Simon Pegg, co-writer and co-star of Star Trek Beyond spoke with Entertainment Weekly recently about writing the film’s villain, Krall, comparing him to the Republican presidential candidate in the United States. He also talks about Star Trek’s “heart”, a deleted scene with a nod to Lieutenant Romaine, and the possibility of a fourth Kelvin film.
When asked about writing Star Trek Beyond‘s villain, Krall, and the character’s backstory, Simon Pegg told EW that he and co-writer Doug Jung attempted to create a character that was relatable and complex but also had gone “a little mad”.
We liked the idea of someone being a little mad, and feeling passed over and forgotten. Someone with a terrible ego complex. It’s incredible to me how — and I would pat myself and Doug on the back endlessly for this — how Krall kind of utterly mirrors Donald Trump. You know, this sort of utterly fragile ego that’s projecting all of his own faults onto other people.
But, Krall parallels political figures in Pegg’s home country of the United Kingdom as well, including one Boris Johnson.
Brexit, absolutely! What it is with Krall is: I don’t know if he necessarily believes in what he’s saying. Krall is just kind of angry, you know? He was a soldier, he fought in wars, he lost a lot of people, suddenly he’s got to break bread with the enemy…
He looks at the Federation in the same way that the right tend to take leftist ideas and just say they’re “bad.” Things like political correctness, which is just really not being a c–t, that’s all you’ve really got to do, don’t be an a–hole. That’s all it is! They say, oh no, political correctness, that’s bad.
While the film was written before Donald Trump took the to the political stage (and, so, Krall was not actually based on the real life real estate mogul), Pegg and Jung did try to tie real world politics into their story.
We took the standpoint that Star Trek has always been socially allegorical and politically allegorical: “Let’s mirror things that are happening in our culture.” That was something that was really important to us. We were looking at this notion of separatism versus integration and how, at the moment, there seems to be this pull away from this notion of global citizenship.
On Scotty’s love interests, EW notes that Scotty and Uhura had some chemistry in Star Trek: The Final Frontier and asked Pegg whether that pairing was something we might get to see in the Kelvin timeline.
As a co-writer of the film, if I’d written myself any kind of romantic interest with Zoe Saldana, I’d have been thoroughly hauled across the coals! We did have a little reference, in a deleted scene on the DVD, where Scotty talks about going out for a drink with Lieutenant Romaine, and that’s a character from the original series that Scotty was romantically linked to.
Finally, Pegg was asked about the thing on everyone’s minds since Beyond left the big screen: will there be a fourth film? Perhaps the one co-starring Chris Hemsworth (who played Captain Kirk’s father George in 2009) that J.J. Abrams was promising before Beyond even hit theaters?
It’s become a bit bittersweet, really, because we lost Anton tragically, and that’s deeply affected all of us. It’s going to be so difficult to do it again without him, but we’ve become so close over the years, and even moreso now. J.J. is J.J. He’s very secretive, and I think that this is something he was kind of cooking up, or has been cooking up for a while story-wise. I don’t know anything about it. I’m intrigued!
Personally, I feel like I’m fascinated to find out. It would be interesting with Kirk, now that he seems to have got past his daddy issues, you know, come to a good place psychologically in terms of his relationship with his dad. I can only imagine how it will be to suddenly have to face him.
There’s a lot more great stuff in the original interview. Be sure to head over to Entertainment Weekly to read the whole thing.
I don’t post here often but I recommend the comments for this article be locked…
If I could emoji in here, it would be the lol face.
You cannot possibly be serious.
CaptJWAmick,
If only you could.
http://orig13.deviantart.net/dfb9/f/2016/047/9/5/lol_emoji_by_palhenrieta-d9rzp3u.png/?ext=.jpg
http://orig13.deviantart.net/dfb9/f/2016/047/9/5/lol_emoji_by_palhenrieta-d9rzp3u.png
Of course you do, because British actors should have the last say about politics the day before a critical US election, and the thought of some conservative trying to get a word in must cause a disturbance in your safe space.
No, I was concerned the comments would devolve into the unconstructive political mess that is contained below. And you don’t know me Witzend, if you did you would think find your comment absurd.
Who cares? At the end of the day you have the choice to just not click on the link or better yet just DONT READ THE COMMENTS SECTION. Make it a personal choice. Why stop people from voicing their opinion just because its, well, opinionated. Yes sadly it does get ugly, uglier than it should be but thats life. We don’t live in the 24th century yet. ;)
What’s wrong Elmore you can’t handle people disagreeing with what Simon said about Trump?
Maybe you should go find a safe place, suck your thumb, and say over and over “Progressivism is my savior”.
That’s what Millennials do. Good luck.
Yeah? WE weren’t the ones crying since Nov 8th
Good interview.
And the uneducated pro-Trump troglodytes converge in 3… 2… 1…
How accepting you are of different opinions.
Non sequitur, since I never even said what my opinion is. I said “And the uneducated pro-Trump troglodytes converge in 3… 2… 1…” and for good reason–the uneducated make up the largest percentage of Trump’s voter base (they’re his core demographic), and they tend to go completely animalistic at the first sign of anti-Trump commentary from celebrities.
And the Low Information voter overwhelmingly went for Obama. You proved my point exactly. Thank you..
You have no idea whether or not I voted for Obama, so your point is entirely moot. Clearly, you failed in debate class.
Do you even read and understand the comments you are responding to. I never said you voted for Obama and wasn’t even going there unless you are saying you are a low information voter. going by your responses you couldn’t debate your way out of paper bag.
Dandru,
And I already provided a Pew research study proving that the less tolerant people are on Trump’s side. Hell IRL, a video expose proved the DNC sent people to pro Trump rallies to be disruptive.
The KKK officially endorsed Trump last week. No it doesnt mean Trump is happy about it but it does tell you the kind of people he attracts and its scary.
And the communist party (yes there is one) endorsed Clinton so your point is worthless.
I could apply that to Hillary.
Basically, both candidates are awful. US politics is a bloody joke.
Says the foreigner who won’t RTFM about how the U.S. government is and thinks that the POTUS is like an emperor
@G66,
FYI
College graduate voted 50% for Obama in 2008 and 47% in 2012
Postgrad voted 58% for Obama in 2008, and 55% in 2012
I’m not trying to make any point about the voting of college grads. I was just trying to respond to someone apparently trying to insult me by insinuating that I didn’t go to college. And remember a lot of people go to college for worthless degrees these days so the point that college grads voting more for Obama meaning something says nothing.
Well you certainly seem defensive about it or at least sensitive to the issue, so it must matter in some prideful way if not any other. As for the worthless degree, on this sole point we agree, and it could well be that some young voters simply vote for the folks they think are most likely to forgive their enormous college loan, which is as vile a notion as most conservative agendas seem to me, given it is yet another loophole-style exploitation of the system.
I guess that anybody who would run on the ‘thou shalt not get away with it’ platform — one that made skull&bones types as accountable as any other — would get fragged before making it into office, so clearly my ideal candidate is bound for print or other media and not real life.
Book smart never meant life smart. Have you never seen some of these interviews done with college students? Some of these people you wonder how they even made it to college.
I think the educated voter sees very clearly that these particular candidates are equally wrong from different sides of the same coin. They are both disgusting examples of what should otherwise reflect the best. IF these two do anything it is to reveal the same in the populations they claim to represent and those who follow them into their false proclamations and platitudes.
“The uneducated” make up more than some Trump supporters. I know it must be a shock, Dandru, but ol Hillary has her own supporters who fit this category. Yikes! Lol
Trump himself did say he won with the poorly educated :D
I.D.I.C., folks.
Let’s face it: Krall has more in common with Shillary. ;)
Typical.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/01/its-harder-for-clinton-supporters-to-respect-trump-backers-than-vice-versa/
Non sequitur since I’m not a Clinton supporter.
@Dandru
Thats good to hear. Any other candidate would be better than either Trump or Clinton.
And you are so quick to insult Trump supporters like a typical Clinton sycophant.
I didn’t insult Trump supporters. Try reading. If you felt insulted by what I said, that says a lot about you.
