Vajradhara
One of Many
It has recently come to my attention that a certain group of uninformed amateur film critics have been spreading misinformation about Star Trek containing numerous "plot holes and contradictions", which they deem "nits".
This article is intended to demonstrate that such accusations are groundless and only intended to preach to the choir of the lowest common denominator skeptics, the ones who seek out plot holes in the most trivial details and argue that this somehow proves Star Trek is mere fiction.
The article I'm critiquing can be found somewhere or other. No, I'm not telling you where it is unless the author embarrasses me in public. Quoted sections are in italics with applicable responses below them.
"As a friend pointed out, during the saucer separation sequences in Encounter at Farpoint and Arsenal of Freedom, the stars indicate that the ship was going at warp. But the saucer has no warp drive. After the separation it should have immediately [dropped] to impulse."
What laws of physics is this person using?? Has he even heard of the Law of Conservation of Momentum? In case he got his physics lessons from "Science for Dummies, 3rd Edition",
an outside force is needed for change in velocity. Since subspace contains no dust particles or cosmic debris to cause friction, you could hypothetically attain any speed and then maintain it indefinitely.
It's clear that several shots can converge to produce the effect of one explosion when you don't look carefully enough. And if a new TV doesn't fix the problem, you have to remember that the original copies of Star Trek, recorded on holographic optical media that contained no errors, are unviewable with our backwards technology.
cont.
This article is intended to demonstrate that such accusations are groundless and only intended to preach to the choir of the lowest common denominator skeptics, the ones who seek out plot holes in the most trivial details and argue that this somehow proves Star Trek is mere fiction.
The article I'm critiquing can be found somewhere or other. No, I'm not telling you where it is unless the author embarrasses me in public. Quoted sections are in italics with applicable responses below them.
At one point in "Devil in the Dark," Kirk says to Spock, "You go right. I'll go left," except that he points right when he says "left" and points left when he says "right." Happens to the best of them.
This is the first plot hole mentioned, and immediately belays the author's ignorance of the rich Star Trek universe. As any entry-level biology textbook will tell you, the human eye receives an inverted (upside-down) signal that the brain is then forced to compensate for. Similarly, the eyes of many species in the galaxy have left-right reversal of vision, which, from their point of view, would account for this seeming discrepancy. His ethnocentric opinions of how other species should view the world around them are altogether arrogant.
"In the scene where Picard and the others are transported into the courtroom [in "Encounter at Farpoint"], Q appears and Data says, 'At leastwe're acquainted with the judge.' I jumped three feet above my sofa. 'We're?' Well, well, well. Seems that Data unlearned how to do contractions after the pilot."
Yes, folks. This skeptical individual is actually wondering that strange things happen in the presence of an entity, such as the Q, capable of altering fundamental constants of the universe on a whim. Nothing more needs to be said here.
When Data is speaking with Admiral McCoy, he says, 'I'm an android.' (major error) When Riker is first viewing the record of Q's visit, when he turns from it the special effects guys forgot to fill in where his shoulder was and the actual screen can be seen."
Gee, let's see--"I am" vs. "I'm". A sufficiently brisk pronunciation could readily account for the appearance of Data using a contraction. Why do these bozos always pick the most inane examples in vain attempts to stroke their ego? "Special effects guy"? Is this person really under the impression that Star Trek is mere fiction? Unfortunately, the epic adventures of the Enterprise gang were recorded on primitive magnetic media to facilitate human viewing. This leads to many optical illusions, film defects, double-exposure and other problems that can account for this seeming boo-boo. Of course, had DVD technology already been widespread, we wouldn't be having this particular discussion.
"Data graduated from the Academy in 2345. In 'Conundrum,' Data's bio screen listed that he entered the Academy in 2341. 'The First Duty' established the Academy as a four year institution. The remark [that Data makes on the holodeck stating that he graduated with the class of '78] is wrong."
This individual again shows his basic lack of knowledge, this time ignoring the calendar used by the United Federation of Planets. At this rate, we'll soon be seeing the uninformed arguing that since the ancient Mayan calendar isn't in tune with the Gregorian, one of them is wrong! Federation stardates take the form 00112.2, such as 37801.5 (Data's presumed graduation date, if you'll pardon the pun). Once again, we see that referring to it as the "class of '78" is only wrong if you don't already believe Star Trek is inerrant!
