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Danai Gurira as Burnham, instead of Sonequa...

Kane_Steel

Kane_Steel

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
Black Panther was phenomenal, and Dani Gurira is getting worldwide acclaim for her role as Okoye in the film.

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She has a strong commanding presence and plays the stoic, logical character leagues better than Sonequa, while also making the character likeable, fun and inspirational.

Sonequa has received a mixed and divisive response for her role as Michael Burnham and the lead of this series.

Did the STD producers choose the wrong actress from Walking Dead to be the lead of this series?

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Kane_Steel said:
Sonequa has received a mixed and divisive response for her role as Michael Burnham and the lead of this series.

Did the STD producers choose the wrong actress from Walking Dead to be the lead of this series?
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I don't think so. I haven't heard any "mixed or divisive" reactions to SMG herself, only just that perhaps her character on the show isn't as "strong" as some would prefer. But I have no problems with her as Burnham.
 
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Crazy Eddie said:
Actually, she's received excellent reviews from the general viewing public, and has gotten viciously dragged by butthurt fanboys who don't like the fact that her character's backstory is a violation of the sacred canon.:whistle:
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Even on this little STD-loving board, viewers are very divided on Michael Burnham/Sonequa. https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/jas...ld-have-been-the-series-lead-spoilers.292438/
You'll find more division on Youtube and other platforms.

As the lead of a Star Trek series, she has been very underwhelming. Check out the recent Redlettermedia review for the show if you want specifics why.
 
She grew up on Vulcan...........and that's how the directors have told her to play the part. Reserved. She has a pretty great range of emotion. Check her out on New Girl if you want to see wild and crazy SMG.
 
Crazy Eddie said:
Actually, she's received excellent reviews from the general viewing public, and has gotten viciously dragged by butthurt fanboys who don't like the fact that her character's backstory is a violation of the sacred canon.:whistle:
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I'm not convinced her reviews have been overwhelmingly excellent or the criticisms have all been based on perceptions of continuity issues. In fact I'm pretty sure plenty have revolved around her simply being underwhelming as a lead character, be it due to SMG's performance or the character as written.
 
Spot261 said:
I'm not convinced her reviews have been overwhelmingly excellent or the criticisms have all been based on perceptions of continuity issues. In fact I'm pretty sure plenty have revolved around her simply being underwhelming as a lead character, be it due to SMG's performance or the character as written.
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"The Character As Written" is about 90% of it; the vast majority of the criticisms are these weird juxtapositions where people find fault with her being too much like Spock or "leaning on her Sarek connection for personality". After a certain point it's kind of like arguing with Trump Supporters; you can painstakingly point out how their supporting arguments are literally self-contradictory (remembering the guy who told me "She's basically female Spock! These writers have no imagination!") but their opinions are based on something in their own personalities, not anything they've actually seen on screen.
 
Crazy Eddie said:
"The Character As Written" is about 90% of it; the vast majority of the criticisms are these weird juxtapositions where people find fault with her being too much like Spock or "leaning on her Sarek connection for personality". After a certain point it's kind of like arguing with Trump Supporters; you can painstakingly point out how their supporting arguments are literally self-contradictory (remembering the guy who told me "She's basically female Spock! These writers have no imagination!") but their opinions are based on something in their own personalities, not anything they've actually seen on screen.
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Not convinced to be honest, I have to be blunt here I've found her pretty disappointing myself despite having been pretty excited at her selection at first. I've enjoyed Discovery and defended it on many fronts but SMG just hasn't shone for me. She hasn't been awful and the character certainly has flaws, but she just never seems to have got out of first gear. She's the show lead but is perpetually taking second stage on screen to secondary characters who are simply more charismatic, but it Geogiou, Lorca, Tilly, Voq.

Yes she was told to play the part with vulcan reserve, but we've seen before that can be done without sacrificing the audience interest. It's unfair to constantly compare her to Nimoy but the way for her to move beyond those comparisons was to make the character her own. In practise she just doesn't seem to have quite stepped up and done that, seemingly sleepwalking through much of her best material.
 
