[PrairieDawn]

Hmmmmmm....

Late, as in the late DentArthurDent.

[Yagami Crewman]

I'm kinda partial to Earth and as that would reduce humanity to refugees and humans make up the target audience for this movie, wouldn't that turn Star Trek's promise of a bright future into another. "Stupid humans got trashed again..." scenario?

[Vincent Cain]

Originally Posted by Yagami Crewman

I'm kinda partial to Earth and as that would reduce humanity to refugees and humans make up the target audience for this movie, wouldn't that turn Star Trek's promise of a bright future into another. "Stupid humans got trashed again..." scenario?

Yeah, pretty much.
I mean, isn't Earth always getting picked on in Sci-Fi films these last few years?
Armageddon, War of The Worlds, The Day The Earth Stood Still (Gods, how I hated that film.....)
Pick on another planet for a change, right?

[PrairieDawn]

(I actually don't like the idea, myself, but I thought I'd throw it out there as a thought experiment.)

[DNA-1842]

Originally Posted by PrairieDawn

Hmmmmmm....

Late, as in the late DentArthurDent.

"It's a sort of threat, you see. I've never been any good at them myself but I'm told they can be terribly effective!"
I'm a great fan of science, you know."

[But Earth being destroyed would be a terrible distraction for the writers, because despite the fact that the Federation allegedly has over 100 members planets, it always boils down to humans and Earth...]

[Thascales]

If they took out Earth, the Trek universe would be a very, very different animal, that's for sure. I'm too distracted atm to really think about the implications, but it's an interesting question.

[Star Trek Viewer]

In my new story for the sequel to this movie, the Earth disappears at the end, as a cliffhanger. I've posted the story in another thread.

[TJJones]

I have to agree with the majority of responders here and say that destroying Earth would probably lose the decidedly-Earth-centric target audience of the movie.

The premise of Star Trek is that we get past all of our stupidity (okay, at least most of it) and work together to create a better universe. Destroying Earth would distract from that goal, especially since Earth is the heart of the Federation.

I would even go so far as to say Star Fleet would be so crippled that it would no longer be a viable organization and, without the "human glue" that holds the member worlds of the Federation together, I think the organization would come apart amid the squabbling between old rivals. (Without Earth to hold them back, the Andorians would have a field day

Think about it: it was Archer and Earth that first started to get the disparate and uncooperative Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites to work together in the mid-2150s. Earth quickly became the political center of the fledgling Federation in the 2160s with the establishment of Star Fleet Headquarters in San Francisco and, presumably, the other Federation offices on Earth.

Humans often seemed to be the "middle ground" between the extremes of the other founding members' cultures (similar, in a way, to the American-centric perception that the presence of the United States in NATO was what held together groups like the Greeks and Turks, British and French...not saying that was the truth, but the perception from some points of view). The loss of that anchor would effectively kill the body (perhaps similar to how the League of Nations, minus the "keystone" of the United States, was a completely skewed body that chose punishment over peaceful reconciliation and ultimately led to WWII).

No, the Federation, as presented in Star Trek, could not survive without Earth. And, without the Federation, Star Trek would be just another dystopic future where humans are just trying to survive after a disaster.

I prefer to keep my Star Trek optimistic, thank you.
with the depleted Vulcans.)

[StarTrekXIfan]

Originally Posted by TJJones

I have to agree with the majority of responders here and say that destroying Earth would probably lose the decidedly-Earth-centric target audience of the movie.

LOL That's hilariously true.

Besides Earth has already been destroyed in yet another alternative timeline in the Enterprise prequel series by the Xindi. Even if many of the casual Star Trek fans that went to see this new film wouldn't know about it, it would be an even more unoriginal storyline than the time travel thing, which was narrowly avoided by the creation of the alternative universe thing.

[kevin]

I wouldn't have a problem with it. I don't beleieve it should get special 'protection' treatment from the writers.

If Vulcan and Romulus can go - so can Earth.