Kathy and I saw the new  Star Trek and loved it for what it is—a fun action movie. Among all the appreciative reviews however, several critics noticed a trend. The older Star Treks (TV and movies) were often corny, but they treated ‘big ideas’ like how the races should treat each other, the nature of justice, how people (and species!) should live together. The new Star Trek, however, is more about self-discovery, struggling with rivals, finding your identity, and personal fulfillment. 
 

The New Yorker film critic  David Denby recently wrote a book called Snark. He observed that a tone of snide, mocking, ‘nasty and knowing,’ speaking was coming to dominate our public discourse. ‘Snark’ aims not just at refuting someone’s position, but also at destroying their ‘cool,’ erasing their effectiveness, trying to get control of and sully the person’s image with the public. Opposing views are not treated with respect but instead with snarling disdain and ad hominem mockery. Even many regular editorial writers in major newspaper do little more than ridicule. Denby pointed out that politics has been a major source of snark, since insinuating, insulting, and demonizing the opposition (rather than re-spectful arguments) often wins elections. But the Internet has put ‘snark’ on steroids.