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View Full Version : Ron D. Moore's Fait Accompli


joebeaudoin
December 13th, 2002, 10:53 PM
ojai22 contacted me and asked why I didn't post this here in tandem with this post on the Sci Fi BBoards... However, since I know some of you don't even bother to frequent there, I figure I may as well cut-and-paste my post. It is here, in most of its entirety, save the swear word I had used on the bboard. :-)

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I have not posted here in several months, but I thought I would chime in on some observations. Mr. Moore, if he is truly reading this, might have some interest in what I have to say.

First, I'll say this: I enjoyed Mr. Moore's "Star Trek" episodes, particularly those from the TNG and DS9 shows. He is, undisputedly, a writer who knows how to write. I will not call him the "AIDS virus to SF" or "murderer" or "butcher". To resort to name calling is juvenile and points to the idiocy (i.e. a severe deficit of maturity) of those who used those terms.

However, after reading both his "mission statement" and the breakdown of the characters, this just sounds much like "Battle Trek: Galactica". Mr. Moore's emphasis on characterization is duly noted, and I do admire the attempt to make the series "realistic" through the use of camera shots from cameras mounted on a ship's wing and to have space be as it should be -- a medium that cannot support sound vibrations.

It sounds much like his own version of Star Trek for the references to morality plays. Judging by his comparison to "The West Wing", I believe he's trying to shove his opinion, (likely liberal in nature) on things down our throats. And this is his vehicle to do it.

(An aside: I am not a "compassionate conservative" no more than I am a radical; I do believe that there should be a third party -- just not sure that it should be the Greens lead by that feral Ralph Nader -- and I believe Bush is a war beating anal ortifice who is being lead by his nose by his Daddy's.. erm, HIS cabinet.)

I sincerely doubt, judging by his statements, that he is truly a fan of BSG. He might have watched it as a kid -- I don't know, I wasn't sitting next to him when Battlestar first aired. (This would have been impossible, for I was yet to be born.)

However, this isn't the only time he brought his childhood into it... He had a childhood hero who, within two decades, offed.

You might know him... his name was Jim Kirk. He was killed in one of the most cliched ways there was. It was anti-climatic and did nothing from a literal standpoint. In fact, it was one of the worst movies in SF history. Of course, that's only the second death they filmed. The first involved having Shatner shot in the back -- test audiences didn't like that ending too much.

I won't question his character, because I never met the guy.

I will say, however, that his fait accompli lies in his apparent arrogance, as well as his deception of fans. From the way he carries himself, he appears to be a man who is unreasonable in the way of "[frack] you all and I'll do what I want because I am in command".

Judging by the way he speaks, I sincerely doubt he's overcome his desire to work on Star Trek. As I read these official documents from the horse's mouth, it sounds like he's gunning to prove a point or spit in the faces of Rick Berman and his sidekick, Brannon Braga.

Maybe even both.

And a man who will use anything he wants to get back at the people whom he thought hurt him is dangerous, not only to himself, but to those whom he works and, equally, us.

He is a man who, judging from how he speaks and acts, seems to be mourning that door he himself helped close when he left Voyager. He is going to continue mourning that door until he finds it within himself to move on with his life.

Mr. Moore, the first leg of your journey in Hollywood is over... It's time to go upon the second.

(Also, now that I'm on that subject, I most distinctly remember that Moore said he would not be "airing the dirty laundry" regarding his departure. Within the span of two to three months, if memory serves, he reneged on this statement.)

There it is... The reason why Mr. Moore will fall flat on his face.

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I look forward to seeing what feedback I get from this...

thomas7g
December 15th, 2002, 12:36 AM
So Moore wrote Kirk's death?

I thought that was a horribly weak way for Kirk to die. I was so disappointed with that movie. Kirk's ending lacked imagination. Really really badkly.

FĂ«anor
December 15th, 2002, 02:37 AM
interesting post..

as for Kirk's death? I preferred the original. Bam. in the back. dead. no last words, pretty speeches..

Kai

crash4587
December 15th, 2002, 07:22 AM
There reason Kirk's was so bad,........Moore wasn't a fan of Star Trek either.

joebeaudoin
December 15th, 2002, 08:05 AM
> So Moore wrote Kirk's death?

