Was Tattoo a racist episode?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

King Abdullah II of Jordan was in Investigations.

Got a walk on in uniform.

The Royal Islamic Studies centre declared that he was the fourth most important Muslim in the world in 2010.

He could have asked for lines.

Only if he registered with the Screen Actors Guild.

 

[T'Girl]

Funny aside, The Bible supports Slavery.

The Bible does not advocate the ownership of slaves, but does address the fact that different forms of servitude existed.

 

[JB2005]

"Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior."

Yeah, the Bible makes it into a very grey issue...

 

[exodus]

Chakotay's tribe is fake.

There is really no good reason for this, if Picard can come from a real culture (French) and a actually exact spot on the Earth's surface (Whatever, France), then Chakotay should have been able too as well.

And not be a general purpose "indian."

Just because Picard came from a real culture does not necessarily mean Chakotay should have. It may well have been decided to make his tribe "fake" to avoid any kind of perception that the writers were being racist or disrespectful of any real-world cultures.

Doesn't taking an existing race and making up false facts about it a stereotype? Isn't that disrespectful?

 

[T'Girl]

Doesn't taking an existing race and making up false facts about it a stereotype? Isn't that disrespectful?

The thing about that is, strictly speaking Chakotay isn't from an exist race, anymore than Tuvok is from an exist race.

Chakotay's people are basically a work of fiction, he is not really Mayan in term of the form of his vision quests, nor is he plains indian, and if he is of the "rubber tree people" than would put his ancestors in the amazon river area of Brazil. His medicine wheel doesn't really fit either. Nor his medicine bundle.

But yes, it is disrespectful.

 

[doubleohfive]

There is really no good reason for this, if Picard can come from a real culture (French) and a actually exact spot on the Earth's surface (Whatever, France), then Chakotay should have been able too as well.

And not be a general purpose "indian."

Just because Picard came from a real culture does not necessarily mean Chakotay should have. It may well have been decided to make his tribe "fake" to avoid any kind of perception that the writers were being racist or disrespectful of any real-world cultures.

Doesn't taking an existing race and making up false facts about it a stereotype? Isn't that disrespectful?

I think we're crossing wires here.

My initial reply was to T'Girl's logic that, because Picard was from a "real" culture (i.e. French/European), it must necessarily follow that Chakotay must as well.

In the strictest sense, I do not agree with this logic. Picard has absolutely nothing to do with Chakotay. Writing for Picard has absolutely nothing to do with Chakotay. Picard being French has absolutely nothing to do with Chakotay being a member of a fake Native-American tribe.

Now, obviously, that initial reply omits any discussion or consideration of the point you are making, and the point which, in retrospect I think I agree with you about. In hindsight, the way the writers presented Chakotay and his background can easily be viewed as stereotypical and border on racist.

That being said, we're forgetting two very important things:

1) The writing on Voyager was nowhere near the quality of TOS or TNG and some of DS9. This isn't a dig at Voyager or its writers, but more a comment on the "franchise fatigue" theory. It could simply be that the writers who were brought in to flesh out Chakotay were burned out. It could be that they had zero interest in science fiction, or didn't give two shits about establishing a creative, respectful and dynamic story for this character and that the job was simply a job with a fat paycheck. I don't know. But the point is, irrefutably, that the writers dropped the ball with fleshing out Chakotay's heritage. Look at Worf. The writers made him as nuanced and interesting as they could with all the Klingon "opera" episodes during TNG. They started to lose some steam in the later DS9 episodes, but this is a character who has grown, learned, matured, and become even more complex since his first appearance, while at the same time retaining those qualities that endeared us to him since his inception. You simply cannot say the same about Chakotay.

2) Do you really think the writers sat down in 1994 and expressly intended to write a character and background that would be perceived as racist?

You will get no argument from me that the portrayal of Chakotay, now, in hindsight, could be blatantly insulting to any number of Native-Americans today, the same way perhaps Chekov is viewed by Russians, or Picard is by the French. On a personal note, it grates on my intellectual curiosity that we never really saw an Arab character in Trek as Arabic culture is quite rich and diverse and would probably be very interesting to people, but at the same time I'm somewhat relieved the writers never really explored that kind of character because they would, inevitably, botch it up and set off yet another round of cries of racism and stereotyping.

