MovieChat Forums > Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Discussion > V'ger KNEW it's full name was Voyager

V'ger KNEW it's full name was Voyager

posted 3 years ago by Wuchak (8074)
13 replies | jump to latest

Harlan Ellison (and some commentators on this board) observed the unlikelihood of a device with the vast capabilities of V’ger being unable to simply wipe away a bit of dirt from its nameplate to know that its name is actually Voyager and not V’ger. The answer to this supposed plot hole is obvious: V’ger simply became the shortened version of Voyager as the centuries passed and it stuck, similar to calling Jonathan "John" and William "Bill." Yes, I realize it’s a machine, but it’s no ordinary machine and it’s seeking personhood and spiritual awareness.

[–] PaladinNJ (20307) 3 years ago

It wasn't V'Ger that renamed itself. It was the beings that found it damaged. They didn't know enough to wipe away the dirt. So they repaired what they could but didn't realize their mistake.

[–] Ace_Spade (9334) 3 years ago

V'ger clearly didn't know enough to just outright tell them all that "Hey, I evolved from your Voyager probe," because that would have helped both the Enterprise crew and V'ger get to their goals faster.

I suspect that "Voyager" was information lost in the cul-de-sacs of "old code" within its memory. V'ger was likely running programs built on programs, and maybe it's "conscious mind" didn't know the old stuff.

As to wiping dirt, why would it want to? It might not occur to V'ger to inspect its hull for its name. It would just know it's name was V'ger (as others pointed out, programmed by those that found it) and wouldn't need to go looking for anything else.

[–] Wuchak (8074) 3 years ago

Great points, Ace; beats anything I said (lol).

[–] Ace_Spade (9334) 10 months ago

Two years later: thanks!

[–] MikeCable (1656) 3 years ago

Imagine if it had seen a photo of itself in the Enterprise's history/memory banks when it was doing that scan. Wonder how it would have reacted at that point.

[–] liscarkat (16469) 2 years ago

"...the unlikelihood of a device with the vast capabilities of V’ger being unable to simply wipe away a bit of dirt from its nameplate..."

How would Voyager have wiped away the dirt from its nameplate? It wasn't equipped with a little wiper blade or brush. Even if it had been able to do so, it would need a camera on an arm to look back at the nameplate so it could read it, which it also didn't have.

[–] Wuchak (8074) 2 years ago

I know you're being amusing, but V'ger could've simply sent a bot-lackey out to clean it.

[–] strntz (10775) 10 months ago

Yeah, but the bot-lackies were unionized by the 22nd century and wouldn't do those tasks without compensation, one of the few things V'ger couldn't provide.

[–] Wuchak (8074) 10 months ago

That's always a possibility (lol).

[–] Druff (1446) 2 years ago

The writer just thought it was a cool and mysterious alien sounding name to contain the surprise twist to be revealed at the end. No need to make it more complicated than that.

[–] Wuchak (8074) 2 years ago

Naturally, but Star Trek fans need more than that to suspend disbelief and 'buy' the story on a logical, real-life level. See Ace_Spade's answer above for perhaps the best answer to this conundrum.

[–] Druff (1446) 2 years ago

Not really interested in whoever's vapid fanfic, sorry.

But I agree, it's true, a lot of Trekkie types do have that annoying tendency to want to know "But whyyyyyyy daddy?!" about every stupid little detail that already has a perfectly logical, rational, obvious explanation.

[–] Ace_Spade (9334) 10 months ago

If I wrote a vapid fanfic, it'd be pages and pages of useless information about my self-insert character and/or a Kirk-Spock-V'Ger love triangle - as is the required horribleness of all vapid fanfics.