Daniel Tessier
Bio
I'm a terrible geek living in sunny Brighton on the Sussex coast in England. I enjoy writing about TV, comics, movies, LGBTQ issues and science.
Stories (62)
Filter by community
Movie Trek 2: Chilled Revenge
The Wrath of Khan pretty much saved Star Trek. The Motion Picture had been a very successful failure. It had made a lot of money in the box office, but had cost an enormous amount to make, badly affecting the profits. Paramount were eager to make more Star Trek films but wanted to avoid the mistakes of the first movie, and above all, wanted to keep costs under control. Gene Roddenberry was sidelined, to the chagrin of some members of the cast, and the indifference of others. Various people worked on the script, with Nicholas Meyer fulfilling the final version, without accepting a writer's credit. The Wrath of Khan has a glowing reputation among fans, and while it's not the flawless classic some see it as, it's a good candidate for the strongest of the original run of Star Trek films. It's a very different beast to The Motion Picture, ditching much of the high concept philosophical science fiction in favour of a personal story of vengeance in a military setting.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Futurism
Movie Trek 1: Impossible Vistas, Impractical Pyjamas
Periodically, the missus and I settle down for a rewatch of the Star Trek movies. That's thirteen films released over a 37-year period, so in theory gives us plenty of variety in terms of content and style. With a fourteenth film announced for summer 2023 (although don't hold your breath for them actually sticking to that date) it seemed like a good time to start the run over, and while we're at it, why not a proper write-up? However, when we do this run-through, we do often cheat a bit, and skip The Motion Picture. Not this time.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Futurism
Supergirl: "Reality Bytes"
The Supergirl TV series has been a champion for the underrepresented since it started. Primarily, it's been about feminism and immigration; it's main character is, after all, a woman who arrived on Earth as a refugee. The series has used extraterrestrials as a stand-in for earthly immigrants (what the American authorities call aliens) throughout, and has an exceptional array of strong female characters. Over the course of its run so far, the series has tackled racism, far right extremism, sexuality and corporate greed.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Geeks
Trek, Trill and Trans
CBS has revealed that two new actors are to join the cast of Star Trek: Discovery for its third season, and their inclusion is a big deal for LGBT fans. Blu del Barrio has been announced as playing Adira, while Ian Alexander plays Gray. Both actors are gender non-conforming, marking a significant milestone for Trek's representation.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Geeks
TNG: "The Outcast"
In 1992, Star Trek: The Next Generation featured an episode that was designed to finally explore LGBT issues through Star Trek's allegorical lens, something which had been virtually unexplored in all the seasons of Trek before. Well-intentioned as it was, "The Outcast" missed its mark and muddled its message, but in the process, managed to become something else that was ahead of its time.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Futurism
Star Trek's Bisexuality Problem
As a bisexual man, I take notice when a bisexual character appears on film or TV. Bisexual characters are still uncommon, male ones particularly. It's something I've looked at in other articles lately, and there has been some positive bi-representation in recent years, but it's still a rarity. When a bisexual person appears on our screens, more often than not, their sexuality is presented as an indication that there's something wrong with them. Bi characters are more often than not villains, creeps and weirdos, in sf media especially. Frank N. Furter is, although a pop culture icon, a corrupting alien force. Sharon Stone plays a cruel, manipulative bisexual in Basic Instinct. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's relationship is portrayed as positive, but they're still a pair of murderous villains. On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow progressed from straight relationships to exclusive lesbianism, but only her evil vampire parallel universe counterpart was bi (of course, prime Willow went evil for a bit as well, so I guess she was just bi enough).
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Futurism
SPANDEX lives!
There's a long history of LGBT comics hiding out in the small presses. For a long time, the big American publishers banned any mention of homosexuality under the Comics Code, and even after the code was ended, Marvel had a blanket ban on such things into the early nineties. British comics had a bit more leeway in theory, but since comics here were still viewed mainly as a kids' medium throughout the twentieth century they were affected heavily by the government's Section 28, which banned any positive depictions of homosexuality in schools but which had knock-on effects in any kid-focused media.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Geeks
7 LGBT Superheroes for the MCU. Top Story - August 2020.
While DC/Warner Bros. have made strides including LGBT superheroes into their TV properties (albeit not such a great record on the movie front), Marvel/Disney is lagging behind. Things have been a little better at Fox, who've given us hints at Deadpool's bisexuality and paired him with the lesbian Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and made a series for the LGBT-friendly Runaways. Now that Disney has the rights to the Fox/X-Men characters, it's time they moved forward and gave us some serious LGBT representation on the big and small screens.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Geeks
REVIEW: Star Trek: Lower Decks 1-1
The first episode of the new animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks has now been released for streaming on CBS Access, beginning a run of new Star Trek episodes that will last twenty-three weeks (the full first season of Lower Decks and the third season of Star Trek: Discovery). Lower Decks is, remarkably, the ninth full Star Trek series (tenth if you count the companion series Short Treks). The return of Star Trek to an animated format is a pretty big deal. Short Treks had a couple of very good animated episodes which experimented with different styles, but when most people think of a Trek cartoon, they'll think of the 1970s Star Trek: The Animated Series. This is definitely worth a look if you're a Trek fan, but it conjured up images of cheap, jerky animation and simplistic morals for kids.
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Futurism
Where No Man Has Gone Before?
The hot gossip in Star Trek circles is that James T. Kirk, the legendary captain of the USS Enterprise, will be appearing in the upcoming series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and that, in a big change to the character, he will now be bisexual. This has, unsurprisingly, sent some corners of fandom into apoplexy. But do those of use who want a more LGBT-friendly Trek universe want this change to Kirk's character?
By Daniel Tessier5 years ago in Futurism
Five characters for Discovery season three
The third season of Star Trek: Discovery is due to hit sometime this year, and promises some big changes for the core characters. Having spent the first two seasons in the pre-Original Series 23rd century, the next season takes place in 3187, far further into the future than any of Star Trek's previous main settings.
By Daniel Tessier6 years ago in Futurism
