A Look at Archer

[CrypticMirror]

A major problem with Archer is that he immediately put off viewers by making his main problem being his antagonism with the Vulcans and belief they were holding humanity back. "Screw you Elves" is a TV trope because they are sanctimonious and nasty in many other properties if not outright racist like Skyrim.

However, Star Trek is not one of them, that DS9 baseball game besides. Trekkies genuinely think the Vulcans are the nicest race in the universe since the main ones we know are Spock and Sarek. Even when they're mean to each other, they're both solid good guys. It doesn't help that the history paints an ugly picture of Archer with human history going from FALLOUT to MASS EFFECT in 100 years after meeting the Vulcans.

ENTERPRISE tried to argue humans did ALL OF THAT THEMSELVES which kind of undermines the idea that we benefited from meeting other races. Which if we DID means that the Vulcans actually helped us escape our Mad Max hellhole and are our dear friends not our enemies.

So Archer comes off as a disgusting racist.

And, "GRRRR, VULCANS!" is Archer's one defining character trait for two seasons. Oh and dog lover.

It is a sadly common thing in the entertainment business that when someone picks up the threads in a franchise, the first thing they seem to do is go "oh, that thing the fans like, well Imma gonna fuck with that and really piss them off because hurr-de-durr fans". I don't know why that mindset is there, but look at pretty much any franchise and there it is. It always seems like piss off the existing fans is step one in any reboot/remake/update project.

[Nealithi]

It is a sadly common thing in the entertainment business that when someone picks up the threads in a franchise, the first thing they seem to do is go "oh, that thing the fans like, well Imma gonna fuck with that and really piss them off because hurr-de-durr fans". I don't know why that mindset is there, but look at pretty much any franchise and there it is. It always seems like piss off the existing fans is step one in any reboot/remake/update project.

If I had to take a guess? Because 'pandering' has a bad connotation. IE don't give them what they want.

[CrypticMirror]

It is a sadly common thing in the entertainment business that when someone picks up the threads in a franchise, the first thing they seem to do is go "oh, that thing the fans like, well Imma gonna fuck with that and really piss them off because hurr-de-durr fans". I don't know why that mindset is there, but look at pretty much any franchise and there it is. It always seems like piss off the existing fans is step one in any reboot/remake/update project.

If I had to take a guess? Because 'pandering' has a bad connotation. IE don't give them what they want.

I feel like there is a bit of a gap between pandering and spiting.

[clearspira]

A major problem with Archer is that he immediately put off viewers by making his main problem being his antagonism with the Vulcans and belief they were holding humanity back. "Screw you Elves" is a TV trope because they are sanctimonious and nasty in many other properties if not outright racist like Skyrim.

However, Star Trek is not one of them, that DS9 baseball game besides. Trekkies genuinely think the Vulcans are the nicest race in the universe since the main ones we know are Spock and Sarek. Even when they're mean to each other, they're both solid good guys. It doesn't help that the history paints an ugly picture of Archer with human history going from FALLOUT to MASS EFFECT in 100 years after meeting the Vulcans.

ENTERPRISE tried to argue humans did ALL OF THAT THEMSELVES which kind of undermines the idea that we benefited from meeting other races. Which if we DID means that the Vulcans actually helped us escape our Mad Max hellhole and are our dear friends not our enemies.

So Archer comes off as a disgusting racist.

And, "GRRRR, VULCANS!" is Archer's one defining character trait for two seasons. Oh and dog lover.

It is a sadly common thing in the entertainment business that when someone picks up the threads in a franchise, the first thing they seem to do is go "oh, that thing the fans like, well Imma gonna fuck with that and really piss them off because hurr-de-durr fans". I don't know why that mindset is there, but look at pretty much any franchise and there it is. It always seems like piss off the existing fans is step one in any reboot/remake/update project.

I can tell you exactly why they do that. It happened with Trek, Wars, Dr Who, Ghostbusters, Terminator and many others: the people who take over are not fans of the work, they are fans of the oven-ready universe that already has a name and thus will instantly get viewers.

