Do you think people care about physical appearance in the same way?

There's an interview with Patrick Stewart where he talks about the announcement of the cast and that some in the press asked about a bald captain for TNG. By the 24th century, why would there be bald people? And Roddenberry retorted that by the 24th century, no one would care about whether or not someone is bald.

This made me wonder about what people think the concept of appearance means in the 23rd-24th centuries. If being bald is no longer a negative, in a universe with blue Bolians and Tellarite pig people, does being short or being an overweight human mean the same thing as it does now?

 

No
/THREAD

 

That does seem like a rather one and done answer in a universe with a lot of skintight spandex uniforms, catsuits, and the ability to be surgically altered rather easily to even look like another species.

Not saying it’s wrong, but as I’ve seen people debate the limits of how “utopian” we’re supposed to believe Earth is by at least the 24th century, there is a difference between a future where racism, sexism and systemic discrimination have been overcome, and a future where humanity has overcome “pretty privilege” or some version of it.

And if I’m going to be more specific about this, do people think that if humanity has overcome racism and sexism, than basically the ideas of “beauty standards” and gender roles have been eliminated? That it’s a future where there are NO cultural norms of what “attractive” is, since what would that mean with so many species?

Or is it a future where there’s still beauty standards, it’s just it would be so complex there’s no way to really understand what that would be in a universe where Vulcans and Klingons have children with humans?

 

Being bald was never negative. It's just some people made the easy manipulated into thinking it was and buying their products. It happens with many things.

I hope people would be more well informed in the future, but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

I think that there is some vanity here and there, given that the EMH is programmed to make remarks about his receding hairline. Of course, baldness has undoubtedly long been cured.

One thing I found intriguing about Dr. Van Gogh in "Before and After" was that his evolution took a different path in that timeline, given that he obviously had some vanity (hence giving himself a full head of hair).

 

I've never considered baldness a disease*. Ever since Sigourney Weaver took the ALIEN3 plunge, she inspired me to make it my personal choice. I kid you not.

(*or alcoholism either.)

 

You must be too young to have been influenced or inspired by Persis Khmambata

 

Or Sinéad O'Connor...

 

Or Starship Troopers.

 

Or THX 1138. Michael Ironside never did an ALIEN, so out of franchise loyalty, I permanently crew-cutted with the rest of them in 1992....five years pre-STARSHIP. I imagine I looked sterner on first glance, and there've been absolutely no muggings since then.

 

A lot of things would have changed regarding sex and relationships. Neelix and Kes being the most extreme example

 

Some countries on this world today still tolerate this sort of thing.*

(*Find 'em on your own.)

 

There would still be beauty standards but to me what Roddenberry was talking about is the accepance of ones self and not judge ones self against others. I'm me, i accept that I'm me and what i look like. If others dont, owell. This is me warts and all.
To love ones self.

 

I always thought it was worse in the Before and After timeline when Harry married Tom and Kes's daughter. He's basically her uncle!

 

There's a fanfiction in that...

Seriously, though, given that Neelix, Harry, and Tom are all honorable men, it's obvious that Ocampa must obviously have adult levels of maturity and emotional awareness. I couldn't see any of them, not even Neelix, exploiting someone vulnerable.

 

I haven’t been able to have a flattop since my teens.

Cro-Magnon features instead…

 

If only Kes were portrayed with adult emotional awareness.