

zibo fricka on Sep 16, 2009

#14: is that the real reason? hmm, I didn't know that. Ever since I watched the mess that was TF2 I've been wondering how the dynamic duo was able to write such an interesting story with Star Trek, and mess up soooo badly with Transformers.

Alfredo on Sep 16, 2009

@17 One person Michael Bay did you notice the comedy in TF2 was bad but ST had great comedy.

Ryz on Sep 17, 2009

You guys are forgetting that they had three weeks to write a rough draft script then the writers strike happened! And they already had a release date, so they tried to do what they could with the time. Not to mention HASBRO wanted certain bots in the movies for toy selling. You guys need to start doing some simple research. Stop blaming Bay!

The_Phantom on Sep 17, 2009

Want a good Trek political movie? Rewatch "The Undiscovered Country." I do have hope that Trek 2 will be as good as the first which, I might opine, was one of the best Trek movies ever.

Fritz Blaze on Sep 17, 2009

Undiscovered Country? Try The Journey Home instead. lets hope they actually bring life to the sequel, and perhaps not have Spock kissing and being all emotional all the time?

dave13 on Sep 17, 2009

Trek political subtext? Do they mean meeting alien cultures and teaching them the American way?

sleepykid on Sep 17, 2009

First off, the topics described aren't political, that's why Abrams sucks and his projects are bad when he is personally involved. If it's just his studio or he's producing with little influence, you can tell a difference. Never the less, Star Trek was political once, but in a manner so that people could still enjoy the movie. Hollywood has no concept of subtlety these days which is why when they get political, it all goes down hill.

Tra la la la la di da on Sep 17, 2009

I don't like this idea of forcing a movie to be relevant to the times. If it happens naturally or develops during the scripting process, fine by me; but to be the foundation of which you have building a story sounds wrong. I think directors and writers overestimate moviegoers concern over "contemporary political issues" in their blockbusters. I don't want the same duds that wrote Transformers 2 to be giving me any political allegory in a movie.

germs on Sep 17, 2009

Political messages or themes in movies disguised as "relevance" is a sure way to chase away half of the fans. Hollywood is there to entertain us, not to make up excuses to push their own political agendas.

Pete on Sep 17, 2009

HORRIBLE idea. Hasn't Hollywood figured out that people don't want to see political commentaries? They usually alienate at least 1/2 of their audience. Dumbass move.

Antioch on Sep 17, 2009

"I think directors and writers overestimate moviegoers concern over "contemporary political issues" in their blockbusters. I don't want the same duds that wrote Transformers 2 to be giving me any political allegory in a movie." "Political messages or themes in movies disguised as "relevance" is a sure way to chase away half of the fans. Hollywood is there to entertain us, not to make up excuses to push their own political agendas." "Star Trek was political once, but in a manner so that people could still enjoy the movie. Hollywood has no concept of subtlety these days which is why when they get political, it all goes down hill" ..........WORD!

Felix on Sep 17, 2009

25 has it right

Al on Sep 17, 2009

The original Star Trek was very political. That was one of the things that made it so relevant. I don't mind if they do that again. So long as they FIX SPOCK!

Vold on Sep 17, 2009

will earth elect a klingon leader?

harrison on Sep 17, 2009

What ever the next film is, it won't be improved by people talking about it like it means anything. 'Political' is just another way of pandering to the crowd. If they really wanted to challenge the audience, they'd boldly go where no Star Trek story has gone before. I liked the first of the new films, but thats probably because I didn't have any expectations nor preconceptions. I just wanted to be entertained, and I was.

moif on Sep 18, 2009

If they write one about war and violence, I hope they don't get all "liberal" boo hoo war is bad and peace and love and hemp are the "true" way.

l.21 on Sep 18, 2009

Ok Summer 2011 is going to be ridiculous. May • Spider-Man 4 - 5/6 • Thor - 5/20 • The Hangover 2 - 5/26 June (Details) • Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom - 6/3 • Green Lantern - 6/17 • Cars 2 - 6/24 July (Details) • Battleship - 7/1 • Transformers 3 - 7/1 • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part Two) - 7/15 • The First Avenger: Captain America - 7/22 • Smurfs (in 3D) - 7/29 TBD Summer 2011 • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides And now Star Trek 2 is in there. WOW

CJ on Sep 22, 2009

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