Star Trek Time Warp

O.K. so my ten year old daughter and I are having quality alone time this past weekend. We are eating junk food, watching old movies (some are black and white) and playing go-fish. It’s my turn to pick a show. As I’m scrolling through the Netflix listings, I become excited to see the original Star Trek series.
I’m a Trekkie from way back- I was only a few years older than her when I wrote several scripts. No, they were never used but I loved that show. I’m explaining about its awesomeness as I’m quickly adding it to my queue and choosing an episode.
I’m also remembering how I shared the reruns with her older brothers and sisters. Only one loved it as much as I did but the others would watch with us. So I’m really psyched about it now. The episode begins. I’m humming along with the well known theme song and we are off.
It’s like seeing old friends that you have not seen for a long time. The people, the ship, the gadgets are as familiar as old family photographs. I’m loving it!!! Then Sarah starts asking questions. Once again I am reminded of how different the world which she is growing up in is from my childhood world. It is even different from the world her siblings grew up in. It went something like this-
Captain Kirk pulls out his communicator, flips it open and says those wonderful words, “Beam me up, Scotty.” She giggles, “Mom, they have those old fashioned cell phones. You know, the kind that flip open.”
In a tense moment, the captain pulls his phaser out and fires. “Mom, why are they using stun guns?”
The computer systems left much to be desired in her mind, “why aren’t they using laptops or their phones?”
“What are those things in their ears?” Remember the coil things in Spock and Aurora’s ears? I explained they were listening devices- “those are funny looking blue tooths, Mom”.
We were only ten minutes into the show! She decided to go to bed! I finished the episode and thought about how new and different Star Trek was when I was a child. In fact, it was considered too “edgy” by the networks. The impossible has not only become possible but almost obsolete in today’s world.
Remember talking computers, recreation computers that simulated real life, medical scanners that could diagnose and incredible data bases at the tip of Spock’s fingers? We live with those things daily now.
There are some things that haven’t changed- people and relationships. I still enjoy watching Bones and his cynicism, Spock trying to be human, Scotty’s salt of the earth bluster, and Captain Kirk’s sense of humor. I loved that such a diverse group of people could work together, disagree often and yet we always knew that they would lay down their life for one another.
The show is full of characters who truly have character. I enjoyed watching it today as much as ever for those very reasons. And that’s what makes it timeless to me. That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?