Can't you reverse it, tell the story from the end?
It is 2018. People do not want to know that everything will ultimately be fine. They do not have PTSD or something.
Sure they have! They are watching war, horror, drug deals going bad, zombie apocalypses for entertainment. That's PTSD by drip feed. Self-imposed.
Then Star Trek should be more successful. The ships interiors would have to be nicer. Pastel tones, not these depressing black mirrors.
That's already changing! Nobody is watching the fourth iteration of Jedis in desert wastelands. The lust for misery is in decline.
Let's wait and see. I do not think so.
Let's wait and see.