Spot261 said:
Yes she was told to play the part with vulcan reserve, but we've seen before that can be done without sacrificing the audience interest. It's unfair to constantly compare her to Nimoy but the way for her to move beyond those comparisons was to make the character her own.
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Which she did. A great example is the Spacewalk Scene from "Vulcan Hello." It gives you a DIRECT comparison between Spock and Burnham because it's a scene that puts both of them in almost the exact same kind of situation so that their reactions and characters can be directly compared.

Spock, when flying through V'ger's core, is his usual reserved, logical and controlled self.
Burnham is exhilarated, gleeful, awestruck, curious, but still logical and efficient in her analysis.
Burnham2.png


In practise she just doesn't seem to have quite stepped up and done that, seemingly sleepwalking through much of her best material.
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There are some things that can be said to be just a matter of opinion... this is not one of them.

That opening scene at the Battle of the Binary Stars? That's an actress who can say entire lines of dialog using only facial expressions. I've been watching Star Trek pretty much my entire life, but until Discovery I have never actually seen a Starfleet officer visibly implode under the weight of despair before:
Res.png

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nation.png


You can tell me you don't like her character; that's subjective and a matter of taste.

But Martin-Greene is an actress with an INCREDIBLE range and has shown off some of the best performances we've seen in Star Trek in many, many years.
 
SMG has just got poor material giving her that Mary Lou thing and the unconvincing relationships hat was written for her has harpooned that character essentially.

She is a good performer though. There's no reason why she can't do justice to good material.
 
Kane_Steel said:
Did the STD producers choose the wrong actress from Walking Dead to be the lead of this series?
Click to expand...

No.

Crazy Eddie said:
Actually, she's received excellent reviews from the general viewing public, and has gotten viciously dragged by butthurt fanboys who don't like the fact that her character's backstory is a violation of the sacred canon.:whistle:
Click to expand...

Yes because, unlike the BHFB's who only see clumsy bumbling writers destroying the holy canon, some fans and the general viewing public is able to allow themselves to be immersed in the character at face value.
 
Crazy Eddie said:
Which she did. A great example is the Spacewalk Scene from "Vulcan Hello." It gives you a DIRECT comparison between Spock and Burnham because it's a scene that puts both of them in almost the exact same kind of situation so that their reactions and characters can be directly compared.

Spock, when flying through V'ger's core, is his usual reserved, logical and controlled self.
Burnham is exhilarated, gleeful, awestruck, curious, but still logical and efficient in her analysis.
Burnham2.png



There are some things that can be said to be just a matter of opinion... this is not one of them.

That opening scene at the Battle of the Binary Stars? That's an actress who can say entire lines of dialog using only facial expressions. I've been watching Star Trek pretty much my entire life, but until Discovery I have never actually seen a Starfleet officer visibly implode under the weight of despair before:
Res.png

image.png
nation.png


You can tell me you don't like her character; that's subjective and a matter of taste.

But Martin-Greene is an actress with an INCREDIBLE range and has shown off some of the best performances we've seen in Star Trek in many, many years.
Click to expand...

I've edited this from an earlier stronger response in an effort to be diplomatic, do you actually realise how patronising this posts presents you as? It really hasn't done you any favours.
 
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Spot261 said:
Dude, do you have any idea how patronising this post was? Of course an evaluation of a performance is subjective
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Sometimes it's not. We both go to the same opera and you tell me the female lead was flat, off key and off beat; I play a recording of her song with a tuning fork and find that she was not, in fact, flat, or off beat, or off key. That's not a matter of opinion, you're just wrong (or tone deaf, as the case may be). So maybe you need to find a different criticism... "I don't like that song" or "I don't like her voice" or "I don't like her face" or "I don't like the set design." But "Her performance was terrible" isn't a valid one, since there are ways to measure performance.

Same case here: there ARE ways to measure acting performance, especially when a performer is showing out as spectacularly as SMG does. You said she was "seemingly sleepwalking through much of her best material." That's something we can actually compare against her performance and we see that, no, it's not actually the case. This is like saying "Mariah Carey has never been able to hit a high note in her life." That's not an "opinion," it's just wrong.

I suppose what you meant to say was you don't LIKE her acting. That's a valid statement. But in that case the problem is on your end, not hers.
 
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