Has creativity ceased to exist?
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Has creativity ceased to exist?
Here's something that's always bothered me about Trek. All the characters seem to be obsessed with 20th century stuff. Like can you imagine our society today if everyone was like totally obsessed with baroque music and ancient Greek tragedies and stuff like that. Not saying there's anything wrong in admiring the past and history, but just let's not forget what century we're actually living in eh? I mean like duh it's Trek so everything's pretty much fictional, but even as a fictional tale I think it's like a huge blow to credibility when mostly any form of art referenced and shown is something that we 20th/21st century people already know. It's really hard to believe that there's been no new music, books, movies, or any art created by the 22nd, 23rd or 24th century beyond what we know today. Like okay they have what many people today consider "classics" - but the "classics" we have today are like totally different from what was considered "classics" say 100 years ago. So I don't think it's credible that everyone in the Trek universe would be like so obsessed with or even know all the "classics" from like 200, 300, 400 years ago (depends on the series). Hell I was born in the 20th century and I don't even know who the frell Sting is. Might wanna call me an ignorant with absolutely no taste in music, but hey art is like the most subjective thing in the world, and my list of "classics" just happened to include stuff like Lion King and Shrek. Sue me.
Seriously. I mean how would you know that say a novel published in 2010 by Distracted didn't become such a popular classic bestseller that 300 years later it was turned into a successful holonovel? How would you know that my 12 year old sister's half Andorian great grandson didn't become such a wonderful successful singer/songwriter that instead of a Vic Fontaine hologram they'd have a Tharen O'Grady? Is it really that hard to imagine stuff like that. I mean here I am just throwing these ideas off the top of my head. Doesn't really take that much effort. But the way they did it in Trek it just seems that the only area with any advances and innovations in 400 years had been science and technology. And that's really nice and fun to have like transporters and replicators and tractor beams and stuff, but there's no art in it. There's no statement.
Especially with humanity meeting so many other species, who supposedly have their own culture and art etc. Like I mean even today different cultures from around our own world constantly impact each other. Say in music for example, American born and raised singers who may or may not have any middle eastern ancestry whose music have middle eastern elements in it. And many other examples. Is it really that hard to imagine that alien cultures would impact future art the same way. Like how about instead of "Blue Skies" for the Riker/Troi wedding they'd actually hire someone to write like a brand new never before heard song. In our current mainstream way if they want. Then play with the tempo a little bit. Or a lot. Add unusual sound effects. Play it with unusual instruments. Make it sound like it's not from our time and place. It's really not that hard. There are many creative people in the world who could do that. Hell I even wrote a Trek song myself that partially uses the Tholian chirp/voice as an instrument.
Humanity has supposedly advanced like 200, 300, 400 years yet in many ways it's still stranded like way in the past. I think it's a shame. Life imitates art and art imitates life. If there's no life there's no art. And if there's no art there's no life. Only a series of biological functions.
Seriously. I mean how would you know that say a novel published in 2010 by Distracted didn't become such a popular classic bestseller that 300 years later it was turned into a successful holonovel? How would you know that my 12 year old sister's half Andorian great grandson didn't become such a wonderful successful singer/songwriter that instead of a Vic Fontaine hologram they'd have a Tharen O'Grady? Is it really that hard to imagine stuff like that. I mean here I am just throwing these ideas off the top of my head. Doesn't really take that much effort. But the way they did it in Trek it just seems that the only area with any advances and innovations in 400 years had been science and technology. And that's really nice and fun to have like transporters and replicators and tractor beams and stuff, but there's no art in it. There's no statement.
Especially with humanity meeting so many other species, who supposedly have their own culture and art etc. Like I mean even today different cultures from around our own world constantly impact each other. Say in music for example, American born and raised singers who may or may not have any middle eastern ancestry whose music have middle eastern elements in it. And many other examples. Is it really that hard to imagine that alien cultures would impact future art the same way. Like how about instead of "Blue Skies" for the Riker/Troi wedding they'd actually hire someone to write like a brand new never before heard song. In our current mainstream way if they want. Then play with the tempo a little bit. Or a lot. Add unusual sound effects. Play it with unusual instruments. Make it sound like it's not from our time and place. It's really not that hard. There are many creative people in the world who could do that. Hell I even wrote a Trek song myself that partially uses the Tholian chirp/voice as an instrument.
Humanity has supposedly advanced like 200, 300, 400 years yet in many ways it's still stranded like way in the past. I think it's a shame. Life imitates art and art imitates life. If there's no life there's no art. And if there's no art there's no life. Only a series of biological functions.
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Comes from the Federation being a police state and all. Creativity is suppressed and dissidents disappear to camps run by Vulcans and Betazoids who can make your mind right. Terrible tragedy.
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
T'Poptarts is right. The best answer is that it's a shortcut for the writers. However there was an original play on The Next Generation (About an insane asylum?). Lots of holonovels. Alot of them were set in a fictional past--but a fictional past that probably never quite existed . . . so, that's fine. There was that horrible educational cartoon character on Voyager. What was his name? Flot, or something?
