Short Treks: Children of Mars

[clearspira]

One thing I wonder is if the picture of Picard on the news was to make him look sinister. Because that's the take I got the first time I watched it, was that he was almost framed here as the villain ruining the two girls' lives.

I do like that if you look outside of Trek, it's just two girls who look past their differences in the face of tragedy, and find the empathy to comfort each other, but it requires that the school be so sloppily run that they don't notice the bullying going on, the destruction of Mars, and the general feeling that even in the Utopia that is Earth, kids still beat the physical shit out of each other.

So... genuine question here that I want to put forward to the SFDebris community: how long are we going to perpetuate the claim that the Federation is even remotely a left wing utopia any more? DS9 was already pushing this with me, VOY's ''Non Sequitur'' where Kim gets electronically tagged for merely talking to Paris was a nail in the coffin, but PIC takes the God-tier biscuit.

Do you know what? This whole episode comes off to me as a right wing PISS TAKE of how they perceive the Left's education policy to be. Poor, shitty discipline, bullies given free reign, substandard free education for all. And the irony is that we all laughed when Chuck noted that Star Trek V also seemed like a right wing piss take of the Star Trek ideal with its broken ship, doctors who casually euthanise their patients and its socialised healthcare that leads to women giving birth in caves. In retrospect, this joke gains resonance every year modern Star Trek continues.

Nah, mate. I've said before that the hopeful future of Star Trek is dead and episodes like this prove it. Its gone from somewhere that I would genuinely like to live into something that I would seriously debate with you all as to whether it is actually better than what we have today besides a few technological improvements such as the replicator.

[Mabus]

Ah, Children of Mars, or as I like to call it, Modern America but with shitty holograms.
My biggest issue is the way they presented the school system of the Federation, it's so... unimaginative.
What's with the godawful school system? In TNG, DS9 and VOY there are multiple types of schooling, from what appears to be home schooling on the ENT-D, to classical school teaching on DS9. However, in many cases the future technology gets incorporated in the schooling system. 3D holograms are seen in a couple of episodes, which would make sense, as geometry would be a lot easier to explain that way than with a pen and paper. Nope, instead they use 2D OLED holoscreens where they write with holo-pens I guess (guess all types of keyboards are outdated). Here's my question. Why? Remember those transparent screen projectors that were used in schools, a few decades ago? You know, the ones with transparent sheet, that was placed on a large boxy projector lamp and the image was projected on a pull-down screen? Overhead projector is what I think they're called in English. Those were very good at their job for what is worth. They began to be used in large numbers since the 50s, 60s I think, so for like three decades they were used a lot. Nowadays, like 20 years later very few people and places still use them. Almost everyone has moved on to LCD projectors or even flatscreens. In about half a century, we've moved from transparent sheets to LCD projectors and maybe soon even flatter screens. Why? Because there is always the demand to improve things, to make them more accessible, to improve the way teaching is done. The flat transparent screens from the Fed school are not improvement. Not only you're literally replacing paper and pen with electronic paper and electronic pen, the way kids write on the display is very uncomfortable for the wrist, and if there's one thing kids like to do is complain, so why is that shitty system even a thing? In previous ST series, they always used "iPads" and all, but sometimes they would also used 3D holograms, and there was a TNG episode where the kids were learning about geometric shapes, and said shapes were low rez holodeck holograms, which would make sense, as it's not like the geometric shapes from books are anything else. Given that the episode was already low budget, they could have just replaced some of the props and the terrible 2D screens with cheap 3D holograms, especially since from what I can tell, the kids were being taught about star cycle, and that is one domain where 3D holograms would be perfect (ever been to a planetarium? now imagine having one at school every day). There is only one scene where some 3D holographic shapes are seen, but it appears to be some game for kids, rather than some homework. The Federation has advanced holographic technology, and by the looks of it, it's very cheap and not very energy intensive, so why is everyone still using an outdated 400 year old system as the main schooling system? The reason why I gave the example with the overhead and LCD projectors is because, as seen in real life, any technological advancements are rapidly introduced in daily life, and very quickly they produce changes in the system. Computer science not only changed the way we handle math and science, but it rapidly became a very important matter in almost all aspects of real life. Yet for some reason, in NuTrek, all that fantastic technology has had very little impact in the civilian life, despite the massive problems they'd solve, even though, you know, the entire point of new technologies is to improve life.
Also, why is the current schooling system still used 400 years from now? The lessons are boring (and they're learning about stellar evolution, how the fuck is that boring??); The principal just hangs around noting down the kids that are late for class (doesn't he have paperwork to do? Is the entire school hallway his office?); The alien girl gets a 2 (I assume 2 out of 10 like most grading systems) from the teacher because of that caricature that the other girl drew for her, even though, given that it's an electronic system, the teacher could immediately find out who sent/made the drawing, which is a system that would be very useful to catch cheaters or kids sending threats; Bullying and school violence are still a problem 350-400 years into the future, I guess we should just stop all the current anti-bullying campaigns, clearly they're utterly useless. Great. Currently among the best schooling systems, the model used by Scandinavian countries is considered to be in the top, since it's very effective at teaching children and preparing them for adult life. The schooling system in the NuTrek it's so bland and sterile, it feels like it was done by someone who hates kids. It brings nothing new to the table, it's so generic, like it's copied from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall". And yet, in the 24th century, this Hollywood schooling system is still used, I guess the humanistic Federation doesn't care about improving the life of its citizens in any way.
Frankly, I don't care that the Short Trek had a low budget, in fact most of the few suggestions I gave can be perfectly applied with shoestring budget, the episode feels dull, uninteresting, and its presentation felt like I was watching an insurance commercial, at one point I was expecting one of the teachers to bring a comfort animal to the girls to make them bond. Instead we got Space!9/11 no.3, because that's better than a puppy I guess.

