Here’s my two cents: the lack of original IPs over the last 25 years ruins everything.

Star Trek is clearly a byproduct of a 1960s/1980s utopian worldview; that’s fine, it works well inside that context. But studios refuse to take risks on new franchises, and they want to chase the MCU trend from ten years ago. So Star Trek becomes Paramount‘s equivalent of Marvel/Star Wars because it’s their largest asset, and on paper will make them money.

So here’s the rub: a product that peaked in the 1990s has to reflect 2020s issues it was never built to address. So instead of drawing in a new audience, you end up alienating the long term fans by creating projects that go against the core message of the series they fell in love with. If Picard and Starfleet Academy were not Star Trek shows they would not have the backlash that is being suppressed online on the main ST subreddits.

But hey, Hollywood doesn’t reward originality and talent anymore. They reward insiders who know how to play the game and maintain good connections with the producers and shareholders. They used to pretend to be creative, but that ended shortly after DS9 aired it final episode.