Can anyone think of other examples?
Can anyone think of other examples?
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
I remember a chanteuse in a bar who took Warf's request for a Klingon aria? What was she playing before Warf bellied up?
I suspect that we will affect other cultures more than they will affect us. McHumanity! Assuming we meet any. Humanoids. That we can communicate with.
Things become classics in part beause they inspire a sort of obsession, as Trek does for some. This generates scholarship (for want of a better word) and before you know it, people are teaching courses.
And we are talking about television: the mouth of Madison Avenue.
I suspect that we will affect other cultures more than they will affect us. McHumanity! Assuming we meet any. Humanoids. That we can communicate with.
Things become classics in part beause they inspire a sort of obsession, as Trek does for some. This generates scholarship (for want of a better word) and before you know it, people are teaching courses.
And we are talking about television: the mouth of Madison Avenue.
Last edited by evcake on Wed May 30, 2007 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Well, Harry Kim wrote some of his own music.
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Real life answer, you don't have to pay royalties for classical music and a lot of early jazz.
And since we live in the era that these characters are so abnormaly interested in, it's easy to re-create stuff.
And since we live in the era that these characters are so abnormaly interested in, it's easy to re-create stuff.
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
There's also an in-universe explanation too. I mean, aside from the police state one. WW3 was so destructive that, for a long time, people were too busy trying to survive to worry about creating new art and music and the like. By ENT, they should have been producing new stuff though...
You also have to take into account how much music changes over such a short period of time. Go back thirty years (1977) and give Joe Q. Public a copy of Tool's latest album, or the newest album from Nine Inch Nails or one of the popular R&B bands (can you tell what kind of music I listen to?) Compare a song from then to a song now ... totally different...
Except for that country stuff. Blech.
You also have to take into account how much music changes over such a short period of time. Go back thirty years (1977) and give Joe Q. Public a copy of Tool's latest album, or the newest album from Nine Inch Nails or one of the popular R&B bands (can you tell what kind of music I listen to?) Compare a song from then to a song now ... totally different...
Except for that country stuff. Blech.
Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Yep that's why to me it just doesn't make sense. Like at all. There should have been plenty new stuff created by the 22nd century, I mean even during WWII people were still creating. Trying to survive, but creating. It's their voice and their expression. And even if it really did eliminate inspiration and creation for like a really long period of time there's really no plausible excuse for absolutely nothing having been created in like 100 years, like way after Earth's recovery
Plus aside from the obvious familiarity of the creators/writers with 20th century stuff it just begs the question WHY THE FRELL ARE CHARACTERS FROM LIKE 200, 300, 400 YEARS IN THE FUTURE SO OBSESSED WITH OUR TIME OF ALL THE FRELLING PERIODS IN HISTORY. I mean like okay so say Roddenberry was really fond of 50's music or something like that. But that's only because he didn't grow up listening to like baroque music and stuff! Because that's the music of his time period. The Trek characters are from like a totally different time period. Why in all hells would they grow up in an ancient culture of 400 years earlier??
Plus aside from the obvious familiarity of the creators/writers with 20th century stuff it just begs the question WHY THE FRELL ARE CHARACTERS FROM LIKE 200, 300, 400 YEARS IN THE FUTURE SO OBSESSED WITH OUR TIME OF ALL THE FRELLING PERIODS IN HISTORY. I mean like okay so say Roddenberry was really fond of 50's music or something like that. But that's only because he didn't grow up listening to like baroque music and stuff! Because that's the music of his time period. The Trek characters are from like a totally different time period. Why in all hells would they grow up in an ancient culture of 400 years earlier??
Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Does Beyond Antares count?
It's flavored with passionfruit
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Tpoptarts wrote:it just seems that the only area with any advances and innovations in 400 years had been science and technology.
Sadly enough, I think they get all their technology from the future, Wesley made it up, or they got it from the Borg. (See: First Contact, Voyager's Future's End & Endgame)
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Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
Yeah well at least that, but how come they never get any kinda art from the future/Wesley/Borg??
Re: Has creativity ceased to exist?
I haven't paid that much attention to art in Star Trek, but maybe that is because I spent so much time paying attention to the science details.
But this topic got me thinking about fanfiction and is there more creativity in fanfiction? Since I don't pay attention I'm not an expert and don't know the answer, but maybe someone who does could tell me.
This also got me thinking about my own writing and I have to say I have never written anyone listening to any music or reading or anything like that, but since I've until recently been writing for only myself it doesn't matter. So I'd like to thank you T'Poptarts for posting this because I have to say I've learned something new as a writer.
But this topic got me thinking about fanfiction and is there more creativity in fanfiction? Since I don't pay attention I'm not an expert and don't know the answer, but maybe someone who does could tell me.
This also got me thinking about my own writing and I have to say I have never written anyone listening to any music or reading or anything like that, but since I've until recently been writing for only myself it doesn't matter. So I'd like to thank you T'Poptarts for posting this because I have to say I've learned something new as a writer.
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