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Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 1x04 - "Moist Vessel"

Rate the episode...

  • 10 - Excellent job as usual, Commander!

    Votes: 15 12.4%
  • 9

    Votes: 21 17.4%
  • 8

    Votes: 40 33.1%
  • 7

    Votes: 24 19.8%
  • 6

    Votes: 9 7.4%
  • 5

    Votes: 4 3.3%
  • 4

    Votes: 3 2.5%
  • 3

    Votes: 2 1.7%
  • 2

    Votes: 2 1.7%
  • 1 - Pull your weight, Ensign!

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Total voters
    121
I feel no shame in wanting diversity for its own sake. As much as I want characters of any type, stories that are exciting or dramatic or funny, or ships that look cool, or good acting or directing or anything else, I have no need to justify it, so why do I have to for this? That's what I want in my Lower Decks. In my Star Trek.

You don't need to justify anything. It's like me saying I want to see a toaster that talks in Lower Decks, that's my desire but I don't need to justify it. I was simply asking for your reasoning.

Those who fear it have their own hangups.

As do people who complain that there isn't gay representation on a show that's 4 episodes old and maybe 8 main characters shown.

My point about quotas is not that I want quotas, but since it's used so often as some kind of knee jerk response to desire for representation ("It's not like there's a quota"), we might as well go ahead and use them, specifically for straight white men. At least one per show.

So basically, season 1 of Discovery.

I know disparaging straight white men is seen as cool these days, but even accounting for that I'm no sure what point you're trying to make.
 
So educate us, when is the correct time to complain about the lack of LGBTQ+ representation on the show?

Educate you? I'm offering my opinion.

I would never actively complain about the lack of LGBetcetc representation, because I don't need validation by seeing myself on screen. I think having gay characters is obviously a good and overdue thing, but I don't sit here demanding it with a clipboard ticking off some kind of lame quota. CBS Trek (imo) has overcompensated with including gay characters on other shows, so it makes complaints about Lower Decks all the more strange to me.
 
It depends on where you live, but where I live, calling SWM a minority is stretching it to the point that Mr. Fantastic couldn't keep up.

You can't have it both ways. Either white men are a minority (as has been suggested many times on this board, include a few posts above) or they're not.

But even if you take away the 'minority' part, you're suggesting that disparaging a group of people based on gender, race and sexuality is ok, as long as they haven't historically been. That makes no sense to me.
 
Ah so disparaging a minority group based on gender, race and sexuality is ok, as long as they haven't historically been. Good to know.
Well, you said straight white men were disparaged. @ToddCam was merely pointing out how silly it is to talk about quotas in the first place when all folks are asking is to at least have some representation of LGBTQ+ people. That you think that is “disparaging” straight white men is just silly to me.

Educate you? I'm offering my opinion.
You said “people who complain that there isn't gay representation on a show that's 4 episodes old and maybe 8 main characters shown [have their own hangups]”, implying it's either too early to worry about representation or we need to wait to get to know more characters. That's why I'm asking how many episodes it will take before people can complain. You brought it up, nobody else.

I would never actively complain about the lack of LGBetcetc representation, because I don't need validation by seeing myself on screen. I think having gay characters is obviously a good and overdue thing, but I don't sit here demanding it with a clipboard ticking off some kind of lame quota.
That's all well and fine. I think it's a little strange that you think “validation by seeing oneself on the screen” is the only possible motive you can come up with for wanting LGBTQ+ representation in media. I certainly don't want or need it for myself. I just want media to better reflect reality and depict a world that's even more colorful and inclusive as our own right now. I want others to recognize themselves in media and in effect further a normalization of oppressed minorities in our society. Is that so hard to fathom, that people want to see LGBTQ+ people in media just so that it makes it more … normal? That you don't need that is, again, well and fine, but why would you want others not to have it?
 
62148115.jpg


Good Lord....:rolleyes:

ANYWAY...

Didn't like this episode as much as the others. Still somewhat entertaining, but I fear they're pushing Mariner too far out. Even foe comedy animated Star Trek, there's a limit to insubordination, no?

Why bleep the swear words on CBSAA?? :shrug: The line about the holodeck would have been much funnier with (what I imagine) the real words intact.

Why do senior officers get better food? That seems kind of bogus to me.

I gave it a 7. Lowest ranking of the season so far, but still passable.
 