He and Brannon Braga wrote the script.

And he defended it against those who hated Kirk's death. He tried to pull this same crap by saying "I was a fan of Kirk when I was a child, I liked the original -- blah, blah blah". (I began to loose my respect for him then.) Now with this whole Battlestar Hack-lactica mini-series deal of "I watched the show when I was a kid, etc., etc" and the FilmJerk.com articles I've totally lost my respect for the guy.

He's done nothing but play with us since day one. That's the way I feel about it.

Now that this is being brought up... Let me say that he's not someone who particularly handles fan reactions well, either. He did ban the whole topic/discussion about Kirk's death on his own AOL Star Trek boards.

Senmut
September 5th, 2003, 10:44 PM
Yes. RDM slaps the fans in the face. Why did he kill Kirk? Because he has no imagination in fact. ANYONE can kill off a character, but it takes a brilliant writer to make a character not only survive, but make it totally plausible/believable within the context. He did not, because he has no such drilliance or depth. Kill Kirk. Zap. Powie. Crash. Ed Wood could do as well. So RDM gives us a female Starbuck for thrills and sex appeal. Again, he has no imagination, and is merely parasitizing the creation of others to keep himself out of the unemployment line.
Joebeaudoin, I love your take on Nader. LOLOLOLOL! We totally agree about RDM's agenda. (Of course, I am a Bush supporter, so I guess we'll never grock, totally) But a good post. let's see more of you!

SeoulWind
September 5th, 2003, 11:20 PM
I read a fan written Kirk-death-scene/movie-ending on a newsgroup a number of years ago that was orders of magnitude better than Moore's. In it, Kirk makes it back to the E-D and volunteers to give the Enterprise crew time to escape in the saucer by manning the battle bridge and ramming the engineering hull of the 1701D down the Klingons' throats. He dies alone, as he always imagined, and on the bridge of the Enterprise where he belonged. It was very well done.

Found it: Kirk's Death (http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Kirk+death+battle+bridge&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=58752618%40graymist.com&rnum=1)

Ron may be a good writer, but he's not a brilliant one. There are many better and I'm certain that he's going to learn a hard lesson with his re-imagining. I just wish that Galactica didn't have to be the classroom...

Mark Snyder
Seoul, Korea

oldwardaggit
September 6th, 2003, 04:51 AM
The Captain going down with his ship. Yes that would have been a truly great ending for Kirk .

So I guess it could be said that Moore isn't a bad writer, it's just his ideas that suck. lol

I bet he combs the net and reads all the ideas just so he can come up with something different and not have to give the fans any credit. Think about it, it makes sense because what Battlestar Galactica fan in his right mind would have come up with the direction Ron took?

I guess we might have been able to prevent this whole thing if we would have been talking about what we didn't want done to Galactica. Then we might of had a chance of touching on his idea and it would of never gotten used. lol
OWD

Senmut
September 7th, 2003, 06:39 PM
That would have been a truly great way for Kirk to go. Not only saving the crew, but also doing it in a way that even the Klingons could respect. Which reinforces my point-RDM has nooooo genius at all. A fan on a list came up with a better one than he did.

BST
September 7th, 2003, 07:03 PM
THAT type of ending would have been spectacular! A truly fitting way for Kirk to go -- sacrificing himself in order to save the ship and crew, (or at least the saucer section). Anyone with even a little bit of knowledge about ST would know that about Kirk.

What a waste. RDM really doesn't get it, does he?

BST

amberstar
September 7th, 2003, 07:33 PM
That only proves RDM doesn't get it and never will. Kirk's death would have been better and ment more if he had been killed trying to save the rest of the crew.
The way Kirk died was lame. I like going down with the ship better.
Maybe RDM should try writing something other than Scifi.

amberstar
September 7th, 2003, 07:34 PM
Thanks Joebeaudoin for your post, I hope we see more of you here at CF!

Amberstar

shiningstar
September 7th, 2003, 08:26 PM
I agree with you Feanor. Anything that had a
set FORMULA that MOORE had to follow he hated,
and YES that DID include Startrek and all of the
spinoffs.