Ultimately what the new creators want are new fans. Those who will not remember what came before and will accept the new shit. AND IT NEVER WORKS. And by the time those in charge realise this, the franchise is in tatters. The question is of cause why they never realise this and the answer is simple: the entertainment industry is saturated with lefties. And this is not a criticism, merely a fact. They live in a bubble where the whole world is just on tenterhooks waiting for mRey Sue, or a ''Karen'' Sarah Connor, or an all-female Ghostbusters team, or a black female Dr Who. It never occurs to them that what those outside the bubble want is more of what WE love, not them.

[CrypticMirror]

A major problem with Archer is that he immediately put off viewers by making his main problem being his antagonism with the Vulcans and belief they were holding humanity back. "Screw you Elves" is a TV trope because they are sanctimonious and nasty in many other properties if not outright racist like Skyrim.

However, Star Trek is not one of them, that DS9 baseball game besides. Trekkies genuinely think the Vulcans are the nicest race in the universe since the main ones we know are Spock and Sarek. Even when they're mean to each other, they're both solid good guys. It doesn't help that the history paints an ugly picture of Archer with human history going from FALLOUT to MASS EFFECT in 100 years after meeting the Vulcans.

ENTERPRISE tried to argue humans did ALL OF THAT THEMSELVES which kind of undermines the idea that we benefited from meeting other races. Which if we DID means that the Vulcans actually helped us escape our Mad Max hellhole and are our dear friends not our enemies.

So Archer comes off as a disgusting racist.

And, "GRRRR, VULCANS!" is Archer's one defining character trait for two seasons. Oh and dog lover.

It is a sadly common thing in the entertainment business that when someone picks up the threads in a franchise, the first thing they seem to do is go "oh, that thing the fans like, well Imma gonna fuck with that and really piss them off because hurr-de-durr fans". I don't know why that mindset is there, but look at pretty much any franchise and there it is. It always seems like piss off the existing fans is step one in any reboot/remake/update project.

I can tell you exactly why they do that. It happened with Trek, Wars, Dr Who, Ghostbusters, Terminator and many others: the people who take over are not fans of the work, they are fans of the oven-ready universe that already has a name and thus will instantly get viewers.

Ultimately what the new creators want are new fans. Those who will not remember what came before and will accept the new shit. AND IT NEVER WORKS. And by the time those in charge realise this, the franchise is in tatters.

Everything before this point is fine, everything you wrote after this is the stuff you want to keep either in your head or between you and your therapist.

[CharlesPhipps]

To summarize what I think of the geek culture war in two sentences:

"The problem with the Ghostbusters reboot wasn't the fact they were women. The problem was it wasn't funny."

[CrypticMirror]

To summarize what I think of the geek culture war in two sentences:

"The problem with the Ghostbusters reboot wasn't the fact they were women. The problem was it wasn't funny."

Exactly. The script just wasn't tight enough, and the direction was sloppy. The actors all gave good performances, but the connective tissue that would have tied those performances into a movie just was not there. It felt more like a bunch of actors all doing their own thing. I lay its failures on the writer and director, Paul Feig.

Although, to state my own biases here, I didn't dislike it. If it came on tv on a wet Sunday afternoon then I wouldn't be motivated to turn it off and search for something else. I just wouldn't be motivated to seek it out again on its own now that I've seen it, either.

[Link8909]

A major problem with Archer is that he immediately put off viewers by making his main problem being his antagonism with the Vulcans and belief they were holding humanity back. "Screw you Elves" is a TV trope because they are sanctimonious and nasty in many other properties if not outright racist like Skyrim.

However, Star Trek is not one of them, that DS9 baseball game besides. Trekkies genuinely think the Vulcans are the nicest race in the universe since the main ones we know are Spock and Sarek. Even when they're mean to each other, they're both solid good guys. It doesn't help that the history paints an ugly picture of Archer with human history going from FALLOUT to MASS EFFECT in 100 years after meeting the Vulcans.

ENTERPRISE tried to argue humans did ALL OF THAT THEMSELVES which kind of undermines the idea that we benefited from meeting other races. Which if we DID means that the Vulcans actually helped us escape our Mad Max hellhole and are our dear friends not our enemies.