LD is neither a parody nor aimed at that young a demographic. It's a comedy aimed mostly at the Berman era crowd

I was a kid and watched the show during that era but I find Mariner and the whole set up too over the top to be enjoyable. Someone who acts that way would be in the brig or court martialed, not just demoted and allowed to continue serving. She would also not be under her mother’s command.
 
The point about 'needing' to justify my desire for more representation is that no other general desire for a TV show has to have this sort of questioning. I want a better show, and for me, a better show is a more diverse cast. 'Not every show has to have a homosexual' is a statement that should be questioned, not mine.

But, you want my reasoning?. The vast vast vast majority of the media I've consumed has featured straight white people prominently. I want more variety. With the vast range of human experience, of human lives and bodies and identities, yes, I want some different ones shown. Yes, there's also historical misrepresentation and underrepresentation I want to correct, but ultimately, simply, I just want more diversity. And I think that is a good enough reason.
 
Well, you said straight white men were disparaged. @ToddCam was merely pointing out how silly it is to talk about quotas in the first place when all folks are asking is to at least have some representation of LGBTQ+ people. That you think that is “disparaging” straight white men is just silly to me.

I said in this day and age, doing that is the cool and acceptable thing, as a means to try and understand his suggestion: only 1 straight white male should be allowed in a series, on the quota system.

You said “people who complain that there isn't gay representation on a show that's 4 episodes old and maybe 8 main characters shown [have their own hangups]”, implying it's either too early to worry about representation or we need to wait to get to know more characters. That's why I'm asking how many episodes it will take before people can complain.

I don't have a number of episodes for you, but I would suggest that it's greater than 4 episodes into a brand new show.

Is that so hard to fathom, that people want to see LGBTQ+ people in media just so that it makes it more … normal? That you don't need that is, again, well and fine, but why would you want others not to have it?

I would love for gay characters on tv to be treated as normal. You don't achieve that by shining a big glaring spotlight on it, and over-compensating in the other direction.

And whilst obviously not the case for everyone, I do think that a lot of people want to see gay characters on tv to seek validation for being gay themselves, whether subconscious or not.

62148115.jpg

Good Lord....:rolleyes:

Yep. Moral of this post and others kids, make fun and be as abusive as you like, as long as they're straight white men, and not gay black women. Then it's really really bad.
 
I am a cis straight white male.

There is no shortage of cis straight white males represented in popular culture. Nor has there ever been for as long as western popular culture has existed.

It's absurd to take umbrage when people who aren't cis straight white males rightfully expect to be included as well.
 
I'd say, if you need/want validation by seeing yourself in media, that's fine. That also needs no justification.

As for the 'it's ok to make fun of straight white men', I don't think anyone has actually been cruel to that group here. Singling them out as an overrepresented group is not disparaging.

But even if it was, I think those who have a certain (uh oh here it comes) privilege should be willing to understand that when you are from a marginalized group, you have a different experience, and might be angrier, and we should cut them a little slack. I'm a cisgender man. If someone rants about men, once upon a time, I would complain 'do you have to complain about us all the time?' and now, I try to just listen, and understand that women generally have it harder (in that aspect), and I can suck it up. That's just me though. I also understand not wanting to feel blamed for the ills of the world, especially when you don't feel you are responsible and have inherited so much baggage.
 
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62148115.jpg


Good Lord....:rolleyes:

ANYWAY...

Didn't like this episode as much as the others. Still somewhat entertaining, but I fear they're pushing Mariner too far out. Even foe comedy animated Star Trek, there's a limit to insubordination, no?

Why bleep the swear words on CBSAA?? :shrug: The line about the holodeck would have been much funnier with (what I imagine) the real words intact.

Why do senior officers get better food? That seems kind of bogus to me.

I gave it a 7. Lowest ranking of the season so far, but still passable.

Arguably bleeping the words is funnier because what you fill in is likely funnier than anything they could have actually said.
 
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I am a cis straight white male.

There is no shortage of cis straight white males represented in popular culture. Nor has there ever been for as long as western popular culture has existed.

It's absurd to take umbrage when people who aren't cis straight white males rightfully expect to be included as well.

Had to look up what on Earth 'cis' meant there.

No one is taking umbrage, read the posts again. I was just questioning how reasonable it is to actively complain that a show that's 4 episodes in hasn't shown any gay characters yet. Especially since we've barely even seen any relationships or pining for the opposite sex.
 
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