Catalina...the Final Frontier

You're probably all aware that a new Star Trek movie is out. They had...not really a premier, but a special screening of the film at the movie theater in the Avalon Casino. It turns out Rod Roddenberry (Gene's son) is an avid diver and loves to dive off Catalina. So he decided to round up a few people and bring a taste of Hollywood to the island. So Sweetie and I got tickets and made an evening of it. We ate at Steve's Steakhouse before the film. (Good food and good service - go there, if you're here.) Then strolled over to the Casino.
Before the film actually started, there was a lot of fol-de-rol. First a guy came out to "warm up the crowd". Then Rod came out and talked for quite a while about how he pretty much knew nothing about Star Trek except what he learned from fans and how he had nothing to do with any of the productions, TV or movie. Then he asked if there were any questions. I was wondering what question we might be able to ask him. He was also promoting a new dive group, the Roddenberry Dive Team, and another Roddenberry foundation, and a documentary he's putting together about the Star Trek phenomenon - it was a little scattered. Then they had an auction of a few items to support the San Diego Zoo, which I thought was a little odd. Then they had to have a parade of celebrity guests. And while none of the stars from the current movie were there (they were on a press junket, naturally), they did have George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nicols (Uhura), the guy who played Jake Sisko on DS9, the guy who played Rom on DS9, an Enterprise cast member (can you tell I didn't really follow these other shows?) and a former Miss Universe. Both George and Nichelle spoke. It was quite impressive to think about the impact that the original series had. They both spoke of how the networks didn't want to air it because it had a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, etc cast and many adults at the time rejected this world view. But I watched it as a kid, and so naturally just accepted the fact that there was a black woman on the bridge performing a critical and technical job. So I wonder how much that kind of exposure shapes one's views of the world and works against societal prejudices.
Well, it had been an hour and a half already, so they decided they'd finally start the movie. It was worth the wait (although the sound system in the Casino theater isn't that great). I thought the script was well done, and the actors were pitch perfect in their adoption of the characters we all know and love. Plenty of good humor and exciting action. So that's about it. When the movie ended (to much applause), we decided not mob the celebs and headed home to our Things.

A little glam in our dusty lives.