38: Bad to the Bone?

09/12/18 • 67 min

Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast

John Carpenter’s Christine and Voyager’s “Alice.” In 1983, horror maestro Stephen King was such a hot property that a movie adaptation of Christine, his story about a haunted 1958 Plymouth Fury that goes on a killing spree to protect its owner, was well underway before the novel had even left the presses. The resulting film, directed by John Carpenter, has become something of a cult classic. Many fans believe that it outstrips King’s original for thrills and adventure. Less successful was Star Trek: Voyager’s attempt to rework the Christine story for the sixth-season episode “Alice,” in which Tom Paris purchases a haunted shuttlecraft that gradually begins taking over his life and personality.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Brandon-Shea Mutala of Melodic Treks and Warp Five to discuss one of his favorite movies, Christine, and the novel that inspired it. We consider how well the central premise translates to the Delta Quadrant along with the dark side of nostalgia, the role of the automobile in American culture, and what happens when paying homage to an earlier work becomes stifling rather than inspiring.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Christine and Alice (00:03:05) A Suffocating Homage? (00:09:40) No Sex Please ... We’re Starfleet! (00:15:40) Nostalgia (00:21:25) Teen Terror (00:31:22) Bad Dreams (00:39:00) The Open Road (00:43:34) Final Thoughts (00:47:41)

Host Duncan Barrett Guest Brandon-Shea Mutala Production Tom Whelan (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

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37: Death by Alien Badgers

Untimely Ends for Star Trek’s Redshirts.

Set phasers to stun, use thrusters only while in spacedock, and—whatever you do—avoid the narrative! The last of these—taken from John Scalzi’s parodic novel Redshirts—might apply equally to Starfleet’s young supernumeraries and the ensigns of the novel’s Starship Intrepid.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Duncan Barrett and Clara Cook look at how the redshirt trope has played out over the course of Star Trek’s half-century mission, using Scalzi’s novel as a counterpoint. We consider what it means to die a good death (on screen and in reality), why some lives are viewed as more valuable than others, and what our feelings about redshirts might tell us about the limits of human empathy.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Scalzi’s Novel (00:03:12) Featured Extras and Meaningless Deaths (00:10:05) In the Fridge (00:20:37) Post-Mortem on Voyager (00:27:15) Willing Suspension of Empathy (00:43:45) Pain and Suffering (00:56:45) Good Grief (01:03:05)

Hosts Duncan Barrett and Clara Cook Production Tony Robinson and Clara Cook (Editors) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

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39: Tit for Tat

Hawkeye Pierce, Milo Minderbinder, and Nog.

In a series celebrated for its long-form serialized storytelling, Deep Space Nine’s young Ferengi Nog enjoyed one of Star Trek’s most satisfying character arcs, going from illiterate juvenile delinquent to Starfleet officer on the fast track to command. But as much as the character transcended the venal, self-serving qualities which typically characterized the Ferengi, he never lost his natural business acumen. Two episodes in particular, “In the Cards” and “Treachery, Faith, and the Great River,” put Nog in the role of the wheeler-dealer, exploiting his bemused “customers” with ease and managing an absurdly intricate system of trades.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Justin Oser of Earl Grey to look at two of the major influences on these DS9 episodes: the 1970s US television series MASH and American author Joseph Heller’s satirical novel Catch-22. Together, they consider how the classic Star Trek ethos reconfigures the more pessimistic structures of its source material, the boundaries of comedy and drama in the grim context of war, and why we can’t help loving a rogue, even—perhaps especially—when they’re in uniform.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) MASH (00:02:20) Comedy and Drama (00:12:16) Deep Space Korea (00:15:06) Whose War Is It Anyway? (00:32:58) Catch-22 (00:38:12) Exchange and Mart (00:51:54) From A to B (00:59:40) Final Thoughts (01:15:35) Host Duncan Barrett Guest Justin Oser Production Justin Oser (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)