Open letter to Mr. Abrams
Dear Jeffery Jacob Abrams (aka J.J. Abrams)
I write this to you as a plea for decency rather than to succumb to my temptation of complete condemnation.of you. I am hoping that some measure of humanity survives despite it being under attack by the level of financial and critical success you have garnered in the past 7 or so years.
Back in 2009 you made a film simply titled Star Trek. Now you have publically admitted that you didn't like Star Trek in your younger years and nor did you qualify that you grew into it, You 'loved it' after meeting Chris Pine, Zach Quinto and co. The film turned out to be a finanacial and critical success... But it could hardly be called Star Trek, every thing that made Star Trek great was missing despite a fine cast. But you and I both know, the film's success came because it was Star Trek only in name and not substance. You resurrected a Frankenstein type monster that barely resembles the form it's based on. Basically, Star Trek is back, and it cost that beloved franchise it's soul. And now, this is the low brow standard we're going to get thanks to the prescedence you have set.
As if that were not enough, Now you have taken a stab at the Star Wars franchise. The 2nd property that is incredibly dear to me. Again, you have shown no respect for the source material and instead just made a bland film void of any human characteristics. But worse still, You have crossed a line no filmmaker should cross, injecting their politics into a film. And Star Wars The Force awakens is just that, a film made by a hipster social justice warrior where we have a flawless 'Mary Sue' type Heroine who musn't show any weakness or else that would be sexist and would be an affront to feminism. Having a political agenda essentially sabotages your own film as there is no investment at all in the story nor the characters, no tension. There's no reason to care, you have ruined the film's villain, showing him to be a pathetic whiner bested by the almighty feminist hero. And you don't even bother to make a fresh story despite all of this, Just making A New Hope all over again.
Now... J.J. despite my anger, it would be folly to claim you have no talent as a filmmaker, that is obviously false. And that's what makes this so agregious, is that you have made films using beloved properties ill suited for your goals, But use the brands as a guarante to have an audience and therefore, Box Office success. And that is why when I see your name on a film, I am in despair. You have already ruined two franchises that were very dear to me. You weren't a fan as a kid, I was as well as millions of others, And the complete disregard for the integrity of the properties entrusted to you is apalling to say the least. Now I imagine you are very well off indeed in your life. I implore you, do the right thing and do not ride the laurels on established and well loved franchises to make the vacuous films you make. Use your imagination abit and make your own Intellectual properties. I have more respect for Ed Wood then I do for you as while you're a superior filmmaker, Even he did not ride the coattails of Casablanca or Citizen Kane. He believed in his work and made films of his own. A man of much lesser skill with far more integrity then you...Please leave Star Wars, Star Trek and for that matter any IP that is already established and make your own films. You already are rich beyond your wildest dreams. Now have some personal integrity.
Live long and prosper