You are just trying to be slick. You didn’t mean a subset, moron.
and just go ahead and wipe the egg off your face. LOL
Calling people troglodytes and uneducated is not complimentary. You went into attack mode from the start and now you act like you did nothing wrong. Take some personal responsibility. YOU created this argument.
Ricardo Cantoral,
Dandru only designated a certain overly vocal subset on the interwebs. It remains to be seen how encompassing he considers it to be, i.e. whether he considers it to include all the cum laude graduates of Trump University.
Disinvited,
So if I said “Pro Clinton elitist” you would assume that I am only speaking of a subset. Earlier I said I called Pegg an elitist and I said nothing about Clinton. Don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining.
Ricardo Cantoral,
Re:“Pro Clinton elitist”
As I don’t see Bernie Sanders and his supporters, who he asked to vote for her, as fitting the set that you delineated, of course I’d assume you were speaking of a subset.
@Dandru
Now that is just plain childish
Your tolerance is astounding. Way to set the example!
I hope Trump wins simply to piss off Pegg. Stop telling who to vote for Hollywood.
I would not vote for Trump, but i am also always annoyed when Hollywood tries to influence an election.
Why? Why are you annoyed? You are opposed to free speech? “Hollywood” I assume you are referring to a random assembly of thought provokers and influencers in pop culture. If “Hollywood” was not going to influence and election, exactly who should influence an election?
Who is a valid influencer to speak? What organized entity should be allowed to influence the election? So because a group of *literally random* citizens calls themselves the GOP or DNC, they get to influence an election for the past two years?
Or if they are a random assembly of citizens that label themselves CNN or FOX… then “they” are magically allowed to influence you?
Just not sure what your problem is with people expressing their opinion publically and how their opinion is less valid than any of the other groups I’ve mentioned.
Sure you have thought of your stance? Or is it a knee-jerk reaction?
and IMO? LOL!!
G66: See?
He doesn’t want Hollywood to try to influence him and he’s a uneducated pro-Trump troglodytes. Hmm me thinks you need to look into a mirror
Who are you referring to? I’m a college educated business owner that HIRES people.
A sheepskin doesn’t mean you’re educated. And forgive me since I only graduated from high school, but I think your comment was supposed to read more like, ‘to whom are you referring?’
At least that is what every editor I’ve ever written for would say if happening to come across your post.
Perhaps you should SEE. Listen to what was said.
Yeah, I wish Clint Eastwood, Jon Voight, James Woods, Steven Seagal and others would keep their noses out of politics!
Your going to compare what they say to the vitriol coming from the liberals? I have no problem with who they support. It;s the intolerance and nastiness that comes out. Also, remember what happens to a republican in Hollywood that comes out, they get blackballed. You really think it’s a coincidence that 90 percent or more of Hollywood is Democrat/Liberal and the Republicans are either older so they don’t care about hiding it anymore or they are big enough stars to get away with it.
Blackballed, really? Do tell, I had no idea that Eastwood, Grammar, Willis, The Rock et al were having such a difficult time finding work.
As for vitriol, find some hapless Hollywood liberal’s comments that can even begin to compare to those of Trump’s warm-up act Ted Nugent, then get back to me.
Michael Hall,
Agreed and don’t forget the grandaddy of them all: never served and never blackballed John Wayne who devoted entire films to his political point of view.
And you have to admire the gall in this rewrite of history, it is well documented who in Hollywood actually suffered blackballing at the hands of the directives of both House of Congress in the 1950s.
So you have to go back 50 years? Show me where John Wayne was as nasty as Many of Hollywood us today and if you think condemning Communism is bad then this discussion is useless.
G66, condemning a political system isn’t bad. Ending a person’s career because they believe in it is bad. Many people in the early part of the last century supported Socialism because they wanted to support the rights of “the workers” — and Socialism was conflated with Communism. Just as it has been conflated by FOX and other, ahem, news outlets.
I would be interested to know how much you pay your workers, but it’s not my business, it’s yours.
Okay, where to start?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070526_memorializing_the_deadly_myth_of_john_wayne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne#Political_Views
http://moviecrazed.com/outpast/stander.html
Dusty,
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll17/id/226206
Please name small time actors. Eastwood makes his own movies now. Grammar doesn’t do very much anymore since he came out and the rock is big enough to overcome it although look who directs/produces his movies as they are’t ardent leftists. Oh and since Eastwood’s speech about Obama he has clearly been cleaning up at the academy awards. Now you will find a few exceptions but if your honest you will see what I am saying is valid.
I”m guessing most small-time actors don’t embrace the right because they aren’t rich enough to benefit from the politics, so I’d bet most are liberal. If you know a list of struggling right-wing actors, please name names (what a catchy phrase that is!)
You crack me up. Try looking up who the riches people in congress and the senate are. More democrats. Look at the biggest and richest companies in he country That you probably can’t stand and look who they donate more to, Democrats. Look at the middle of the country who aren’t rich, Republican. Look at small business owners, more republican. Get a clue.
But you were talking about small-time actors, so wouldn’t we be more in Reagan territory? BTW, you certainly do NOT amuse me – you seem more the example that Harlan Ellison cited nearly 50 years back, about the common man having nothing in common with Jimmy Stewart’s traditional character AND everything to do with kneejerk paranoia over every possible change to the status quo. Don’t worry about that iceberg, just keeping staying the course so you can save a little bit of fuel.
Protect a status quo that makes the rich that much richer and the poor ever more desperate to make do and you GUARANTEE more kneejerk attempts to tread water against the tide, which fuels — no, it guarantees — that Trumps will keep coming up from the bowels of the human race to exploit it.
And, kmart, it amazes me how many business owners forget that paying their employees decent wages would help those employees BUY the products they manufacture, and improve the market in general because they could participate in it more.
Hellz, even racist Henry Ford said he wanted his employees building cars that they could afford to buy.
People who are not rich and who are Republican are sometimes part of what used to be called “The Southern Strategy.” Some have been persuaded by a huge variety of right-wing talk-show hosts on radio that it’s in their interest to vote Republican. Some are “values” voters — religiously conservative. Some think that someday they’re going to make a million dollars and they, too, can be rich, so they support Republicans. Some think that when they get rich they’ll be generous philanthropists. Why, look at the Koch brothers. David supports “NOVA” on PBS! [And gets a big tax break for it, because it’s a non-profit.]
Companies often split their donations between candidates. AT&T has donated to Republicans and Democrats both.
Small business owners [and a small business can have as many as 499 employees to count as “small”] generally support Republican state legislators and local officials because they will get more tax breaks for their business and personal investment in it. Like Trump, business owners can file taxes showing any business losses and claim those to get a break on paying taxes.
Oh — and while we’re “looking at” business owners, let’s look at Roger Ailes, founder of FOX news. He’s been in the news lately, remember?
YOU “get a clue.”
kmart, “name names …” reminds me of some senator … hmmm
Oh, but that’s over a half-century ago. It couldn’t happen again, surely!
I was going to say, blackballed? Geez, every liberal/radical from Angelina to Tim Robbins has lined up to work with Eastwood, without apparent regard for his politics — presumably because they admire his craftsmanship enough to want to be a part of his art. That sounds about as bias-free an agenda as one could conjure up.
Yes, and I see Eastwood’s films, because he’s a great director. Hate his politics, love his films.
@G66:
You’re, not “Your.”
Vokar, Hee! I’m always tempted to respond to people who misspell that word with the classic comments section insult, “Your an idiot” ….
“vitriol coming from liberals” hardly counts compared with the “vitriol” coming from attendees at Trump rallies who scream at the press corps who report on events, round up any minorities in attendance to eject them, or wear swastikas tattooed on their skin.
Talk about intolerance and nastiness.
Didn’t you hear? Segall is now a Russian citizen. Like Trump, he feels the Putin-luv, big-time.
“I hope Trump wins simply to piss off Pegg.”
If you are this petty you do not deserve to vote. This election is a disaster, two awful candidates. But the election of Trump would be an even bigger catastrophe that would negatively impact Americana and the world in a manner never before seen in American politics.
