Comments on: There Is No Star Trek Canon

By: Harvey Jerkwater

Harvey Jerkwater — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:05:28 +0000

The next movie has to do this.

STAR TREK: SPACE NIXON

Hell yeah.

“Fire photon torpedoes at his space-jowls!”

By: Harvey Jerkwater

Harvey Jerkwater — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:53:07 +0000

OH DUDE! The next Trek movie should base itself off of the Lincoln episode. But different.

Dubya Bush in space? Clinton in space? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:18:29 +0000

I’m not a canon partisan, but seriously, the Abraham Lincoln episode rocks like a hurricane. Star Trek suffers when it focuses too much on its “messages” and ignores that goofy shit. Goofy shit is part of the charm.

By: Paul Gadzikowski

Paul Gadzikowski — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:05:04 +0000

I have an essay calling for the abolishment of the concept of canon as applied to screen series fiction, which cites and synthesizes many of the points these commenters have touched on. On my website:
http://members.iglou.com/scarfman/fodder.htm

or on my LiveJournal:
http://scarfman.livejournal.com/tag/canon

Abstract: All the concept canon is good for in fandom is dividing us.

By: Thom

Thom — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:24:18 +0000

Does the new movie now mean the die hard Trek fans are erased from continuity as well?

By: Bill D.

Bill D. — Sun, 10 May 2009 16:40:21 +0000

Hal, I think Roddenberry said in his later years that he wished he had never done the animated series (which I think is silly because honestly, that show is some of my most favorite Trek ever; and also, Arex rules), so a lot of fans take that as permission to un-invite it to the canon party (except, of course, the parts they like… Spock traveling into his own past, Kirk’s middle name, etc.).

It’s the Trek equivalent of the “Does the TV movie count?” debates in Doctor Who fandom.

By: elsie

elsie — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:10:55 +0000

It would make sense that it dates back to Holmes as the first big fandom. Hmm, I should look for academic studies of the Victorian Sherlock Holmes fandom And it’s closest to the scriptural sense, but media convergence makes it so much more complicated.

By: Dorian

Dorian — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:45:51 +0000

Elsie–It is generally accepted that the tern “canon” as applied to fiction was first used in relation to Sherlock Holmes stories.

I’m not sure that some fans do differentiate between the term as a it relates to fiction from how it relates to scripture. Fiction is scripture to many of them.

By: elsie

elsie — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:48:12 +0000

I’m more interested in the canon as a concept. Which fandom was the term first used with (and I’m not talking religion)? Was it Trek? How does the fan conception of canon relate to the scriptural and literary uses of the word?

By: Brian Smith

Brian Smith — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:38:57 +0000

“The Savage Curtain” also has Lincoln asking if time is still measured in minutes, and Kirk replying, “We can convert to it.” So either Kirk is using some kind of elaborate ruse to conceal the Federation’s use of minutes and seconds, or Kirk is just screwing around with Abraham Lincoln for no good reason, or the whole episode is a goofy lark that doesn’t slavishly follow what’s gone before.

I’m going with “goofy lark,” a fun zone in which Picard is constantly talking about how amazing France is with its beautiful flag and wonderful wines and seriously France rules SO HARD you guys.