They turned the Gorn into a cheap Aliens ripoff. They made the Gorn uncessarily vicious too. Such a parasitic life form would not have developed space travel and advanced tech.
I don’t know that I particularly object to the aliens rip-off as science fiction is nothing but a collection of borrowed ideas. How those ideas are used is what matters. I appreciate that the author is pointing out that while Arena demonstrates that understanding and compromise are always possible, this new take on the Gorn demonstrates that not everyone will be interested in understanding and compromise. That is in keeping with how the Gorn originally conducted themselves.
It is additionally valuable in how we deal with real world “monsters”. People often try to seek understanding and compromise with ruthless aggressors and that’s not always possible. Putin and the war in Ukraine being the most salient recent example.
Whether such an aggressive species could develop technology isn’t really important for me. I saw a comic the other day about the Klingon that developed warp drive and the artist playfully makes a similar claim about them. Maybe the Gorn have a caste system, maybe they’re half of a symbiotic relationship (I particularly like this idea, given their parasitic nature) or maybe they just stole it from the unwary.
I think these Gorn raise interesting questions and, if we allow it, theorize about interesting new ideas. That’s exactly what science fiction should do.
Not to be too “what if”-y, but if them planting their eggs in hosts allows them to gather some knowledge the host has, couldn’t that be a possible explanation for the Gorn to develop advanced tech?
I was thinking maybe the Gorn have ancestral memory where hatchlings already have a lot of knowledge from their ancestral line, including how their society works, lots of technology, etc. Possibly due to having memories of previous Gorn, maybe hatchlings don’t view their current individual identity in the same way as other species, and have a very different ethical viewpoint about killing other Gorn, interacting with other races, etc.
It’s an interesting race, and I’m looking forward to how they might be used.
Why do right-wing reactionaries always make the future they’re trying to warn us away from sound so cool? I’m not even trans, but if they get to be cyborgs I’m starting to think I’m missing out!
That sounds amazing. I have bad plantar fasciitis on my foot, wouldn’t mind replacing it with a bionic one. Switch up the arms to robot arms while you’re at it.
Meanwhile the disabled are the ones actually getting cybernetics. I’m trans but the first cybernetic implants I’m going to get will almost certainly be because I have degenerative hearing loss. But it’s hard to rant about the cyborg threat when you know it’s your grandparents. It’s just like how they don’t want to acknowledge that ftm bottom surgery was developed for soldiers who lost their dicks in combat.
If they weren’t so awful to other people, you’d really have to feel sorry for them. They lead lives of terrible repression and guilt and fear.
Watch the documentary “Jesus Camp” to get a taste of the brainwashing these folks have been subjected to (and subject their kids to). It’s terrifying and heartbreaking.
Of course they are afraid of a future that is actually pretty cool. They are afraid of a PRESENT that is actually pretty cool.
They can see a happy gay couple, raising kids, living a great life, and see nothing but the work of the devil.
Meanwhile they worship a criminal rapist adulterer, because he hates all the same people they do.
They actually filmed two versions of the Klingon song and the other one was opera. They chose the boy band version for the final cut because the opera version felt to close to the rest of the songs.
I loved it. When serious shows get a chance to let lose and not care too much about being serious it’s always good time for me. I’m so sick of every show being so dark and broody. This was a nice break from that.
startrek
Active
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.