So electing a corrupt criminal that did the opposite of her own commercial at 3:00 in the morning and literally did nothing to save them is better? With people like you no wonder we are in the situation we are in. I don’t like Trump either but after all the corruption from the Clintons and you don’t even want to send them a message? Why would the corruption ever end or at least diminish if people like you continue to let it happen. I guess your like the African American community voting for Democrats every single election then complaining that the people in charge do nothing for them then when they have an opportunity to send them a message by voting for the other part they don’t because the party that takes them for granted tells them the other party is racist and they fall for it.
Criminal? please educate me of her criminal convictions.
She has none-this is the bleating of supporters of Sanders angry that he lost, so now they believe that he was ‘robbed’ at the polls.
Americans, if only you realised your not the centre of the universe & could see yourselves from the outside like we see you in other countries- tragic. sad.
Wrong. We are the center of the universe. You know it. We know it.
Snugglepuffxlz wrote: “Stop telling who to vote for Hollywood”. Hmmm… so, basically Trump should not be telling us to vote for him? He’s a celebrity afterall!
Despite being a Trek fan for fifty years I have not and will never see this movie.
Simon Pegg is vile.
And you’re melodramatic and ridiculous. Grow up.
Plus, almost everyone who claims “I will never see this movie” does so. I’m sure you already have. You’re fooling no one.
No, there are folks who stand by their view, and that poster may well be one of them.
But he’s still full of it for the ‘vile’ crack. I knock a few points off Pegg for some of his ID remarks, but the guy is very clever and I love SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ and SPACED.
Well he wasn’t so clever writing the bad guy as a stereotypical soldier who can’t deal with the change after war. How original. Let’s see. Last movie had big bad admiral and now big bad soldier. And the stupid lines in the Kelvin films like Star Fleet is a Peace Keeping Armada (no it’s not but that does sound like military) then in Star Fleet isn’t the Military (yes they are just not the conventional Marines/Army. More like the Navy in space. Who do you think does all the fighting/defending?) How much actual exploring was done with any of the series?
Pegg did not in fact write the line about the Federation (not Starfleet) being a “peace-keeping armada.” Which was, admittedly, pretty stupid.
Yeah, that was the same writer(s) who came up with winners like, ‘enlist in Starfleet,’ like you’re joining the French Foreign Legion that’ll take anybody. Always had the idea that getting into Starfleet was a ‘best of the best’ type thing till the 09, which makes it look more like, ‘give us your tired huddled masses’
@kmart True. Although, Pike said he’d checked Kirk’s aptitude scores while he was, er, out f it.
I’m not blaming him for the writing in both movies. I’m talking about similar thinking. But Pegg was quite upset about the views of ID considering he didn’t write it.
I’m not blaming him for the writing in both movies although he did get quite upset with fans who expressed there problems with ID. It that the writers have the same mentality.
@G66:
Their not there.
To busy thinking about these posts. Thanks.
It’s Orwellian double speak
Which line, Boborci? “Peace-keeping armada”? That’s doublespeak all right, but, as I recall, you and Kurtzman wrote that line, yes?
Why would you have a good-guy character like Pike utter such a nonsensical phrase?
Marja – leave boborci alone about his nonsensical writing. He does the best he can with the meager tools God gave him.
Your right, they all have seen the movie. It was a run away success make more money than any other trek film. Keep deluding yourself.
Boy you just proving my point.
“Boy you just proving my point.”
Kid, you’re just proving you didn’t go to school.
Good comeback. I didn’t know I had to explain everything for you to understand?
You have already chosen not to see the movie.
It has been out of theatres for some time now.
You can always watch that “Voyager” episode “Twisted” over and over
“Simon Pegg is vile.”
While I think there is a certain amount of irony in Pegg talking about the ego of Trump, given that Pegg himself is not the least egotistical person on the planet, I have to ask what qualifies him as “vile”?
You’re acting like a toddler… just like Trump! SAD.
Interesting, an article about tolerance and political correctness, and you label a group of people troglodytes.
Above comment was supposed to be a reply to Dandru. Sorry, I am a troglodyte and don’t know how to use the Internet.
Ugh. I know, right? Trump has built his entire campaign around degrading non-whites and non-males, and Pence enacted a system in which they literally try to torture gay people into being straight. But the real bigots? The people with the audacity to call the people that support those philosophies unevolved.
I don’t support Trump. But calling people who do names is just being another Trump. Be above that playground language and name calling, don’t respond to it with more of your own.
Absolutely
You clearly don’t know what you are talking about. Lets try over analyzing every thing you have said without any context. Yes he has said a load of stupid things very inarticulately but try looking at what Clinton has actually done. One has a loud mouth but the other has actually done damage in addition to a loud mouth.
@G66. What bad things has she actually done?
A Trump voter is not interested in tolerance given Trump’s policies and opinions on immigrants, Muslims, women and so on. I find the claims of unfair labelling to be pretty weak.
What are laws worth if they are not enforced. Regardless of Trumps in articulate comments, his policies are to enforce the laws we have on the books. What is so wrong with that?
Actually, they are not interested in the Federal government ignoring their concerns about open-borders, terrorism and their values being mocked. So why should they care what you think? And don’t get on your high horse about women and minorities being disrespected by Republicans, when you have an industry within the Democrat Party that targets women and minorities who espouses conservative values, especially those who run for office.
I don’t see any similarities between Krall and Trump. One is a forgotten solider hellbent on revenge against the Federation, the other is an ignorant buffoon, a compulsive liar with nothing to offer but hate and anger.
There’s the “My anger fuels a scorched-earth policy against everyone I’m angry at” commonality.
Yeah, there is. And I guess you can figure Krall has been thinking in a loop for so long, that the facts have long disappeared from his perceptions … though in Trump’s case, he is probably on enough to know the facts, and then deliberately always choose to misrepresent him — you should see how he completes distorts the facts of the old heckler at the Obama speech — it is 100% misrepresentation that would only work for a person who hadn’t seen the actual video of Obama.
Nope. That may be Trump’s supporters, but Trump is more like Harry Mudd or Cyrano Jones without the charm.
I agree. It’s quite a stretch.
Not sure that I see the similarities either.
Granted, Trump is more Bond villain than TREK villain. I thought his whole campaign was a sham for the better part of a year, that this was really just about increasing his wealth through visibility and that he wasn’t ever serious about it, till the last few months anyway. Maybe more parts DR EVIL than Blofeld, probably most like Jonathan Pryce in TOMORROW NEVER DIES, just more butch than camp.
No, kmart, Bond villains are usually quite articulate and speak in complete sentences.
Though I imagine Trump probably likes the name of the character “Pussy Galore.”
and the winner is…lol
Another example of how much people want an “IDIC” reality, but it fails every time.
Because there is no such thing in reality. Utopia sounds great but there is no such thing. Everyone can’t agree on everything cause that is not possible and illogical just like everyone can’t win. You can’t have a winner without a loser. You can try to improve things for everyone if they are willing to do what it takes to improve their situation and not just complain.
Another misinformed Hollywood elitist spreading mendacities. I think Pegg’s assessment of Trump is accurate but for Trek but wouldn’t an ideal villain be Clinton ? Hello, Lybia ? Egypt ? She’s a warmonger and a liar who got innocent Americans killed. Trump is a thick-wit and a blowhard but there is no blood on his hands. He never said that he will enforce a no-fly zone above Syria which would put us on the war path with Russia. No, but don’t listen to me. Just keep drinking that Democratic Kool aid.
P.S.
Clinton cheerfully approved a concert last night in which a musician constantly referred to women as Bitches and Hoes. A great feminist.
@Ricardo Cantoral,
> Hello, Lybia ? Egypt ?
Just curious, what about Egypt?
I am also curious about what happened in Egypt.
https://www.lifezette.com/polizette/hillarys-forgotten-egypt-catastrophe/
Another case of Obama betraying our friends and emboldening our allies. Mubarak was an imperfect ally, but he was undercut and urged to leave. That briefly gave the country to the Muslim Brotherhood before the army took it back. Obama always picks the wrong side.
@Witzend, Ricardo Cantoral,
Well, as someone who lived and worked in Egypt and the Middle East for over two decades, Mubarak was not an “imperfect ally”; he was a dictator who ruled Egypt for more than 30 years with the help of the military and internal security forces. Mubarak was pushed out by the people who were fed-up with his corrupt system, Obama made the right call by supporting the people.
