Star Trek

(spoiler alert, don't go any further if you have an interest in the new movie and have not yet seen it)

"Canon, in terms of a fictional universe, is any material that is considered to be "genuine", or can be directly referenced as material produced by the original author or creator of a series. Basically, something that is "canon" means that it is something that "actually happened" in that fictional universe. An example of something non-canon is a fan-fiction; a fan fiction about a particular story is not "canon", as the story in the fan fiction never actually happened in that fictional universe."

The more I think on it, the more I continue to have a problem with the movie's extreme deviation from canon, especially in the area of Spock.

In this movie, we are led to believe that Spock chooses to undergo kholinar, as he did in the original (now "prime") universe. Yet Spock chooses to have a romantic relationship with Nyota Uhura, who is a cadet while he appears to be a teacher or instructor of some sort.

Since the from-the-future-Romulan ship only came through some 20 or so years prior, and had contact with only one ship, it is extremely doubtful that it was able to undo generations of genetic coding leading the Vulcan people to Pon Farr, which is essentially "horny every 7 years." Yes, yes, Spock is half human. But we are led to believe that he underwent successfuly the kholinar ritual.

His planet has not had access to the ship from the future. The Vulcan genetic history was not rewritten. It's easy enough to say that the lack of lives on the destroyed Federation vessel could have affected his involvement in Star Fleet and he somehow ended up responsible for the no-win scenario. But to say it took out the success of Kholinar and the establishment of Pon Farr is a stretch.

In addition, the character flaw of having an affair with a cadet under his guidance totally changes the nature of who Spock is and was and will be.

The business person in me, the real person in 2010, understands that the objective of this movie was to secure new fans for new cash flow and "life" in the franchise. I applaud the writers for a fantastic story and the whole crew for a well done movie. But did we have to destroy the foundation of a character in doing so? Are we supposed to destroy the established foundations of entire species to get new action-movie fans? Toss out everything a trekkie ever loved about a Vulcan?

Come on. You went too far, and you know it.