It's like 2017 all over again!

[lizbee]

I'm having lovely flashbacks to season 1 of Discovery this week, not just because of the content of yesterday's episode, but because my friends and I all loved it, while critics and fanboys are complaining that it's too complicated and they don't understaaaaaaaaaand.

And bless their hearts, but Discovery has never been a subtle show; all you have to do is pay attention, and understand that the first part of a two-parter isn't going to explain everything.

But why get into an argument about that, when I can crow over the fact that [spoiler] is canonically bad in bed and also Michelle Yeoh and Sonequa Martin-Green's FACES.

(Also -- I said this on Twitter, but it continues to be true: as a person who has gained a lot of weight in the pandemic, and feels a way about it, there's something terribly heartening about seeing Mary Wiseman -- who was curvy in season 1, and is Hollywood "fat" by season 3 -- playing a Starfleet officer, wearing the same Lycra-blend uniform as everyone else and getting no shame whatsoever for it.* Like, I and my second chin could cosplay Tilly right now, if I had a wig and a costume and also if large public gatherings were legal, and it would be close to accurate. And I would look adorable.)

* I'm sure there are plenty of complaints on Reddit and in similar places, but I unsubbed from all the Star Trek subreddits for the good of my mental health.

Comments

[kore]

I'm having lovely flashbacks to season 1 of Discovery this week, not just because of the content of yesterday's episode, but because my friends and I all loved it, while critics and fanboys are complaining that it's too complicated and they don't understaaaaaaaaaand.

//CACKLES

It doesn't star white men! They don't know what to doooooo! except BITCH A LOT. And ITA about Tilly, she's gorgeously curvy and shot just like everyone else and it's not even a Thing. It's great after seeing so many semi-starved actresses.

[lizbee]

And ITA about Tilly, she's gorgeously curvy and shot just like everyone else and it's not even a Thing.

She's a Rubens painting that came to life and joined Starfleet, and it's GREAT. No one on Discovery looks frightfully thin, but Star Trek has a long history of only hiring people who conform to a certain body type, and she defies it absolutely.

(See also: costuming that accommodates Tig Notaro's double masectomy without making her wear false breasts, and providing binders for Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander.)

[kore]

costuming that accommodates Tig Notaro's double masectomy without making her wear false breasts, and providing binders for Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander

Oh, I didn't know that at all! BLESS. (And Jesus, remember poor Jeri Ryan stuck in that horrible rigid catsuit that actually made her faint?)

[lizbee]

Ryan has said that's an exaggeration and she never actually fainted -- but there's still the corsets they devised for her, Sirtis and Mulgrew, plus Terry Farrell being forced to wear a padded bra, and every single costume designed for T'Pol...

Like, some of the improvement is a side effect of having a plus-sized woman as your costume designer, I'm sure, but it's also showrunners and producers supporting their cast.

[starlady]

Fanboys are just bad at watching media. I have a fanboy colleague at work and he consistently misses the trees for the forest, it's weird.

Honestly I have my doubts about a lot of actually professionally paid critics as well. Quite a lot of the people who get paid to write at sites like Tor have no grasp of the properties they're supposedly experts on.

[adriennefae]

I don't pay a ton of attention to that side of the fandom but I don't even see what was that confusing about the episode?? I guess it might be if your focus is on how exactly she went back in time and all that but like... if you watch Star Trek, you should be used to stuff like that happening.

And yeah, I should probably unsubscribe from the Trek subreddits too. I don't go on Reddit much these days but I checked the Discovery subreddit (which I'm pretty sure is supposed to be for people who actually like the show) a couple weeks ago, I think it was right after the episode with Gabrielle Burnham aired? And the episode discussion post was just full of people going on about how awful Michael and/or Tilly were. Yeah, I'm done with that place.

[garpu]

I've checked out of a lot of fandom, just because I can't stand the fanboys (usually male) who like to opine on increased diversity, women's bodies, and so on. It's a reflection of Gamergate, and...I just can't engage with those types anymore.

[goodbyebird]

I love the treatment Tilly is getting on the show. So refreshing to see!

And goodness I loved the latest episode! But, ahem, while not at all shipping Michael and Georgiou, one minute of Mirror!Michael and oh. Ok that's hot. (also heartbreaking)

...who the fuck gets confused though? Especially if you're a Trek fanboy? Honestly now. #FakeNerdBois

[pauraque]

It mystifies me how anyone could have thought that episode was hard to understand. It was a very straightforward continuation of what Mirror Georgiou's character arc has been all along. Unless the problem was that it's all about a woman's choices and identity and her relationships with other women in her life? I can believe that there are men who would find that confusing.