What happened afterward was the result of 30 years of systemically targeting political opposition groups by Mubarak that by the time he was out, there were no one left to fill the void but the Muslim Brotherhood & the military.
That’s brilliant Ahmed. Oust one shitty regime for another.
It’s rather ridiculous to assert that the United States could have exercised more than a minuscule degree of influence over the events in Egypt bar direct military intervention. Supporting Mubarak would have meant backing a 55 year old military dictatorship against the will of the people. People that went beyond the Muslim Brotherhood. Mohamed Morsi, the Ikhwan’s candidate, barely won a majority and was elected president. The Egyptian people rose up again against Morsi after his government granted him what were essentially unlimited powers. Six months later after more protests, the Egyptian Armed Forces terminated Morsi’s presidency and eventually former Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected president. The military’s in charge again.
The Arab Spring
Sorry, I meant Egypt.
So, Mrs. Clinton is like Admiral Marcus?
@dswynne
I had to look up that character. I hate the Abrams movies ! Yeah, a power hunger warmonger sounds about right for Clinton’s Star Trek counterpart.
Well said.
The irony is that Simon Pegg had Scotty explain in Star Trek Beyond the strength of the Federation by saying something along the lines of “one stick breaks easily but a bundle of sticks is strong”.
As noted in ye ole Wikipedia: “The original symbol of fascism, in Italy under Benito Mussolini, was the fasces. This is an ancient Imperial Roman symbol of power carried by lictors in front of magistrates; a bundle of sticks featuring an axe, indicating the power over life and death”.
Given that Simon Pegg used the specific imagery at the root of fascist ideology to describe the Federation, I guess we can assume he would vote of Benito Mussolini over Donald Trump if that were the choice.
It all sounds good until you think it through and go “huh”?
@Chris,
I guess that you’ve never heard of the Old Man and the The Bundle of Sticks story!
———————————–
The Old Man and his Sons
An old man has a number of sons who constantly quarrel with each other. As he nears death he calls them to him and gives them an object lesson in the need for unity. Having bound a bundle of sticks together (or in other accounts either spears or arrows), he asks his sons to break them. When they fail, he undoes the bundle and either breaks each stick singly or gets his sons to do so. In the same way, he teaches them, though each can be overcome alone, they are invincible combined.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_his_Sons
Actually, I have heard of Aesop’s Fables. I think that Krall’s “ideology” (such as it was) was handled much better in Babylon 5 (the Shadows had the same excuse for being bad…i.e. conflict good! fire good!), and that the Federation stick story was handled better by Usher when he said “teamwork makes the dream work”! That being said, I thought the movie was entertaining in that it wasn’t boring so there is that!
Well yes, that’s exactly what fascism is all about – and it has been like so ever since the Ancient Roman times. Why do you think they ruled half the world?
Usurping symbols is nothing unique to the fascists. The swastika was and still is an usurped symbol pf peace that is now disdained because of how the Nazis literally and figuratively twisted it. Not to mention their perverse version of Christianity.
You are right. Forgot about that. Some might call it a coincidence but look at the lefts fascination with Socialism. Bernie Sanders anyone. Oh he’s Democratic Socialism. Socialism is socialism.
Maybe you can point to how socialistic medicine doesn’t work when compared to other systems?
Try looking at the wait in Canada and the Death Panels in Britain.
As opposed to the wonders in some US states where there were lotteries to see who would get to join plans for state sponsored coverage? Or paying as much for a month’s prescription (one that could be filled with inexpensive generics until they got outlawed) as the Army would shell out for three designer wrenches?
Erm, what ‘death panels’ in Britain are you referring to please? Never heard of any such thing. Where are these ‘death panels’ held, and who sits on them?
Under the aegis of which UK law do these ‘death panels’ operate under? Examples please
I don’t know about that, G66 … I use the VA healthcare system, which is the largest single-payer plan in the world. It has many faults, but overall, is pretty good.
As for the rest of the US, health care expenses are among the highest in the world, but not so great at improving quality of life.
What nonsense. Canada’s system is excellent. We like to complain about it (like how it doesn’t cover unlimited acupuncture) and some abuse it by going to the emergency room every time their kids have minor headaches, demanding MRIs.
But I’ve never heard of anyone denied – or made to wait for – necessary treatment. The waits are things like a few months for (free) elective, non-urgent hip or knee replacements that wouldn’t be covered at all by most U.S. insurers. The stories of people going to the U.S.? Yep, I’ve known people who had incurable cancer and were sent for experimental treatment in the U.S. that wasn’t available here — and our healthcare system paid for the trip and treatment.
Polls showed Americans in favour of a similar system after the war – and the American Medical Association spent a fortune on lobbyists and a red scare/ “the government will be reading your chart” campaign.
In Canada, doctors were against it and went on strike in Saskatchewan, the first province that did it – there were underground clinics in barns to help deliver babies and treat patients.
Venezuela. Cuba. I’m sure there are plenty of places where it currently APPEARS to be working, but that only lasts until they run out of other peoples’ money.
The health system you talk about was developed in NZ in the beginning of the 1930’s (the Depression). Britain, along with many other countries, copied the system, and in some cases, improving on it. It still operates today in my country, NZ, and has been the envy of the world. It is not perfect. Nothing is but it has worked and still does. Everyone benefits.
While I’m not American, I sure find Trump’s popularity utterly disturbing (which makes me believe, once again, that there’s a disturbingly large group within ANY country’s populace, that somehow manages to just switch their brains off at the most inopportune moment).
With that said: I still think that comparison is heavily flawed. I’m with Pegg as far as the “feeling passed over”-part goes. But Krall “utterly mirroring” Donald Trump. Nah. Feels like he’s just trying to desperately promote another weak Star Trek villain (in an otherwise fine movie, mind you!).
The only other parallel I would acknowledge, lies in Krall’s rather weak and convoluted motivation. Like some voters (not only American voters – I really can’t stress that point enough!) seem to be hell-bent on witnessing the collapse of an established political system without dedicating an honest thought to the consequences of such an event (that’s what I meant by “switching their brains off”), Krall hopes for war and destruction for no discernible reason… but boy, is that a poor comparison. Sorry Mr. Pegg, you’ve done a helluva job on that movie and I applaud your taking a stance but the situation is way too serious to be even remotely mirrored in a fun space action flick (that still felt one helluva lot more like Star Trek than its immediate predecessor).
Trump is popular because he is not a career politician, with whom (in my opinion) a large portion of Americans are fed up, and with very good reason. I do understand why people are voting for him. But not being a Washington Insider is not a good enough reason to elect that egomaniac to the highest office in the free world.
But he still is not the “man from next door”. He is not career politician but a money monger. So it’s like voting a Ferengi into office because you dislike the Romulans.
How on earth can a country the size of the USA not find a better alternative to Hillary than Trump? Even the garbage man would be a better choice
Did you miss her 100 Million for making and hiring NO ONE. At least he used his money and however unscrupulously conducted business, did it LEGALLY.
G66, Did you miss her 100 Million for making and hiring NO ONE. Please clarify.
You would be right if Hillary Clinton wasn’t a bigger egomaniac. Trump want to enrich himself with his money and Clinton wants to use your money for the same thing except she deals with abhorrent governments and Trump uses ours. I can already see the comments on that remark but we know the difference between our government and the ones she gets money from. Most importantly Clinton want to control you and Trump just wants to be famous. Shouldn’t bad experience count for something compared to little experience (yes I said little because he has had to deal with government wherever he has built)? Shouldn’t committing a crime count for something? They both stink but the difference is clear.
Most importantly Clinton want to control you and Trump just wants to be famous.
Golly, the latter sure is a great reason to elect him president of the most powerful country in the world!/s
I’m not certain what you mean by “Clinton want to control you” [sic]; please cite examples.
G66 – You keep going on about Hilary Clinton’s criminal activities but when people here ask for actual evidence, you ignore such requests, yet still keep repeating these accusations.
Either give us actual irrefutable evidence of her crimes or refrain from repeating such fabrications.
Don’t become overly disturbed. America is a Capitalist state, not a democracy. Corporations elect presidents, not individuals. Most supporters of Trump believe (correctly) that they are being economically left behind.
