The Captain HAS To Be Human...

[USS Triumphant]

...or, if not, the main protagonist and focus of most of the stories will have to be a below-decks sort of character, and they will have to be human. The majority of viewers will not care about the adventure of Star Trek if it isn't, at heart, about us.

Thoughts?

 

[Alienesse]

That may not necessarily be so. I would love to see a series with a Vulcan captain, for example, someone like Spock, Sarek or Soval. If the character is not human, that does not mean he or she doesn't represent a facet of humanity. An alien-centered story is still about us, about an aspect of humanity, because that's all we really know and all we can write about. We haven't met any aliens, yet, at least not officially.

 

[Galileo7]

I think a Vulcan captain would be fascinating...the times we have seen Spock in command while Kirk was away. I also like Data as captain in NG "Redemption".

 

[Magellan]

The original poster is correct. Aliens are only used to focus on one aspect of humanity, or to contrast with humanity. An alien centered show would never ever fly(Thats right Klingon ship supporters) . The Captain could be an alien, but I think you'd see a lot more focus on the first officer or some other human character. This kinda works for me though, I'd like to see the next Captain as a bit more above the fray. kind of like General Hammond in SG-1.

 

[Alienesse]

The Captain could be an alien, but I think you'd see a lot more focus on the first officer or some other human character.

Well, I think that's a bit sad. Isn't the exploration of new and unknown frontiers the main theme in Star Trek? Why not be a little less human-centric and explore the possibility of an alien captain?

 

[Trevacious]

The movies billed Star Trek as The Human Adventure.

Then, in the last film with the originals, Kirk let Spock know that Everybody's human. Spock was insulted.

Well, I think that's a bit sad. Isn't the exploration of new and unknown frontiers the main theme in Star Trek?

That's the opening narration, but it always seemed to me the bigger idea was optimism for humanity, that we had a chance to survive and become better than we are.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

All the characters are human, even the aliens. They all represent aspects of the human psyche. Even the frakkin' Hortas do: they are good parents and fight to defend their nest. Humans can relate to that. A character that the audience can't relate to is a useless character (unless they're a faceless-threat type element like the Borg or the Doomsday Machine).

You could take any of the alien characters who represent aspects of the human psyche, invest them with more complexity, and plop them down as the lead character, and it would be fine. Think about Martok as a Klingon, for example: he's a lot more dimensional than someone like Gowron, who just bugs out his eyes and tries to kill people. A Martok-type Klingon could work as the lead character/captain.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Why not be a little less human-centric and explore the possibility of an alien captain?

There wouldn't be anything wrong with that, but I just don't see a general audience wanting to watch them as the main character. Only people more deeply invested in the mythos of Trek, like us, would care for very long about looking through the eyes of a Klingon, a Vulcan, etc. And to be fair, that makes a certain amount of sense, because there's very little utility for them in doing that - those races aren't real. And the cost of production versus the potential viewer/readership means that a niche market like those of us that would want something like that will probably only cover the cost of comics and novels and such.

The movies billed Star Trek as The Human Adventure. <snip> ...it always seemed to me the bigger idea was optimism for humanity, that we had a chance to survive and become better than we are.

Emphasis mine, and yes, exactly.

 

[USS Triumphant]

unless they're a faceless-threat type element like the Borg

How can you not identify with the Borg? Are you not on Facebook?

You could take any of the alien characters who represent aspects of the human psyche, invest them with more complexity

I read this as "make them fully human". In which case, what is the point? To me, if we were going to have an alien captain, part of the point would be to examine exactly how their very alienness, culture, and biology play into things - not to just have them be a human in knobby-headed makeup. We might watch that (either way, honestly ), but I just don't think it would fly for a general audience.

 

[TiberiusMaximus]

unless they're a faceless-threat type element like the Borg

How can you not identify with the Borg? Are you not on Facebook?

You could take any of the alien characters who represent aspects of the human psyche, invest them with more complexity

I read this as "make them fully human". In which case, what is the point? To me, if we were going to have an alien captain, part of the point would be to examine exactly how their very alienness, culture, and biology play into things - not to just have them be a human in knobby-headed makeup. We might watch that (either way, honestly ), but I just don't think it would fly for a general audience.

