Does it annoy anyone else that people expect you to be hardcore liberal if you're a Trekkie
- Thread starter WraithDukat
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Ah! No need to apologize. Ekos was one of the two planets featured in TOS “Patterns of Force”. The leader of the Ekosians spoke via a video monitor and his major domo held forth at a podium in front of the screen. Any other parallels are for the viewer to infer or not as the case might be.
You are not of the body!
I'm not even sure what it means to be a hardcore liberal, anymore. I use to think I was a hardcore liberal and now I might come off as a moderate. Seeing as how even liberals now argue with other liberals I am not sure who is even doing the expecting part of this question. I do know everyone still expects us Trek fans to be nerds. That might be partly because we are nerds. I know my Mom keeps saying I like "Nerdy show."
Jason
Jason
I don't think there's a lot of expectation (I think the fandom is pretty split between very-leftists and only-somewhat-left-leaning-moderate centrists, though admittedly with few on the right, and it recognizes that, there's general agreement in alignment but disagreement about extent) though there is still some disappointment and puzzlement.
As a moderate, only-slight-leaning-right centrist myself, I find it most interesting and thought-provoking when Star Trek takes an atypical approach, that both sides are/can be bad, most notably the Prime Directive (that we shouldn't intervene at all, for any purpose no matter how much we may want to and it seem benevolent, a rare view) and the Borg (a critique of forced assimilation in the name of anything, of either capitalism/Americanism/the West or communism or another anti-Western ideology).
I also find it interesting when even liberals who somewhat or very much agree with him (though usually only those who only somewhat agree) complain that Picard was too much of a preachy liberal.
The Picard thing is easy to understand. I think liberals and liberal ideas while great for the most part in the real world are kind of boring and not super interesting in the world of fiction. Drama requires conflict which means you need people with different personality types. Shows that take chances and do edgy stuff usually follow human beings who very flawed and even have backward values and often are not PC. Whether it's the anti-hero type or a rogue type or even someone you could almost label as a villain such as a Tony Soprano or Selina Myers.
Usually the only time you have a super liberal type that works is when you have someone to contrast him with. Like Al to the almost too perfect Sam Beckett on "Quantum Leap." That or having a genius like a Wes Anderson Aaron Sorkin who know how to be both a little preachy and new agey yet somehow still being compelling and brilliant.
Jason
The original series was never anti-capitalist (individuals did still use and rely on money) or particularly outcome-egalitarian (though it was very much against anti-egalitarianism and discrimination in opportunity) and though in the spinoffs Trek became more non-capitalist and even collectivist and outcome-egalitarian (and also secular) it remained very much against coercive collectivism and still respectful and tolerant of religion and different cultural practices.
Politics doesn't control every aspect of my life, and I don't spend inordinate amounts of time stressing over a person's first impression of me, so no, it doesn't bother me that someone would think I was some long haired navel gazing granola crunching ultra hippie because I like Star Trek.
I wouldn't exactly call Sam a "super liberal" type.
I would call him a modern day Doc Savage, whom Sam is clearly based on. That's why Sam seems almost too perfect, because that's what Doc was like. Also, the few things that Sam can't do (draw, paint, cook) are also things that Doc was unable to do.
I don’t recall politics ever coming up on Quantum Leap.
Ah! It's been a while since I saw that ep. Thanks.
Quantum leaping has a liberal bias.
Damn liberals rewriting history!
Do I think it's weird that a sci-fi show that represents a socialist utopia where people only work because they're bored, everybody gets universal healthcare and free education, and their sorta-kinda military's modus operandi is exploration and making friends and not blowing shit up appeals to right-wing conservatives?
Maybe.
Maybe.
I had a cat that would watch it, but I think it was due to bright flashes and noises.
Forget about "would be".
Happens every day on YouTube and Twitter.
Say anything they don't like and you are out.
YouTube even demonetised Blair White who is a transgender woman (from man) for being too conservative.
It's true that the left is very tolerant of free speech - as long as you are saying what they want to hear.
That said, I turned off Disc cos I thought it was a load of rubbish.
OTOH, I stopped watching Supergirl when they had lines like "This is the time for women. We can discuss this. What? Do we need to measure something?"
And "It's okay the President is an alien as long as you are still a Democrat"
Maybe that time when they made a monkey out of him.
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