Actually, Merchant, the US is a Constitutional Republic, but it’s uncomfortably close to an oligarchy. I feel like we’re about 99.9% of the way to an oligarchy.
Trump is popular because there are a lot of uneducated, bigoted, easily led people in the United States who are desperate to be told someone will fix their problems–even when that person is very clearly lying to them every time he opens his mouth, and doesn’t give a crap about them.
There you go again. So typical of the Liberal. Call everyone who has a different opinion a name just to shut them up without convincing them with facts and persuasion. Sounds a little fascistic to me. By the way I have not called you or anyone a disparaging name, like a child does, any time during these exchanges. Other people expressing opinions leaning towards my opinions have not called you or anyone disparaging names. This is the point I have been making to you and people like you about why so many people are fed up but you and your ilk don’t seem to understand. Keep it up and all you do is further divide the country. The sad thing is I bet we have more similarities than differences if you could respect DIVERSE opinions like you claim to adore.
G66, “By the way I have not called you or anyone a disparaging name, like a child does”
Then you’ve done a lot better than Trump.
Trump is a clown and a buffoon. Can’t wait until he loses.
It’s a simple choice. You either see more value in the man who got rich by building buildings, or in the woman who got rich by selling access and influence.
So Trump’s a bricklayer now?
Khaaan the Weasel,
Re: So Trump’s a bricklayer now?
Without a union card? Well, maybe he’s a mason…
Well, if you watched Michael Moore’s recent stand-up special, ‘Michael Moore In Trumpland’ — Moore understands the woes of the small-town poor and working class very well. He wrote ‘Downsize This’ about the American auto industry 25+ years ago, and has been taking on The Powers That Be on behalf of workers pretty much forever.
He nailed it when he said a Trump vote would be a giant “F— you” to a system that enriches the elites and left ordinary people out of the benefits of globalization, that doesn’t solve the problem of the closed plant and the opioid epidemic and lack of resources. People who decided to stay in their small towns vs. getting out to the big cities were left behind in a big way… their pain is real, though their reading of the situation is distorted by sensationalist news outlets eager to capitalize on that pain.
Moore also said that it would feel good for Trump voters to “blow the system up” – like Krall intended to do, not for any well-thought out reason but out of inchoate rage.
That said, Moore also noted that after it sets in that what voters really unleashed might make things much, much worse, a great feeling of regret may set in.
The Guardian has a great piece by Chris Arnade about ‘spending 100,000 miles on the road talking to Trump voters.’ Yes, a lot of that small-town anger was present, but also, it was exclusively the domain of white people. Black and minority voters, even if they experienced the same level of poverty, were against him.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/trump-supporters-us-elections
And it must be noted that Mr. Trump’s election has unleashed a wave of real-world, violent threats and attacks on women and minorities. He has emboldened the worst in American society, and has said nothing to dissuade them.
http://thisiswhoyouelected.com – collects posts and reports on real world incidents.
I despise Clinton and detest Trump. But God have mercy, if I see another self-important Hollywood celebrity railing against Trump I might throw my TV/computer out the window.
Make sure you tie the power cord to Trump’s leg first if you do.
@kmart:
Touché and BINGO!
LOL!
kmart, LOL
LOL, as well!
One of the few places online I go so I can avoid political commentary. Now, there’s no where to go. Thanks for that.
It’ll be over soon… hopefully…
So, wait. The fourth film is in actual jeopardy of not being made? They already announced it. The plot outline. The co-star. I know Beyond underwhelmed at the box office, but i hadnt seen a retraction of the fourth film’s status. Can anyone shed some light??
Honestly, I’m not concerned about debating anyone about politics.
MY BIG CONCERN IS THE NEXT FILM.
1. Will it be made? I know actors have already been signed, but some other articles I have read seem to believe that there is a small chance for the movie to not be made. This is based on the performance at the box office not being as expected.
2. I know we started with the timeline thing to get Star Trek going again. Do we have to revisit it again?? Must we continue to have films that continue to “develop” characters and explain why they are the way they are? We are now 3 years into the 5 year mission. Do we really need to delve into Kirk’s inner struggles about Dad? I fear we are dealing too much now with personal issues of the crew, i.e. Spock and his emotions, his relationship with Uhura. Kirk and his Dad. Kirk and Spock learning to like each other….etc.
We are now 3 movies in. Can we move on to focusing on the adventure, the exploration, the Klingons, Romulans and other classics that are very much a part of Star Trek, but are being replaced with psychoanalysis and interpersonal struggles and issues.
I enjoyed Kirks Dad. But that’s over. Let’s move forward.
Even KIRK SAID IN THE FINAL FRONTIER that pain was necessary in life. Past and pain is what makes us who we are and if we lose that we lose ourselves. He said he didn’t want his pain taken away, he needs his pain.
So AGAIN, not to kick a dead horse, but can we just get back to what made Star Trek special?
Can we not focus so much on going backwards in time to explain something, but move forward to new adventures?
HERES AN IDEA. Let’s look at something that TOS didn’t have a chance to cover. Kirk and crews return to earth after the 5 year mission. Not saying make this the whole story, but something to incorporate.
OK, soapbox done. I appreciate any thoughts or comments on this.
How did you reach that conclusion from this article?
“Finally, Pegg was asked about the thing on everyone’s minds since Beyond left the big screen: will there be a fourth film?”
The article never said the film is in jeopardy of not being made.
“Finally, Pegg was asked about the thing on everyone’s minds since Beyond left the big screen: will there be a fourth film?”
What a disgustingly arrogant attitude… “I’m 100% right, anyone who agrees with me is wrong, and anyone who actively challenges me is evil.” Pathetic. If being politically correct really did – as he claims – just mean not being a c–t, then Pegg would be one of the most politically incorrect people who’s ever lived… 😒
“I’m 100% right, anyone who [dis]agrees with me is wrong, and anyone who actively challenges me is evil.”
You know you just described Donald Trump and his supporters, right?
Over the course of the movie Krall becomes less reptilian. With the Trump campaign it’s been the opposite.
So this is how Pegg is trying to get people to see his movies. Clearly not a good businessman and typical of someone who takes no responsibility for the the success of a film but is willing to take the check and give nothing back when it fails. Remeber what he said to Trek fans who had issues with the last film.
Around the world, the vast majority of people see Trump as a bigoted, misogynistic nightmare. So no, Pegg is not alienating Trek fans.
You mean “vast majority of left wing propaganda media machinery and their weealthy and lazy minions from movie and music industry.”
Although perhaps not the main reason but certainly a reason why the box office was down. You insult the paying public and they return in kind. Other than die hard trek fans, it is easy for people to simply say KMA especially these days with Hollywood being so hypocritically judgmental.
I really, really enjoyed the movie, and I hope they get the next one out so much sooner than it took to get Beyond to the theaters. Mr. Pegg and Mr. Jung should have a chance to take a crack at the next entry. The story was great, the marketing was really lacking. JJ developed the buzz for ST09 over many months, this film, not so much. They need to get the buzz out there and get people talking. Go film in some exotic locales, use thousands of extras, but do something Paramount to get us excited. Something to break out of your shell.
Eric, Agreed; marketing for Beyond was DISMAL. One might even say, BEYOND dismal.
And BR/Paramount should get started on the next film in the next few months. Not years.
I don’t see Paramount wanting to make another one until they at least pass a single dollar in profit and that can take a while. It may not make a profit until the cable rights are signed.
Not a Trump or Mrs. Clinton supporter, but this focus on Trump is fascinating, considering that, up until 18 months ago, Trump was a media darling. My, how times change…
See what happens when you challenge the corporate establishment?
See what happens when a racist riles up other racists?
“See what happens when a racist riles up other racists?”
I honestly don’t think Trump is racist. To call him racist is to ignore the fact that he has railed against and insulted white people as much as any minority. He is an arrogant jerk who thinks his opinion is the only one that matters, and anyone who challenges him (including Jeb Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney) is attacked mercilessly.
No one ever said a bad thing about Trump, legally, morally or politically, until he opposed the Democrat-Media complex and it’s monopoly on every news and entertainment platform except for one cable station and AM radio.
