Was Code of Honor racist?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by The Overlord, Dec 29, 2012.

  1. SonicRanger

    SonicRanger Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Brown.

    Brown.

    On what basis do you make the guarantee? Do you have a copy of the casting call?

    Exactly. The Ligonians see their actions as civilised. You call their actions "barbaric," just as the Romans called Germans and Persians "barbaric." It's a word that one uses to slander ideas and actions that are different than one's own. As Christopher (and Data) pointed out, the Ligonians' behaviour isn't even that "alien" in a sense. There are things that people on this planet did today that would seem more "alien" to you and I than the Ligonians' behaviour.
     
  2. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

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    Because I happen to think that Darmok was played wonderfully by the late Paul Winfield and that the make up department did such good work that I wouldn't have known that it was indeed Paul Winfield if not for the credits. The only credit I can give to Jessie Lawrence Ferguson's performance is that he'd make a good Baron Samedi.
     
  3. SonicRanger

    SonicRanger Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Lack of perception is hardly good evidence that you have deduced something else properly.

    Now I'm just going to assume that your whole argument regarding the Ligonians is satire... The only thing that you can say about this actor is that he'd make a voodoo spirit.

    Surely you must be striving for satire or irony now.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2013
  4. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

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    Well, I can't really say he'd make a good china man or a Native American.

    And didn't you ever see "Live and Let Die"? His accent in this episode sounds so much like he was trying to imitate Geoffrey Holder, the actor who played Baron Samedi in "Live and Let Die" and the 7UP commercials.
     
  5. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

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    And you think the director of Code of Honor had great perception in deducing that this race of people who share similarities with the Chinese and Native Americans should be all black with deep accents?
     
  6. SonicRanger

    SonicRanger Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I can only reasonably explain such responses as facetiousness or an attempt at irony.
     
  7. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Then again, the Tamarians are obviously alien. The Ligonians look completely human. In fact it's possible that they ARE human, and that Ligon II is a human colony...
     
  8. SonicRanger

    SonicRanger Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    No, Data identifies them as humanoids, not humans. But I agree that the Ligonians simply didn't look alien enough.
     
  9. Gil T.Azell

    Gil T.Azell Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Have one on the back for Dancing with Riker :devil: :lol:

    Its not among my Favorite episodes, but I don't think it was racist.
     
  10. Triskelion

    Triskelion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The problem wasn't that they were black, not black enough, or too black. The problem was that they were wooden.

    The issue isn't racism. It's writing craft.

    It is thin characterization in a time-constrained medium that already tends to generalize aliens in order to illustrate points - not about them, but about - us. Klingons are violent because audiences are violent. Vulcans are logical because audiences are logical. Medics are humane because audiences are humane. Photon torpedoes go boom because audiences like booms.


    Star Trek, like all science fiction, is not about predictions or correlations with reality. It's not about facts. It's about truths.

    Don't miss the forest for the trees. It's not whether the Space Pope really walked on plasma. It's what we take from the knowledge - and what we discard. To say a myth has no value - is an indictment, not against the myth, but against one's own discernment.


    The producers didn't need Troi and Crusher to be soft. Gates and Sirtis wanted to be soft. The scripts were not about realistic dispersions of psychosocial traits across a population - but simplified, clarified morality plays. Trek played with our comfort zones - showing Tasha admit, in a time of fierce anti-drug social agitations, that "Drugs make you feel good." Showing diplomatic leadership in a time of Terminators and Rambos, Russians and Reagans. Showing soft feminine power in an era of pantsuits with shoulder pads and Cybill Shepherds out-toughing Bruce Willises. And yes, showing whole planets of black people in a time of racial integration hypersensitivity.

    Trek may not have done so with the sophisticated story arcs and hyper-realistic techniques we know today; but it does challenge our comfort zones even today. We're still talking about the implications in 2013 - almost three decades later. I would say, mission accomplished!


    </my $.02>
     
  11. AloriaDax

    AloriaDax Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    LOL! Now that's funny.
     
  12. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    What if it was white women kidnap black man (Geordi)? Would we be dicussing it in the same manner?
     
  13. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    If she was attractive enough Geordi might not want to be rescued since this would be his best chance a chick ever given his luck :)
     
  14. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    I thought Geordi was already happy with hologram Leah Brahms?;)
     
  15. Bad Atom

    Bad Atom Commodore Commodore

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    Well, if they put him in chains and called him Toby...