Goldsman: Trek As A Carnival Mirror
2 min read
Akiva Goldsman, Star Trek: Picard‘s executive producer, believes that the show and science fiction in general can help us learn more about ourselves and our relationships with others who are different.
Goldsman likes science fiction that is about “familiar folks in unfamiliar circumstances or a person who is as you and I might be, but with one particularly exceptional trait.
“I like carnival mirrors,” he said, explaining further. “I like the idea that we see ourselves more clearly by seeing slightly altered versions of ourselves. I think that there’s something very interesting about that ability to generate empathy…Star Trek in particular has always been good at that, the idea that in science fiction it’s easier to understand that which links two alien races than it is sometimes for us to see how we are like the people staring across the table from us. It’s sad and yet true that somehow we can do things in fantasy and science fiction that we have more trouble doing in real life.”
For those who would have preferred more The Next Generation instead of Star Trek: Picard, Goldsman had this to say. “The truth is there is no opportunity to do more The Next Generation. Time has passed, not just in real life but in the Star Trek universe. We wanted to honor that because there’s something interesting about telling stories for folks that have maybe lived their biggest adventures or at least think they’ve lived their biggest adventures already.”
Fans waiting for Star Trek: Picard to air got a bit of an update from Goldsman. “Literally this morning, [showrunners] Michael Chabon, Terry Matalas, Patrick [Stewart], and I were on a Zoom talking about the first three episodes of next season. We have different life experiences and different ages, but we were kind of like four kids in a sandbox.”
About The Author
