Any idea why MOBY DICK is such a popular recurring theme with the Star Trek franchise?

[MrScorpio]

I'm sure that any of us can come up with at least half a dozen instances that a Moby Dick-like storyline was used

[rcrush]

1. Trying to make their episodes sound smart?

:shrug:

[MrScorpio]

3. Nothing says, "I'm freaking clever", like ripping off classic literature...

Eh?

[rcrush]

4. lol

and quoting from shakesspeare and doing A Christmas Carol in the Holodeck. Them starfleet guys is sophisticated! All they listen to is classical music!

[MrScorpio]

6. Even the Klingons sang opera

You'd think that those guys would like something a lot funkier

[rcrush]

12. They write love poetry and dance

Whatever happened to getting some beer and weed?

[InvisibleTouch]

16. You also can't truly appreciate Shakespeare...

...until you've read him in the original Klingon. ;)

[LeftyMom]

2. "You broke your little ships."

[gmoney]

5. It's in the public domain?

And it's a timeless theme or some shit.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Didn't Khan have a copy of Moby Dick on his bookshelf?

Wow, my surpressed Trekkiedom is really showing there...

[cemaphonic]

9. Yep, and even quoted Ahab

making Kirk a Great White Whale.

[MrScorpio]

10. He quoted Milton on the TV show

But for The Wrath of Khan he went totally Melville

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Ta-da! Here you go:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Moby_Dick

[MrScorpio]

11. It's missing one, I think

Like when that Ferengi captain salvaged Picard's old ship to lure him out in the open. Picard was definitely his white whale.

[Orrex]

13. Because jokes about Uranus are too obvious

[Bassic]

14. Cause it made Picard sound profound?

For that matter, why the hell did they make that character French, when they made him sound British both in accent and apparent education? The wonders of the 24th Century I guess. :D

[Iggo]

15. Oh! You meant TNG. Relax. TNG doesn't count. (n/t)

[JTG of the PRB]

17. My guess is that it's because of how the idea of revenge is viewed in the future.

In the 23rd and 24th centuries, revenge is seen as something that humans have left behind - like war, disease, and poverty. There is an "evolved sensibility" that humans possess that have allowed them to move beyond such things.

Moby Dick is one of the ultimate revenge stories - Ahab is driven made with his rage to destroy the white whale that crippled him, and in his lust for vengeance, he winds up getting his ship destroyed and getting killed. It's the exact opposite of what the humans in the future feel they should do. They know that these feelings of revenge are wrong because they've moved beyond that as a species.

That's why those lapses in that sort of judgment are so important in Star Trek. In ":First Contact" in that famous scene, Picard is on the verge of going mad with his desire for revenge against the Borg - he's pushing his crew harder than they can go and ignoring rationality in his desire to destroy as many Borg as he can. "I will make them PAY for what they've done!" he shouts before slowly calming down and realizing that he was on the verge of total madness - thanks to the Moby Dick reference.

In the end, the "evolved sensibility" of his humanity took over, and he made the choice he should have made in the beginning - sacrificing the ship and his crew's only way back to the future in order to preserve the time line and allow the future to play out as it was supposed to.

At least, that's how I see it. :shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. Erectile dysfunction runs rampant in Hollywood?

[MilesColtrane]

19. Hawthorne was a little thin on chase scenes?

:shrug:

[Deja Q]

20. The same story retold for modern audiences...

Except somebody created new characters and settings and didn't re-market the same trademarks but with larger tits and minus any substance the originals had... TRUE retelling.

That's why modern media stinks up the shithouse like there's no tomorrow and the "writers" are too busy thinking about cheap-butt profits.

Also, "Star Trek First Contact" was a role reversal; it's Picard who plays the antagonistic character, bent for revenge... FC isn't my favorite of the lot, but it does have some very shrewd moments.

Beats the shit out of any "Doctor Who" made in 2005 or later, that's for sure...

[Orrex]

21. You're aware that Hamlet has been remade several times since that Bard's death, right?

It's not as though Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are sacrosanct.