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'White genocide in space': Racist "fans" seething at racial diversity in Discovery...

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If Star Trek wanted to be groundbreaking, the main character would be a non-binary Muslim in a poly asexual relationship.
 
cultcross said:
I think Trek deserves a 'diverse' label for a black woman, Japanese man and a Russian on the Bridge, and Spock probably scores a quarter point for Jewish representation although much less of a cultural big deal.
TNG onwards, Trek was generally less diverse than its contemporaries, or achieved milestones later.
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Well, there were always a lot of Jewish actors working in Hollywood on TV and films, often playing non-Jewish roles - as both Nimoy and Shatner were doing.

I give them credit for a political statement about international cooperation with the introduction of Chekov, but none for diversity - kid who grew up in Chicago putting on a comic Russian accent and going on about "Russia inwented that" and "wodka?" Under any other circumstances we'd just call that invidious stereotyping. ;)
 
These days, yes. But the sentiment of placing an enemy of the time on the bridge of what was, as you pointed out, an American starship, shouldn't be ignored.
 
BillJ said:
That's all we need. ISIS gunning for Star Trek. :eek:
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You sure there's not supposed to be anything broadly embracing some stereotypes associated with terrorism with the fanatic, ritualized Klingons with their ancient sarcophagus and supposed drive to unite the Empire? Looks a bit like a militant, anachronistic religious movement.
 
cultcross said:
These days, yes. But the sentiment of placing an enemy of the time on the bridge of what was, as you pointed out, an American starship, shouldn't be ignored.
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But he was so comically bad most of the time that I hardly call it progress.
 
cultcross said:
These days, yes. But the sentiment of placing an enemy of the time on the bridge of what was, as you pointed out, an American starship, shouldn't be ignored.
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Which is why they get the points for a political statement - and to be fair Trek has not lagged quite so badly in that respect, at least not always.
 
Metaphors are convenient, because they give everybody cover, such as: we weren't literally accusing swaths of our viewers of racism, we were just making an episode about aliens from the southernmost part of the galaxy who were white on one side and black on the other. If done right, allegory makes the point and gets people to think about themselves, without calling them out personally for their own specific behavior. Kinda like the code of "post, not poster."

Getting into literal specifics risks crossing a Rubicon of irrevocably pissing people off. That could be bad for business. At least, that has been how Star Trek has in the past typically approached controversial topics, favoring the allegory instead of the literal depiction.
 
It's certainly sad and dismaying that some white male viewers would be intolerant of more diversity in the cast and/or commanding officers and project that to mean contempt of them. I'm pretty moderate to conservative myself on a lot of issues, especially fiscal issues, but egalitarianism and nondiscrimination should be standard, basic views, especially for people who even somewhat like the Trek shows.

O_Kav said:
If aired today, DS9 would receive a lot of hate from the reactionary crowd.
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It would probably get dislike from both extremes for not fitting a doctrinal ideology. Of course it had some liberals points yet it was still more conservative than the some of the other shows, some then thought it was too generous to religion and that view (and that it wasn't hard enough against the Ferengi) would probably be stronger today.
 
There is a bit of an undercurrent in Trek that in both the Federation and Starfleet humans predominate if not dominate and, except for Vulcans, the only way for other species to advance in the organizations is to become more like humans but I think it generally hasn't said that that's a good thing.
 
CorporalCaptain said:
Metaphors are convenient, because they give everybody cover, such as: we weren't literally accusing swaths of our viewers of racism, we were just making an episode about aliens from the southernmost part of the galaxy who were white on one side and black on the other. If done right, allegory makes the point and gets people to think about themselves, without calling them out personally for their own specific behavior. Kinda like the code of "post, not poster."

Getting into literal specifics risks crossing a Rubicon of irrevocably pissing people off. That could be bad for business. At least, that has been how Star Trek has in the past typically approached controversial topics, favoring the allegory instead of the literal depiction.
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That logic worked...through the early 1980s. When all the rest of television has moved beyond that and you haven't? Not so much.

BTW, the storyline of "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" does not really address the issues and harm of racism at all - it's about the dangers of polarization and militancy.

As such, at the time and under the political and cultural circumstances of 1960s America, the episode functioned as a "pox on both your houses" style attempt to draw false equivalencies between the systematic violence and oppression faced by African-Americans and the possibility that they might take up arms to defend themselves.

I mean, the Panthers made white folk up in Beverly Hills a tad nervous.

Not Star Trek's finest moment.
 
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