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February 5, 2003

Crossroads

We stand at a crossroad. Do we go left or right?

Star Trek: Nemesis does not perform to expectation. Enterprise continues to fight it’s battle toward acceptability by both mainstream and hardcore fan audiences. If indeed all good things must come to an end as the old saying informs us, are we now experiencing the waning years of the Star Trek franchise or are we witness to nothing more than a momentary pause? A brief instant in time to catch our collective breaths and reassess both it and ourselves before moving on?

Time and circumstance have seemingly conspired to bring both the franchise and the devoted fans to a potential turning point. Does the recent disinterest mean that Trek should be quietly put to pasture? Perhaps it represents a challenge on all our parts, both producer and viewer alike, to once again embrace the franchise anew, casting aside every expectation that we have nurtured for the past several years. Then perhaps it can truly shine again. Close the door or open a new one? Left or right?

We stand at a crossroad.

The space shuttle Columbia breaks up during re-entry, killing all seven of it’s crew and raining fiery debris upon a stunned nation, and in turn, world. Is this just one more piece of irrefutable proof that the shuttle program is antiquated and in need of termination, or is this nothing more than a sad, yet tragic reminder of the cost we must pay for progress? A time for us to reaffirm both our need to explore the final frontier as well as the dedication to accomplish that very task?

Time and circumstance have seemingly conspired to reduce the once newsworthy shuttle launches to mere footnotes and afterthoughts. Does the apparent lack of interest on the part of the general public mean that we should abandon these endeavors in favor of reallocating the funding to something more earthbound? Perhaps it also is a challenge laid before us. One that demands that we not scale back our space explorations, but rather, move forward with a new sense of purpose. Close the door or open a new one? Left or right?

We stand at a crossroad.

Star Trek has, in it’s long history of storytelling, reflected in it’s characters many of the qualities that we as a species use to help define ourselves. Curiosity, compassion, an inherent desire for peace offset by our violent natures. A potential for grand nobility tempered by our own occasional selfish instincts. However, as we stand at this crossroad, the single quality we must nurture within ourselves must be our perseverance in the face of adversity. Our single minded drive to push forward and expand our horizons, both inwardly on a personal level, and outwardly on a greater, world spanning scale.

By not backing down, by not losing faith in ourselves and in others, perhaps we will one day walk among the stars, Star Trek will continue to both entertain us and provoke us into thought as well as self examination, and maybe even in a far off future none of us will live to see, the lines will blur between the fiction we watch on our television screens and the realities we see on the news reports.

What crossroad will we be confronted with then?

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