However, I find it very difficult to believe that the writers sat down to write Chakotay with any ill intent in mind. More than likely, the revolving door of writers that came through the Voyager offices probably looked at the character and realized they had no idea what to do with him. Because he didn't belong to a specific, existing tribe or nation, they couldn't really follow any established customs or heritage; yet because he was more of a blank slate, they probably had to mix and match qualities and cultural elements as it convenienced them when breaking their stories. And even then, all of this supposes that they even cared about such things.

So, long story short: I agree that yes, in retrospect, I can see why the episode might be perceived as racist or stereotypical. Admittedly, I am not as familiar with the intricacies and differences between current Native-American nations, so I can't comment as to the accuracy or inaccuracy of what was portrayed on screen. However, I also temper this response with the knowledge that the writers on Voyager most likely did not sit down and intend to create a cardboard cutout of a character, even if that's how he is mostly perceived today, and for me that intention negates at least some of the ire I might feel about the subject.

 

[TedShatner10]

Yeah, what doubleohfive said. Voyager was the third show made in a row by the Rick Berman-Michael Pillar team and intended to be more in the vein of TNG, when TNG itself was already getting creatively tired and inconsistant in its final season.

Also Jeri Taylor similarly mishandled the topic of homophobia in TNG's "The Outcasts" but she clearly didn't mean to offend anybody. In fact (especially in comparison to mid 00s/01s Doctor Who) sexual orientation was never properly touched upon in 90s/early 00s either and even on DS9 (where Rick Berman was comparatively hands off) the possible thing going on between Bashir and Garak was bluntly glossed over.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Lets track what I remember.

Back then my scifi buddy loved the cock so I got an ear full of "Where are my homos!?"

Talia and Ivanova spend a year flirting.

Ivaona asks her to spend the night because her room is being fumigated.

She only has one bed.

The next morning she looks to the empty space in her bed to wonder where her girlfriend is.

They kill off talia.

Jadzia and the Borg Queen make out.

Willow talks about how empowering witchcraft with her new friend she holds hands with is.... WINK!

The following season, after the world hadn't ended, the Network allowed (No shitting, allowed. Willow was as gay as no one on screen made direct, overt reference to her lesbianism in season 4.) Joss to use the word "gay" and gay associated paraphenellia like "girlfriend" and in that song where she sings about how tara makes her "come" becuase of clever edditing that cuts a sentence in half.

Oh, and stuff happened on Xena.

Which was all before the year 2000.

Voyager let the side down.

 

[horatio83]

Is Chakotay a decent Indian (lest somebody accuses me of racism for not typing Native American, the term Indian is an eternal monument to white Man's stupidity), is Riker a decent Canadian, is Chekov a decent Russian?
When you arrive at Chekov you realize that Trek is not racist just because it doesn't play the cultural representation game too well. It's main point is that we are first and above all human. From which stupid culture we come is secondary.

I am German, type English, eat Italian and Chinese and I am gonna French-fry anybody who claims I were part of a particular culture.

 

[The Dominion]

There were at least two openly gay characters from '90s-'00s shows that come to my mind.

DS9 had mirror Kira who was made clear by the end of the show to at least be bi. And Battlestar later had Admiral Cain who was also lesbian.

Both were great characters, but the problem was that the characters were both not such great people.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Intendant "Why don't you break me out of jail and then we can have some alone time."

Guard "You tortured and murdered my wife."

Intendant "So, you're single?"

It might have been clear that the Intendant was bi in season one, but in her second appearance I think she was actually kissing her slavegirls rather than just rubbing up against them.

ah.

Riker is from Alaska.

That kid from lowerdecks called him Canadian and I think the bartender corrected him.

I wonder if Sarah Palin would have gotten elected if she claimed that one day her great great great great grand child would be the XO of the USS Enterprise?

