Hello World!

The Lion King came out on DVD this week, and I watched it for the first time since my children were very young. I'm still quite fond of the music and visuals, not to mention Jeremy Irons as Scar, but the rest of it annoys me in the way a great many Disney movies annoy me.

It's not just the gender roles; Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty didn't really hold much interest for me as a child, so I don't think I ever developed the complex of waiting for a prince to save me, but it's troubling that that same formula remains in effect in more recent Disney films...or gets even worse, as in Beauty and the Beast, which seems to imply that all an abusive male really needs is the love of an understanding woman to save him. Mulan an to a lesser degree Pocahontas redeemed the Disney canon for me somewhat on that count.

It's the willing servitude, the fact that nearly all Disney films create scenarios in which some group happily enslaves itself to another. Sometimes it's animals serving people, as in Snow White; sometimes it's subjects serving royalty, as in The Little Mermaid or The Lion King; but there's nearly always a "natural" aristocracy, a select group born to read with another group expected to follow. And when anyone questions that pattern, like Scar, he or she is portrayed as unnatural and deadly.

Is it any wonder that I prefer Shrek?

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Which was you first episode of Voyager, and what about it made you watch a second episode?

-In Deep Space Nine's brilliant "Necessary Evil", what was your favourite moment?

-Should Enterprise's third season end in a cliffhanger, and if so, about what?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

These were some of the major news items from mid-October 2001:

• Sex & Humour Boosting 'Enterprise,' Say Creators
  Connor Trinneer admitted that he shaved his chest for Tucker's first shirtless decontamination sequence and Jolene Blalock described her catsuit as "like long johns" because comparisons to a leotard "would be a fashion faux pas" when Entertainment Weekly looked at the hot stuff on Enterprise. "We learned from Seven of Nine that Star Trek could use a little sensuality," noted co-creator Brannon Braga.

• Billingsley Puts The Twinkle Into Phlox
  "I hate to say this, but what they told me was that I had a twinkle in my eye," explained John Billingsley said to explain his casting as a character who would require hiding his real face behind prosthetics. At the time of the interview, he did not know the name of Phlox's planet, so in the absence of backstory he was constructing his own. As for the appeal of the role, "I think this show is one of the few shows out there that really tries to speak in a positive way."

• TNG Secures TNN's Highest Ever Ratings
  Star Trek: The Next Generation scored the TNN's highest ratings ever when the cable network ran a TNG marathon during the first five days in October. It was the most-watched week in the network's history. "The curtain has risen on the new TNN," said Diane Robina, Executive Vice President and General Manager.

More news can be found in the archives.

Poll Results

Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:

How would you rate 'Impulse'? 9-10 48.3% - (425 Votes) 7-8 21.6% - (190 Votes) Wasn't able to see it 11.7% - (103 Votes) Didn't want to see it 6.7% - (59 Votes) 6-10 6.5% - (58 Votes) 3-4 3.2% - (29 Votes) 1-2 1.7% - (15 Votes) Total Votes: 879

Please vote in our new poll about Trek actors doing theatre!

Today's Television Listings

Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, UPN will show Enterprise's "Exile". Here's the official synopsis of the episode:

A powerful telepath makes contact with Hoshi and offers to help Enterprise find the Xindi ... for a price.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!