"Captain Picard tells Yar to rig main phasers into an energy beam and lock it onto Farpoint station. But when the beam is engaged, it is coming from the captain's yacht on the bottom of the [saucer section] not the phaser banks"
If this person had done his homework, he would have known that the saucer section, as shown in these schematics, contains TWO phaser banks. A Galaxy Class starship would certainly be a waste of resources if it couldn't even shoot craft below it! How dumb does he think Federation engineers are?
"As a friend pointed out, during the saucer separation sequences in Encounter at Farpoint and Arsenal of Freedom, the stars indicate that the ship was going at warp. But the saucer has no warp drive. After the separation it should have immediately [dropped] to impulse."
What laws of physics is this person using?? Has he even heard of the Law of Conservation of Momentum? In case he got his physics lessons from "Science for Dummies, 3rd Edition",
Dr. Crusher says, 'send it to the starship, charged to Dr. Crusher,' when referring to a bolt of cloth she finds at a merchant shop. Huh? I've never seen any Starfleet officer paid, nothing seems to cost anything on the Enterprise, and how could you have money in a society in which virtually anything can be created via replicators?"
Looking at the universe through rose-colored Federation glasses again, are we? Although nothing in Terran society seems to involve money by the 24th century, others, like the Ferengi, have fertile trade industries. Moreover, intellectual property laws are still maintained, so replicating an evening gown without due compensation would be illegal. One needs only look at the counterfeit clothing industry to understand why. This poses no problem when human inhabitants are happy to have their work enjoyed for free, but other societies are not as utopian.
"The Enterprise is being pursued by Q. Prior to the saucer separation, Picard orders a salvo of torpedoes to be fired (from the rearward Photon tubes). Eight torpedoes are fired, but when you count the detonations there are only five."
I think the writer of this particular tidbit should get a high-resolution TV set instead of that 1940's black and white model Granny left him in her will.
"Another example of Data using contactions is where Data says to Riker, 'I can't see as well as Geordi . . . .'"
Has it occurred to our resident skeptic that "can't" and "cannot" are errors an AI program like the Universal Translator could easily introduce into the films? He doesn't really think people still speak 20th Century English in the 24th, does he??
"Q takes Picard, Troi, Data and Yar to stand trial for the crimes of humanity. Why then, is Data, an android, included in the group? It makes some sense that Troi be included, being half human, but Data has no human DNA. He has no DNA, period!"
Data is an offshoot of humanity, what could be considered an artificial human. By that logic, would in-vitro fertilized humans also be unaccountable for the crimes of their forefathers?? Human society has always recognized this not to be the case, as any of a number of competing creation myths can show you. What's next - he'll be saying that Adam and Eve eating a magical fruit isn't grounds enough to condemn all their descendants to a fiery death?
"Riker beams aboard the Enterprise and is greeted by Yar in the transporter room. From here, Yar turns to lead him out of the transporter room and into the hall. When the door opens, we see a blue uniformed crewmember standing in the hallway. Yar enters the hall and a red uniformed crewmember passes by the door. As Riker enters the hall, the blue uniformed crewmember start walking behind him. Make you think that she missed her cue and started walking a bit late. Anyhow, Riker exits the scene behind a wall and the camera position changes to just down the hall from them. We see Yar and Riker, but the two crewmembers have vanished!"
You'd think this would actually be impressive if the two crew members who "vanished" didn't have shore leave that let them disembark to the planet below. They merely called to be transported down while the camera was on Riker and Yar. Of course, as Arthur C. Clarke once wrote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Heh. "Vanished", indeed.
"Look very closely at the circular stained-glass window in Groppler Zorn's office (The best time to look is during Part II, just before the window is blown out during the alien assault.) The colored pattern on the window spells out Zorn's name, in English, no less!"
You know this article is bottom-of-the-barrel when our author isn't even familiar with pareidolia. Out of all the chapters of Star Trek in existence, it's almost guaranteed that strange things like patterns arising from cracks in the glass will be found by people looking to nitpick every minor detail! Perhaps, soon, he'll be telling us he can see Mohammed's name in a tortilla.
"At one point, Picard orders that all communication be stopped and use only hard copy printouts. But when he records a log, he taps his combadge and starts talking. The worst part of this is not that he is using a radio but he is summarizing everything that's going on. Not exactly a great time for him to go against his own orders."
And where, exactly, did he "go against his own orders"? Does our skeptic expect him to replicate a goose feather and ink bottle and start scratching out a "hard copy"? Even with our primitive technology, speech recognition is already a big industry. The computer must have been recognizing his spoken words on-the-fly and printing them out behind the scenes.
cont.