[Riedquat]

Nah, mate. I've said before that the hopeful future of Star Trek is dead and episodes like this prove it. Its gone from somewhere that I would genuinely like to live into something that I would seriously debate with you all as to whether it is actually better than what we have today besides a few technological improvements such as the replicator.

Pretty much this. Even the technology doesn't hold much appeal personally (with a few exceptions, the replicator isn't one of them though).

[drewder]

I don't really disagree with Chuck's review. I thought the short Trek was okay mood setting, but I did not really understand what was going on because I saw it before seeing Picard and not knowing much about Picard and yeah I don't think the choice to just have a song in the background going on about mostly unrelated stuff (not even thematically related) helped the overall effect. I find it interesting for Chuck to talk about craft, so even though I don't think the failings of the piece matter much (it was an okay trailer for Picard as discussed), I don't mind him talking about it for so long.

In terms of the actual content of the piece over execution, I thought it was okay but I sort of think by the 24th century one might expect schools to be a little better at dealing with interpersonal violence among the students. Even for a 21st century school these incidents seemed extreme. I suspect one needs to chock another one up for cheap drama.

The school set was a actual Canadian school in Ontario where Bell Media is based and CBS had there Co Venture to film Discovery the Daniels building of the University of Ontario was used as the filming location.

This is not fair, but as an alumni of the University of Toronto, I smile that you call it the University of Ontario.

I guess the set must have felt at least a little familiar to me (my memory of the piece is pretty hazy at this point) as I have actually been in that building like once (they may have renovated since).

One of my pet peeves with fiction that is. School bullies acting like blood thirsty psychopaths and often with free reign to do so. The worst example I saw recently was SHAZAM where a bully runs over a kid with his car. The second is probably ''Let Me Out'' where the bullies try to drown the lead boy at the end.

And yeah, i'm sure someone can show me proof that such things happen, but the thing is that kids who do these things are both in the minority and are not actually school bullies - they are criminals who in any real world would be in juvie.

Apparently you never went to school in the 80s

[MightyDavidson]

I don't really disagree with Chuck's review. I thought the short Trek was okay mood setting, but I did not really understand what was going on because I saw it before seeing Picard and not knowing much about Picard and yeah I don't think the choice to just have a song in the background going on about mostly unrelated stuff (not even thematically related) helped the overall effect. I find it interesting for Chuck to talk about craft, so even though I don't think the failings of the piece matter much (it was an okay trailer for Picard as discussed), I don't mind him talking about it for so long.