So Archer comes off as a disgusting racist.

And, "GRRRR, VULCANS!" is Archer's one defining character trait for two seasons. Oh and dog lover.

Indeed, Vulcans got screwed over hard to justify Archer's quite frankly petty hatred against them.

Also I was trying to find a picture to go with your "GRRRR, VULCANS!" quote, but I couldn't find it, it was Archer giving his historic speech in that large auditorium in "These Are the Voyages..." with the caption:

"I watch a gazette give birth, in conclusion, Vulcans were mean to my dad!"

So here's a better Archer instead:

[clearspira]

A major problem with Archer is that he immediately put off viewers by making his main problem being his antagonism with the Vulcans and belief they were holding humanity back. "Screw you Elves" is a TV trope because they are sanctimonious and nasty in many other properties if not outright racist like Skyrim.

However, Star Trek is not one of them, that DS9 baseball game besides. Trekkies genuinely think the Vulcans are the nicest race in the universe since the main ones we know are Spock and Sarek. Even when they're mean to each other, they're both solid good guys. It doesn't help that the history paints an ugly picture of Archer with human history going from FALLOUT to MASS EFFECT in 100 years after meeting the Vulcans.

ENTERPRISE tried to argue humans did ALL OF THAT THEMSELVES which kind of undermines the idea that we benefited from meeting other races. Which if we DID means that the Vulcans actually helped us escape our Mad Max hellhole and are our dear friends not our enemies.

So Archer comes off as a disgusting racist.

And, "GRRRR, VULCANS!" is Archer's one defining character trait for two seasons. Oh and dog lover.

It is a sadly common thing in the entertainment business that when someone picks up the threads in a franchise, the first thing they seem to do is go "oh, that thing the fans like, well Imma gonna fuck with that and really piss them off because hurr-de-durr fans". I don't know why that mindset is there, but look at pretty much any franchise and there it is. It always seems like piss off the existing fans is step one in any reboot/remake/update project.

I can tell you exactly why they do that. It happened with Trek, Wars, Dr Who, Ghostbusters, Terminator and many others: the people who take over are not fans of the work, they are fans of the oven-ready universe that already has a name and thus will instantly get viewers.

Ultimately what the new creators want are new fans. Those who will not remember what came before and will accept the new shit. AND IT NEVER WORKS. And by the time those in charge realise this, the franchise is in tatters.

Everything before this point is fine, everything you wrote after this is the stuff you want to keep either in your head or between you and your therapist.

Go on then, explain to me why the left dominated entertainment industry thinks that the Star Wars fanbase wants a Mary Sue protagonist, a Sarah Connor who isn't Sarah Connor or a black female Dr Who.

....

No?

Well here's the thing: its very easy to insult and very difficult to prove someone wrong.

[Link8909]

What's telling that is that so many of Enterprise's circumstances feel like they were put in ahead of time to make up for how badly Archer would be written.

-Its an early Starship expected to have issues and possibly get into danger so Archer putting it out before it was ready and blundering his way into crises is justified.
-The Vulcans are characterized as being far more duplicitous and close minded so that his hatred towards them is understandable rather than bigoted.
-A Temporal Cold War is established so Archer can be defined as a great leader and pioneer in the future without actually portraying him that way.
-There's a remarkable lack of guidelines or directives by Starfleet so that he can make decisions and proclamations of dubious reasoning without violating orders.

Its a bad sign when you have to future proof your show to make your bad characterization seem less egregious.

Indeed, that's also another major issue with Archer, we are constantly told that he's this great Captain, yet almost everything we see of him in the first two season says otherwise.

And while I do like that Star Trek Enterprise was set a hundred years before Kirk and even before the Federation, it never really took full advantage of that, like completely not having things like the Transporter, Phasers or even the Viewscreen, and even when the series did it was poorly executed like "Strange New World" or with how the Vulcans were portrayed during the first two seasons, and the Temporal Cold War was a completely unnecessary addition.