Plenty of people said bad things about him. Why do you think he hates Rosie O’Donnell so much. Most people just didn’t care about him until he ran for president. We have different standards for president than we do for reality show hosts.
Witzend,
Educate us. Please list these Media-complex members whose names never appear on the Republican Party donors lists?
@Disinvited
That’s a joke, right? I don’t give a crap about shareholders and stockholders who affect NOTHING you see. But you can go straight down the line of every writer, producer, director, musician, actor, anchorman, and editor in every newsroom, entertainment show, or Hollywood union, and find over 90% Democrats. The people who control what you see and hear in entertainment and news, and more importantly what you DON’T see and hear, are Democrats all the way down. I don’t just mean the NBC, HBO and Comedy Central Newsclowns. I mean every outlet with creative content in every medium, except for Fox News and a handful of AM radio shows.
folks have been saying bad things about Trump’s character for forever — he is even lampooned in GREMLINS 2, which was over a quarter-century back. Hell, I wrote a spec script about a Trump-type in 1990 where he is obsessed with having hotels in all 50 states, but the last one keeps blowing up and going bad in one way or other – it was called HOTEL CALIFORNIA (and it didn’t sell.)
@kmart:
I’m quite certain that with the Trump campaign we are seeing the birth in reality of the classic sf story, “The Marching Morons” (loosely adapted on film as IDIOCRACY).
Oh My God (not the way Shatner says it, more like the way Nielsen says it in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE), you are so right! Haven’t thought of the Kornbluth story in decades!
@kmart:
When I marathon interviewed Nielsen back in 1980 or ’81, I’m pretty sure I got him to say “Oh My God” on tape along with “Don’t Call Me Shirley!” BTW, I love Kornbluth, especially “The Little Black Bag,” which won a “Retro Hugo” a few years back. “Marching Morons” was written as a sequel to “TLBB” or vice versa, at the urging of Fred Pohl.
Incidentally, speaking of people passed on, you’re right in telling JN on FB that I was confused about driving you to your TNG pitch meeting. It was the late Ron Murillo I drove to a pitch meeting in LA shortly before I moved to AZ. For a while I was driving everyone to LA and back for meetings and jobs (except for Dennis M). Oh, Jerry…
What was Murillo pitching, an all Lori Singer episode of FAME?
@kmart:
re: Murillo: That was kinda nasty, old pal. Ron was a great guy who wrote so many scripts and stories without ego or bluster, his work could easily bury yours and mine both. I would have never gotten through my Nielsen & Kimmel interviews 35+ years ago if not for his extremely detailed, encyclopedic knowledge and memory backing me up on the set and at the screening room.
I’m a New Yorker and I’ve disliked that guy since the 1980s. So no, I’ve had bad things to say about him for a long time.
@dswynne,
Do you mean the same media that gave Trump wall to wall free coverage like no other candidate in the primary season, the same one that were airing his rallies live for months no-stop?
Yep, which is why the turn is fascinating to me.
Ahmed, Trump knows how to attract the media. If it bleeds, it leads. In his case, he’s hemorrhaging bombast, ego, and “lead story” insults.
@Ahmed
The media were extremely delighted to give Trump positive coverage during the primaries because he and they shared the same goals – destroy every viable Republican.
The same media that have focused on Hilary’s e-mails and created this idea that she was unpopular (when, actually, as Secretary of State and senator she had a high approval rating).
18 months ago he was known for hosting a reality show with D list celebrities and told them if they were fired or not. Today he has his hands on nuclear codes and can make policy for hundreds of millions of people not to mention his pull in the rest of the world which is why so many others outside of America are just as worried.
I mean I love Steve Harvey as well, I don’t want him running the country.
You could say that what any of these movie villains has in common with Trump is that they are really not well written. don’t have a good strategy and they will say anything to stir up the masses, and their anger and charisma is directly related to a need for revenge to accomplish something impossible.
I thought that was obvious. Krall wanted to Make Earth Great Again, while the good guys all felt that the Federation was Stronger Together.
Krall wanted… something. That point was never really all that clear in the movie. His plan was to release the agent in Starbase Yorktown and kill everyone there (doing this without also killing himself seemed dubious however) and Spock says Krall could then use Yorktown as a base to attack many other Federation worlds. Okay, but to what end? How does killing every living thing on it make Earth great again?
I think the idea was supposed to be that destroying the Federation would force Earth to stand on its own, and he believed Earth was stronger without allying with aliens. He was kind of a lame version of John Frederick Paxton.
Clinton or Trump. Both are horrible. You guys are screwed. Stay outta Canada eh.
If Canada doesn’t want us, they should build a wall along their southern border, and make us pay for it.
Ryan how’s mj?
Mr Plinkett,
Since I’m not crazy about either candidate, can I still come to Canada?
In my mind, I’m toying with giving Pegg the CHINA SYNDROME award for prescience in movie making. I’m just hoping he’s as wrong as hell that we’ll have to put Trump down in a Battle at Guantanamo Base to save all the nations of the UN from his devastating global warming bomb.
His what?
Not sure if Dis is being literal about that (quite possible given most of what I’ve heard from Trump) or just using a metaphor for all the cowshit erupting from DT’s lips.
kmart, again, Touche! LOL
Marja…
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride.
If @Marja was referring to @Disinvited, she didn’t mean “Touche”. She meant “Douche”.
Global warming bomb?
Could you explain that in more detail?
Not disagreeing,I would like to know more.
kmart and Gary 8.5,
Just usurping Pegg’s Krall/Trump assertion and running with it. Since I’m from over 50 years ago, added “chain reaction” fear from then that Teller wasn’t going to stop until he built a bomb big enough for us to take our ourselves out in the testing, i.e. Trump’s bad global warming science wasn’t going to stop pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere until there was no turning back from this new dire unstoppable “chain reaction” fate.
To be fair, recently, scientists in building a nanoparticle “antenna” to detect candidate molecules for study as to their being possible catalysts to turn carbon dioxide directly to methane, discovered they accidentally created the methane creating catalyst they where looking for in the antenna itself. That means we should be able to scrub as much carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, out of the atmosphere and store it as liquid fuel as needed to forestall such a run away disaster.
P.S. Recent changes to trekmovie’s pages have severely reduced my browser’s user experience. I’m not even sure this post will take. Onward to the brave new world that awaits us all.
And tell me this story, posted the day before the election is not an attempt by trekmovie to sway voters.
Pathetic. JUST PATHETIC.
@21MM392,
Yeah, Clinton is going to win the White House thanks to this article, sad! /S
@Ahmed:
ROFL! ;D
If this article is all it takes,
Then the support for Trump cannot be that strong.
“right tend to take leftist ideas and just say they’re “bad.” Glass houses Simon. The left demonizes any and all ideas, beliefs and traditions of the right. And the scourge of political correctness is far more than that. It stifles free speech, it divides, it attempts to silence. It’s a destructive thing.
Wow. Drumpf* even LOOKS like Krall!
* FACT: The surname of Donald Trump’s family was originally “Drumpf.”
And your point? Or are you prejudiced against people with German ancestry?
@Trump’s Tribble:
Not at all, since I am a “Heinz 57” (German included) meself! :)
While I can see hints of the vile Trump in Krall, I have to say that Krall probably stands out as the least developed Trek villain. I think it was the one element of the film where Pegg and Jung dropped the ball in terms of writing. Well, either that or a lot was cut or parts of the script not filmed.
Reporting on Pegg’s interview is a “political agenda”?
Wow thinking of Krall now TOTALLY fits lol. Sadly Krall is just a fictional character. Trump is a real guy who acts like a fictional character and one person removed from being leader of the free world. Scary.
Personally, I thought of Krall as a forgotten soldier who perceived himself as being discarded by those he served.
Gary,
Me, too. He was more a tragic figure than a Trump.
I haven’t seen BEYOND yet, but if “Krall” doesn’t have at least 6 bankruptcies to his name, then there’s no comparison.
Awaiting your review of said film. LLAP
It’s easy to demonize one person (in Europe, the clincher every time is the comparison to Hitler), and then completely and utterly ignore the fact that half the population in the US are behind this person. Think about WHY that is, try to understand these people’s reasoning instead of blindly going on thinking you have the one and only “truth” on your side.