In terms of the actual content of the piece over execution, I thought it was okay but I sort of think by the 24th century one might expect schools to be a little better at dealing with interpersonal violence among the students. Even for a 21st century school these incidents seemed extreme. I suspect one needs to chock another one up for cheap drama.

The school set was a actual Canadian school in Ontario where Bell Media is based and CBS had there Co Venture to film Discovery the Daniels building of the University of Ontario was used as the filming location.

This is not fair, but as an alumni of the University of Toronto, I smile that you call it the University of Ontario.

I guess the set must have felt at least a little familiar to me (my memory of the piece is pretty hazy at this point) as I have actually been in that building like once (they may have renovated since).

One of my pet peeves with fiction that is. School bullies acting like blood thirsty psychopaths and often with free reign to do so. The worst example I saw recently was SHAZAM where a bully runs over a kid with his car. The second is probably ''Let Me Out'' where the bullies try to drown the lead boy at the end.

And yeah, i'm sure someone can show me proof that such things happen, but the thing is that kids who do these things are both in the minority and are not actually school bullies - they are criminals who in any real world would be in juvie.

Apparently you never went to school in the 80s

I did go to school in the 80s and not one school bully ever attempted to drown me, or run me over with their car. The one time somebody did try to get that violent with me, I reported him to the cops and he ended up getting sent to juvie.

[Thebestoftherest]

I don't really disagree with Chuck's review. I thought the short Trek was okay mood setting, but I did not really understand what was going on because I saw it before seeing Picard and not knowing much about Picard and yeah I don't think the choice to just have a song in the background going on about mostly unrelated stuff (not even thematically related) helped the overall effect. I find it interesting for Chuck to talk about craft, so even though I don't think the failings of the piece matter much (it was an okay trailer for Picard as discussed), I don't mind him talking about it for so long.

In terms of the actual content of the piece over execution, I thought it was okay but I sort of think by the 24th century one might expect schools to be a little better at dealing with interpersonal violence among the students. Even for a 21st century school these incidents seemed extreme. I suspect one needs to chock another one up for cheap drama.

The school set was a actual Canadian school in Ontario where Bell Media is based and CBS had there Co Venture to film Discovery the Daniels building of the University of Ontario was used as the filming location.

This is not fair, but as an alumni of the University of Toronto, I smile that you call it the University of Ontario.

I guess the set must have felt at least a little familiar to me (my memory of the piece is pretty hazy at this point) as I have actually been in that building like once (they may have renovated since).

One of my pet peeves with fiction that is. School bullies acting like blood thirsty psychopaths and often with free reign to do so. The worst example I saw recently was SHAZAM where a bully runs over a kid with his car. The second is probably ''Let Me Out'' where the bullies try to drown the lead boy at the end.

And yeah, i'm sure someone can show me proof that such things happen, but the thing is that kids who do these things are both in the minority and are not actually school bullies - they are criminals who in any real world would be in juvie.

Apparently you never went to school in the 80s

I did go to school in the 80s and not one school bully ever attempted to drown me, or run me over with their car. The one time somebody did try to get that violent with me, I reported him to the cops and he ended up getting sent to juvie.

I do doubt rhe peace loving federation would put up with that shit.

[Riedquat]

Apparently you never went to school in the 80s

Speaking as someone who did, there were more than enough little ****s around who the world would be a better place without but I didn't personally know of any who went as far as attempted murder.

[FaxModem1]

One thing I wonder is if the picture of Picard on the news was to make him look sinister. Because that's the take I got the first time I watched it, was that he was almost framed here as the villain ruining the two girls' lives.

I do like that if you look outside of Trek, it's just two girls who look past their differences in the face of tragedy, and find the empathy to comfort each other, but it requires that the school be so sloppily run that they don't notice the bullying going on, the destruction of Mars, and the general feeling that even in the Utopia that is Earth, kids still beat the physical shit out of each other.

