Alien characters on the new series

[Bry_Sinclair]

Lets say the next series has a cast of eight, have four being alien with the four humans being from non-Caucasian races, for example: Arabic, Hispanic, Indian and Polynesian. The only Caucasian characters would be of alien origin (such as a Bajoran or Vulcan), though would also include at least one non-human 'colouring' (blue, green, purple, yellow).

Or if they insist on having a "pink skin" then have them from a non-American origin (German, Norwegian, Polish).

Or they could always go the GELF route :

 

[Tim Walker]

Andromeda had one purple skinned character, Trance Gemini. The show also had the blue skinned Perseids.

Of course, by now green skinned people are a Trek classic!

 

[Tim Walker]

Why not just show more human diversity to show how humanity has evolved and are working together in much better harmony. Show more asians, indians, arabs e.c.c.
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I have been watching Kingdom of Heaven. One aspect stands out-ethnic music. In this case, the Middle East during the Middle Ages.

Also, over hearing people speak in Arabic.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'd love to have a race with totally different body shape from humans, like some lamia shaped race or aquatic race. Though I don't know how they could do that without blowing through their CGI budget anytime the character is on screen. I don't know how much it would cost to stick a snake tail or fish tail on a character in every scene.

Hopefully they can think of a new Star Trek race which is every bit as compelling as the ones we're familiar with.

 

[Sector 7]

Lets say the next series has a cast of eight, have four being alien with the four humans being from non-Caucasian races, for example: Arabic, Hispanic, Indian and Polynesian. The only Caucasian characters would be of alien origin (such as a Bajoran or Vulcan), though would also include at least one non-human 'colouring' (blue, green, purple, yellow).

Or if they insist on having a "pink skin" then have them from a non-American origin (German, Norwegian, Polish).

Or they could always go the GELF route :

You do realize people from India, as well as Native Americans, are of the Caucasian race... don't you?

Because of budget constraints, I believe most "Aliens" will be of the usual bumpy-forehead type. "The Chase" established that all the Federation races are similar for a reason.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

You do realize people from India, as well as Native Americans, are of the Caucasian race... don't you?

Because of budget constraints, I believe most "Aliens" will be of the usual bumpy-forehead type. "The Chase" established that all the Federation races are similar for a reason.

Thank you for that semantic clarification Dwight. It was not at all clear that by saying 'Caucasian' he meant 'White', and it was absolutely necessary to the conversation for you to clarify that the technical definition of 'Caucasian' was not limited to white people.

I agree that budget limitations prevent us from having aliens who can't be easily portrayed by a human being in makeup. Unfortunately that means we probably won't get alien regulars who aren't of the upright walking two armed, two legged variety. That doesn't mean they can't find ways to make them look interesting and distinct from other aliens we've seen.

 

[T'Girl]

Andromeda had one purple skinned character, Trance Gemini.

About half way though the series run (iirc) didn't she deliberately change color?

You do realize people from India, as well as Native Americans, are of the Caucasian race... don't you?

The term caucasian as a "race" was invented by a German named Christoph Meiners in the 1790's, apparently he felt no need to waste his time actually consulting with the people of India before including them in this classification.

I asked my best friend Priya and her grandparents about this and according to them people from India aren't (or don't consider themselves to be) caucasian. They are Indian, or part of the peoples of Asia.

To many people in America, caucasian (being an invention of a European?) refers solely to the people of/from Europe. While perhaps not the original intent, it is what we use colloquially.

If Christoph Meiners doesn't like this, screw him.

Native Americans are descended from the people of North-eastern Asia (Siberia), but I believe they've alway been considered a separate and distinct group.

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