Not being an a-hole is a wonderful idea, but that Simon, is not what political correctness amounts to, at least not in the UK. Remember that Nobel prize winning scientist in London who got fired by his university for wearing an ‘inappropriate’ t-shirt at a press conference? He lost his career, his reputation, everything, because a couple of feminists in the audience decided to read way too much into something.
You also remember all the times lefty social workers prevented loving foster couples from adopting children, on the basis of their support for political parties like Ukip?Oh, and remember that child sex abuse ring in Rotherham that the authorities repeatedly turned a blind eye to, because they knew the perpetrators happened to be of Pakistani origin? You remember Simon, how they let those men get away with raping young white girls for years, because they didn’t consider it PC to hold any of them to account?
I could go on citing numerous examples of how messed up political correctness and it’s effects are in our country, but you get the idea.
As for Brexit-you Remainers, though entitled to your opinion, lost the referendum. And your group will ultimately fail in it’s legal attempts to have the result reversed. Democracy is for everyone, not just the smarmy liberal elitists living in London. Grow up and deal with it.
As for Trump-you like me, are English. In which case the outcome of the U.S election is really not your concern. You’re entitled to your opinion on it of course, but it might be wise for you to refrain from actually commenting on it (that goes for you too Adele!).
Stop calling them liberals. The word you’re looking for is leftist regressives
Simon Pegg is an idiot. Nothing new about that.
The thought from anyone with half a brain, much less seemingly intelligent Star Trek fans, that either one of these candidates has the constituent’s best interest at heart, amuses me to no end. But it scares me even more! Clinton is business as usual, a political joke. But at least I know the punch line with her. Trump, on the other hand…is an open-ended joke…an uncontrollable loose cannon. Sorry Captain Kirk, Trump’s Planet is one unexplored strange new world I have no desire to explore!! Where is Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? Bully!
I cant stand Trump but there is a reason why left wing clueless celebrities should keep their politics to themselves.
If Pegg actually wrote Kraal to be like Trump, Beyond might not have sucked.
Clueless…
Nice try, Pegg.
Krall, John Gill, Khan, Garth of Izar and many more Star Trek baddies… Trump could bring us the post-atomic horror seen in the NextGen pilot. It’s ironic, isn’t? Somehow the future of Star Trek can only be induced by that sort of cataclysm and Trump might be the closest thing to our real-life Khan… There’s no 2063, no First Contact without Judge Q and the post-atomic horrors. The sad thing, it might even be Hillary who could be the bringer of war. Hilarious, isn’t it?
Of course, there are Trump supporters who really believe in him. Khan was the most opular villain Trek ever had. Palpatine and Vader are Star Wars’ most favourite characters and Harry Potter needs his Voldemort. Bond wouldn’t be Bond without Blofeld and Spectre and there would be no comic-book genre without the Joker, Lex Luthor or the Goblin. Trump represents all of that and the villain in our story has got loads of fans. But that doesn’t make him a good guy. There some people enjoying to see the world burn…
Sorry Simon I like ya buddy but you seem to have a hard time dealing with the fact that the people of the UK made their voices heard (voted), and they wanted to leave the EU. And I also have to disagree about on the PC thing, Political Correctness is literally the codification of being a c***, and no I don’t mean that word, I mean cuck. Free speech and thought…forever mother f****rs!!!!
Don’t speak for this Briton. 17 million people voted for Brexit, out of a population of nearly 70 million.
Think about that.
Another priviledged celebrity sharing their prized pontifications with those of us in the world,who so desperately need their guidance. You know if Pegg was half as progressive as he likes to make himself out to, why didnt he make his Scotty gay and having a relationship with his little alien buddy. And Krall is about as well developed as a staurday morning cartoon villian. Im really tired of Hollywood telling me what to think or believe or who to vote for. And i couldnt care less what Simon Pegg or his kind believe. Rich celebrities telling the common man and woman whats important. Pegg is a C__T.,he should just count his coins.
Simon is not doing anything that any of us commenting here aren’t doing, ie expressing their opinions. If anyone can be so easily influenced by what a few celebrities might believe, then the problem lies with that person. He is not telling anyone what to think and it is a sad day when people cannot discern that for themselves.
However, with careful consideration, along with some actual empirical research into these issues, one may find some celebrity’s or other’s comments having substance – or not.
Nobody is telling you what to think unless you let them!
Very tacky to post an article such as this on polling day. Should have waited until tomorrow.
Or the day after… browser just updated… wrong date….
running to hide…
Not a classy article just before an election though.
The problem with analogies is that if you have to explain them, they aren’t that good.
Krall is a psychopathic meglomaniac who wants everyone dead. . . and he’s still saner than Trump
+100
Talented actor. Good writer. Political asswipe.
America: 1
Hollywood: 0
We reject again the pious, sanctimonious ignorance of the Hollywood elite, the semi-talented uber-rich who don’t understand where money comes from because they earn their living the same way dancing bears at a circus do.
YES
NO!
America: -1
They elected a guy unfit and unqualified…and it shows. I hope I’m wrong but he has the ability to bring this country down with silly promises. Can’t wait to see how he builds this wall…and make Mexico pay for it. Christ.
It appears that Donald Trump has won the US Presidential Election, but not by much – 1%. Don’t know what to think. I thought the run-up to the last NZ election was bad, but this was dire.
There is a saying and it goes: “People tend to get the government they deserve”…
Also, FOR REAL, various NZ Government departments, real estate agencies, etc, have seen 190% increase, over this time last year, in the number of inquiries coming US citizens wanting to know gaining NZ residency etc within the last two days.
Never underestimate uneducated bigots and their willingness to follow and actually believe the pied piper that promises them everything they want to hear…and they actually believe it. Sadly, they’re easily manipulated by fear tactics, empty promises and unfounded accusations. The goriilas have overthrown the orangutans….with apologies to Pierre Boulle.
This wasn’t an election for Trump. It was a rebuke of Obama’s and the liberal democratic arrogance. Forget the actual vote totals and just look at the map and how little blue there was. Only the clueless dependent in the cities voted for her. Says a lot.
That’s right. Just go right to your mantra about racism and sexism, etc. Just keep insulting people. So progressive and liberal. Clueless and typical.
There’s no doubt that a) polls were useless this time around, and b) the Democrats did not really speak to all Americans this time out.
As far-sighted and well-meaning that their policy proposals were, there was precious little for people in small towns that had been decimated by economic change and globalism, that are in pain now. It’s hard to say to out-of-work coal miners that we’re going to replace your jobs with new jobs in solar and renewables.
And there was a cultural component, of the “flyover states” tired of being pandered to, condescended to, mocked for their way of life (although, you know, the KKK *is* kind of mock-worthy…right?)
That said, a large majority of Trump voters were *not* poor uneducated whites, but middle-class and educated whites. They weren’t hurting, and so far it’s not entirely clear what in Trump’s message motivated them.
The most surprising thing to many is that a majority of white, educated women voted for Trump knowing full well what kind of person he was and that he and his VP were all-but-promising to curtail women’s rights. I suppose there is where the class and race divide stands strongest – wealthy white women will vote for their privilege, and throw poor / minority women under the bus, rather than stand in solidarity with them. They can always take time off and travel to deal with reproductive health issues, whereas others cannot, regardless of what their state laws say.
That said, it’s rare for one party to hold the Presidency for more than two terms in a row. Obama staunched the bleeding from the 2008 economic collapse, did some good things, but the economy is still limping along and the recovery gains were not really distributed past the top 1%. If anything, it was a referendum on unfulfilled promises.
Some interesting notes out there indicate that it’s maybe time to get rid of the Electoral College, which is a holdover from post-Civil War politics, that unbalances American democracy, throwing over states (and yes, cities) with large populations, in favour of winning ‘battleground states’.
There’s a movement called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which has been ratified in a few states, that would bypass the EC by giving their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. This helps avoid the unfairness of gerrymandering, and returns to a ‘one person, one vote’ model just like every other election (Senate, House, state, local).
@Fred
I’d suggest looking at the Federalist Papers and the Constitution before commenting on something being a holdover from post-Civil War politics.