But that's not what Temis said. "More complexity" does not equal "fully human." You are right, however, the more human they become the less reason there is for being an alien in the first place. If they just happen to be a human with nose ridges/forehead bumps/pointed ears...yeah, what's the point? They can be alien and still be a representation of a part of the overall human psyche without being a normal everyday average boring human.

There are two issues here: what Trek is about is one, but the other is what a general audience would identify with. I've always felt Trek is about exploring humanity by identifying specific traits and ideologies and thereby creating a 'race' that reflects a facet of humanity. So an alien captain fits with that in my opinion.

But a general audience might have a hard time identifying with that if it wasn't handled well.

 

[USS Triumphant]

But a general audience might have a hard time identifying with that if it wasn't handled well.

I think that cuts to the point, but let me ask you: how many times have you felt like you can count on that for seven years of a weekly serialized drama written by a variety of writers?

 

[Captaindemotion]

...or, if not, the main protagonist and focus of most of the stories will have to be a below-decks sort of character, and they will have to be human. The majority of viewers will not care about the adventure of Star Trek if it isn't, at heart, about us.

Thoughts?

Hmm. Does this explain why Spock, Worf and Data were so unpopular?

 

[Mr Silver]

I think keeping with a Human Captain, hasn't quite been overdone yet, I think having the Main Character as a Human allows Star Trek to push the boundaries of Society in each new series

In two Series' of Star Trek, they've pushed the boundaries of Society by having the Main Character of a specific demographic

DS9: Captain Sisko, an African-American
VOY: Captain Janeway a Woman

I think in a new series a Captain of "Arabic/Asian" descent would be ideal, it would display something positive in a World, whose opinion of Middle-Eastern people has greatly diminished since 9/11, The War On Terrorism, The Iraqi Crisis, 7/7 and The Al Quaeda

 

[Shatnertage]

I agree with the OP: the story is, fundamentally, humans exploring space and themselves. One of the reasons people got so mad at ENT was the idea that we were just filling out the Vulcan's star charts.

 

[Kaziarl]

It might be interesting. One of the reasons I think Spock worked so well was because he was half human. He had to learn, with some difficulty, how to deal with both of his heritages. In some ways it almost made him more human then the typical carbon copy hero captain. (prepares to dodge rotten tomatoes)

 

[Temis the Vorta]

"More complexity" does not equal "fully human." You are right, however, the more human they become the less reason there is for being an alien in the first place.

Why have any aliens in the first place? Firefly and BSG were space operas with no aliens. If Star Trek bothers with aliens, there must be a reason, so what is that? Simple: by paring away other human qualities, they can focus on just the "alien" qualities that are left (Vulcans are logical, Ferengi are greedy, Klingons love to fight, etc) and create focused drama around those specific qualities.

It's just a trick for amping the drama, and it can work perfectly well for a lead character as for supporting characters. All fictional characters are "aliens" in the sense that none of them exhibit the full range of complexity of real-life human beings. That would be an impossible task for any writer. All fictional characters are pared-down versions of real people. So if Vulcans are humans pared down to just their logic, intelligence, pride and strength of will, what's the problem? They're no different than any other fictional characters ever invented.

I think in a new series a Captain of "Arabic/Asian" descent would be ideal, it would display something positive in a World, whose opinion of Middle-Eastern people has greatly diminished since 9/11, The War On Terrorism, The Iraqi Crisis, 7/7 and The Al Quaeda

Or it would just seem like more Hollywood PC-ism being foisted on the audience, and people would reject it simply because it's sorta condescending and insulting, isn't it?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Of course the main character and the majority of characters have to be human - that's blindingly obvious, except to hard-core fans.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Of course the main character and the majority of characters have to be human - that's blindingly obvious, except to hard-core fans.

Wrong.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Wrong.

Pardon, but "wrong" isn't a very compelling argument.

You were doing much better in your previous post, but you're still going around my point. My point is not as much about whether a good story could be made with an alien captain - obviously it can, and some of the Captain Spock stuff in the DC Comics run is some of my favorite Trek. But I'm heavily invested in the mythos of Trek, too. My point is about what it takes to get a general audience to watch - which is needed for a show-sustaining level of ratings.

 

[Skywalker]

Like I said in another thread, the next captain's going to be a plain human with round ears and a flat forehead. You get a captain who starts rambling about his half-Whateverian heritage and you'll lose the average viewer.