So... genuine question here that I want to put forward to the SFDebris community: how long are we going to perpetuate the claim that the Federation is even remotely a left wing utopia any more? DS9 was already pushing this with me, VOY's ''Non Sequitur'' where Kim gets electronically tagged for merely talking to Paris was a nail in the coffin, but PIC takes the God-tier biscuit.

Do you know what? This whole episode comes off to me as a right wing PISS TAKE of how they perceive the Left's education policy to be. Poor, shitty discipline, bullies given free reign, substandard free education for all. And the irony is that we all laughed when Chuck noted that Star Trek V also seemed like a right wing piss take of the Star Trek ideal with its broken ship, doctors who casually euthanise their patients and its socialised healthcare that leads to women giving birth in caves. In retrospect, this joke gains resonance every year modern Star Trek continues.

Nah, mate. I've said before that the hopeful future of Star Trek is dead and episodes like this prove it. Its gone from somewhere that I would genuinely like to live into something that I would seriously debate with you all as to whether it is actually better than what we have today besides a few technological improvements such as the replicator.

Well, we do see other schools, and how they're run. Alexander's behavior in his class had the teacher talking to Worf, and Keiko worked to keep Nog and Jake from sitting next to each other so that they wouldn't pull pranks on the other kids. Those two schools also didn't force uniforms. If we're going to BS rationalize here, this is the 24th century equivalent of a Military school, due to the uniforms, and these kids are disciplinary problems working out their issues that they're dealing with because their parents are never there in person to see them. Or these are just two problem kids in a prestigious school that has uniforms, and the staff are a bit perplexed on how to handle two kids going through said emotional rollar coaster of being apart from their parents.

Harry Kim broke into classified data files about Voyager in Non-Sequitur. So no, it wasn't just chatting up a former Maquis at a bar, it was the fact that Harry Kim was acting like a security risk and hacking into secret files. If an actual officer started hacking into government or military databases, they would do more than just make him wear an ankle bracelet.

DS9 still showed that the Federation was largely a good place to live, but that the frontier had problems that they didn't understand sometimes. Aside from Section 31, which is still problematic.

I'd still prefer living in the Federation compared to today's society.

[TGLS]

I honestly think the easy solution is just accepting that low percentage events happen on television.

[MithrandirOlorin]

One thing I wonder is if the picture of Picard on the news was to make him look sinister. Because that's the take I got the first time I watched it, was that he was almost framed here as the villain ruining the two girls' lives.

I do like that if you look outside of Trek, it's just two girls who look past their differences in the face of tragedy, and find the empathy to comfort each other, but it requires that the school be so sloppily run that they don't notice the bullying going on, the destruction of Mars, and the general feeling that even in the Utopia that is Earth, kids still beat the physical shit out of each other.

So... genuine question here that I want to put forward to the SFDebris community: how long are we going to perpetuate the claim that the Federation is even remotely a left wing utopia any more? DS9 was already pushing this with me, VOY's ''Non Sequitur'' where Kim gets electronically tagged for merely talking to Paris was a nail in the coffin, but PIC takes the God-tier biscuit.

Do you know what? This whole episode comes off to me as a right wing PISS TAKE of how they perceive the Left's education policy to be. Poor, shitty discipline, bullies given free reign, substandard free education for all. And the irony is that we all laughed when Chuck noted that Star Trek V also seemed like a right wing piss take of the Star Trek ideal with its broken ship, doctors who casually euthanise their patients and its socialised healthcare that leads to women giving birth in caves. In retrospect, this joke gains resonance every year modern Star Trek continues.

Nah, mate. I've said before that the hopeful future of Star Trek is dead and episodes like this prove it. Its gone from somewhere that I would genuinely like to live into something that I would seriously debate with you all as to whether it is actually better than what we have today besides a few technological improvements such as the replicator.

Trek stopped caring about being Utopic when Berman took over. So far the best future Utopia presented in popular fiction is Crystal Tokyo, the Manga version.