As we all know, what “the founders intended” doesn’t really mean much, because they couldn’t predict the world we live in today. What matters is how those institutions act in the present day. Regardless of what the stated purpose of the EC is, its effective purpose is to protect slave states. http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/12/13598316/donald-trump-electoral-college-slavery-akhil-reed-amar
Fred Javelina,
Re: what “the founders intended” doesn’t really mean much, because they couldn’t predict the world we live in today
What a crock! What they intended definitely meant a lot in the times where they were attempting to throw off the only government they knew, the Royal We, for something that had never existed before. What they intended very most definitely meant much in convincing their fellow countrymen to take up arms and lay down their very lives for the mere promise of something better. That they found their intent to have value is also exemplified in as to why they even bothered to include it in their declarations, introductions and preambles to the new laws that they were recognizing and creating.
I’m not saying their intentions were worthless, but the fact is they didn’t and couldn’t really predict what America would become in 250 years; a diverse, multicoloured nation of immigrants.
Nor could they predict all the amendments to the Constitution that followed, to make concrete in law the extensions of freedom for all – abolition, universal suffrage, etc – that were not part of the original. (As Jim Jeffries aptly notes in his stand-up comedy, ‘Of course you can change the Constitution – that’s why it’s called an Amendment!’)
The idea of the Electoral College comes from a time where they didn’t trust the popular vote for Presidency because of the powers invested in the position, and the potential for dictatorship; they wanted educated, wealthy white men to make the final decision. (America was much smaller and the franchise of voting was not extended to everyone, too.)
The compromises in the EC start with slave states wanting their slaves to count as people for the purposes of gaining more EC votes, and that’s where the “3/5ths” rule comes from. A charming part of history.
And over time, rather than being a ‘sober second reflection’ or whatever you want to call it, the EC has become a partisan rubber-stamp, with electors bound by pledges or laws, which negates the original intent of the EC, when you think about it.
And district gerrymandering is done to try to group partisan votes into wildly contorted regions in order to ‘win’ a state even if the popular vote is for the other candidate. It has no longer become about trying to balance rural with urban; it’s about how to cheat, legally. (Don’t get me started about voter suppression…)
If the EC was randomly selected and more like jury duty – where campaign slogans are forgotten and the candidates’ cases, proposals and histories were examined in depth and debated – and if Electors’ votes were unbound – then maybe it would serve its original purpose. But right now, it seems to be an archaic holdover and as currently implemented, a corruption of democracy.
Fred Javelina,
Re: electors bound by pledges or laws, which negates the original intent of the EC, when you think about it.
While it is true the many states try to compel such things, there is no federal law that compels the electors to be bound by any of those things that you claim cause them to be non-deliberative in their voting. And it is extremely doubtful that any such state’s law would be found constitutional if any state attempted to exact such penalties. More to the point, you are just plain wrong about how bound the electors’ votes are:
“There has been one Faithless Elector in each of the following elections: 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1988. A blank ballot was cast in 2000.” –
Office of the Historian, house.gov
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/
No, there’s no federal law, but electors are not neutral citizens, but party loyalists, chosen by the political parties. Of course they’ll vote for their party’s choice. I think this selection process is what negates the intent. Another thing the founders didn’t see would be how party politics (which they abhorred, mostly) would capture the political process, and become huge institutions.
Fred Javelina,
Re: electors are not neutral citizens, but party loyalists, chosen by the political parties
For the Electoral College, the Constitution proscribes that: … no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
It is difficult to see how under those restrictions how such a party loyalist as you claim can be chosen? I mean, if electors can’t be chosen from a pool with a public service record with which such loyalty can be gauged, how sure of the loyalty and the trueness of their vote can the parties possibly be?
That simply says no elected or appointed government official can be an elector. It doesn’t say electors can’t be affiliated or associated with a political party.
As Wikipedia says: “Candidates for elector are nominated by state chapters of nationally oriented political parties.” In some states, the electors themselves are chosen during the primaries, and in others, they’re nominated at the party conventions, or elected by state legislatures, or appointed by the parties themselves.
That means that electors are partisan. They are not neutral, disinterested parties. They have very little interest in voting against their candidate.
Therefore, I maintain that the intent of the Electoral College (Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution), that each presidential elector would exercise independent judgement when voting, has been subjugated to party politics.
As in the case of Ray v Blair, decided in 1952 regarding Alabama’s faithless electors, noted that electors had become “voluntary party lackeys and intellectual non-entities,” and once one state had adopted that strategy, they all followed in order to compete to influence the elections.
Getting rid of the Electoral College would basically mean the politicians would only campaign and care about the voters in the big cities (the blue areas). Those blue areas represent about 1/2 of the US population. Eliminating the Electoral College is a huge mistake, if it’s made.
According to statistics (http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-cities-population-idUSL2E8EQ5AJ20120326) 80% of the US population lives in cities or urban areas, not 50%.
While I’m not denying that people who live in sparsely populated agricultural or smaller (former) manufacturing states need to be heard and their needs met, the EC, combined with gerrymandered district bordering, essentially today gives them *too* much weight in Presidential politics.
So why should the demographic weight of urban populations not be counted as such?
If the US believes in “one person, one vote,” why are the Presidential votes of the actual majority watered down in a way that doesn’t happen for any other elected office, which are all first-past-the-post simple majorities?
At this count, on Sunday the 13th, Hillary Clinton has 2M more votes than Donald Trump, and 4 million more votes are left to be counted in California. The UK’s Independent says she’s on track to have received the 2nd highest number of votes in any Presidential election, after Obama. In any other country on earth, she’d have won the election. The will of the people has been thwarted by a system that made sense in the 18th century world of wealthy white landowners and muskets.
Two final thoughts:
1. Cities are the economic engines of America now; finance, science and technology, IT, creative industries, etc. As much as I hate to say it, a lot of things that can be automated will be, and those old Rust Belt jobs aren’t coming back (or going anywhere), they’re simply being eliminated; manufacturing today, trucking tomorrow, agriculture in the near future, as there are already robot farm machines.
This economic and cultural activity is why cities and urban population have swelled in the past 20 years. It does create an underclass of left-behinds, and even in cities gentrification has split things along race/class lines. You can’t magically make those jobs or industries come back.
The challenge now is how do you deal with a new ‘structural poverty’? This is where government can step in where markets fail; universal basic income, universal healthcare, cheap/free higher education and vocational training, as an investment in the social safety net and the future.
2. There is real need for electoral reform in the US.
* Purely publicly financed elections, limits on ad spending, political contributions, etc. For one thing, gets the money out of politics and in theory opens up public service to people who are not millionaire lawyers; eliminates the soft money from PACS / SuperPACS etc.
* Stop the revolving door between lobby groups and government.
* Repeal Citizens United. No-brainer.
* A single national set of standards for holding elections (voter IDs, procedures, laws, ballot designs, etc), and I’d argue, a national nonpartisan agency to oversee them, eliminates what we saw with states purging voter rolls, or partisan election workers denying people the ballot, rather than the state-by-state, partisan patchwork there is today.
* Make voter registration automatic. In Canada, any time you do your taxes or change your address, Elections Canada gets the updated info. This means a single set of voter rolls for provincial and federal elections.
* Some states are now passing laws implementing versions of Instant Runoff Voting.
* The National Interstate Popular Voting Compact is a set of laws already enacted in several states, that pledges their state’s electors to vote for the popular vote winner. If enough states get on board, it routes around the gerrymandered deficiencies in the Electoral College.
Oh, and I forgot: Restore felons’ rights to vote once they’ve served their sentences. Or if you want to be progressive, like Norway, you never remove those rights in the first place.
Jonboc – Was your post above a reply to mine?
Given the riots etc that have occurred since Trump’s election, it could be that many Americans are worried that all out civil war could occur and don’t want to become embroiled in it and who can blame them.
There are bigots everywhere, on both sides. Some of the comments by one or two posters here are particularly unhelpful…:(
All right that’s it. Canada’s closed. Stay out. Alright, alright. I’ll let ONLY those Trek fans that love the Kelvin movies into Canada. The rest of you sorry saps can eat your soggy Trump sandwich :D :D :D
Fortunately, I like the kelvin movies, can I move to Canada now?