 

[The Dominion]

I wonder if Sarah Palin would have gotten elected if she claimed that one day her great great great great grand child would be the XO of the USS Enterprise?

She probably would, claim it that is.

And Intendant Kira definitely had something going with mirror Ezri, regardless of what the original intentions for her character were supposed to be. I don't think she was intended to be bi in the first episode or so, but then the writers sort of encouraged themselves to do it later.

 

[exodus]

Just because Picard came from a real culture does not necessarily mean Chakotay should have. It may well have been decided to make his tribe "fake" to avoid any kind of perception that the writers were being racist or disrespectful of any real-world cultures.

Doesn't taking an existing race and making up false facts about it a stereotype? Isn't that disrespectful?

I think we're crossing wires here.

My initial reply was to T'Girl's logic that, because Picard was from a "real" culture (i.e. French/European), it must necessarily follow that Chakotay must as well.

In the strictest sense, I do not agree with this logic. Picard has absolutely nothing to do with Chakotay. Writing for Picard has absolutely nothing to do with Chakotay. Picard being French has absolutely nothing to do with Chakotay being a member of a fake Native-American tribe.

Now, obviously, that initial reply omits any discussion or consideration of the point you are making, and the point which, in retrospect I think I agree with you about. In hindsight, the way the writers presented Chakotay and his background can easily be viewed as stereotypical and border on racist.

That being said, we're forgetting two very important things:

1) The writing on Voyager was nowhere near the quality of TOS or TNG and some of DS9. This isn't a dig at Voyager or its writers, but more a comment on the "franchise fatigue" theory. It could simply be that the writers who were brought in to flesh out Chakotay were burned out. It could be that they had zero interest in science fiction, or didn't give two shits about establishing a creative, respectful and dynamic story for this character and that the job was simply a job with a fat paycheck. I don't know. But the point is, irrefutably, that the writers dropped the ball with fleshing out Chakotay's heritage. Look at Worf. The writers made him as nuanced and interesting as they could with all the Klingon "opera" episodes during TNG. They started to lose some steam in the later DS9 episodes, but this is a character who has grown, learned, matured, and become even more complex since his first appearance, while at the same time retaining those qualities that endeared us to him since his inception. You simply cannot say the same about Chakotay.

2) Do you really think the writers sat down in 1994 and expressly intended to write a character and background that would be perceived as racist?

You will get no argument from me that the portrayal of Chakotay, now, in hindsight, could be blatantly insulting to any number of Native-Americans today, the same way perhaps Chekov is viewed by Russians, or Picard is by the French. On a personal note, it grates on my intellectual curiosity that we never really saw an Arab character in Trek as Arabic culture is quite rich and diverse and would probably be very interesting to people, but at the same time I'm somewhat relieved the writers never really explored that kind of character because they would, inevitably, botch it up and set off yet another round of cries of racism and stereotyping.

However, I find it very difficult to believe that the writers sat down to write Chakotay with any ill intent in mind. More than likely, the revolving door of writers that came through the Voyager offices probably looked at the character and realized they had no idea what to do with him. Because he didn't belong to a specific, existing tribe or nation, they couldn't really follow any established customs or heritage; yet because he was more of a blank slate, they probably had to mix and match qualities and cultural elements as it convenienced them when breaking their stories. And even then, all of this supposes that they even cared about such things.

So, long story short: I agree that yes, in retrospect, I can see why the episode might be perceived as racist or stereotypical. Admittedly, I am not as familiar with the intricacies and differences between current Native-American nations, so I can't comment as to the accuracy or inaccuracy of what was portrayed on screen. However, I also temper this response with the knowledge that the writers on Voyager most likely did not sit down and intend to create a cardboard cutout of a character, even if that's how he is mostly perceived today, and for me that intention negates at least some of the ire I might feel about the subject.

The mistake was trying to explore the culture at all.
They really don't go out of their way to delve into any of the Earth cultures on Trek. It's always been the alien cultures Trek has always put under the microscope, I can't figure out why most of the stories of Chakotay had to be directly linked to his "culture/race/creed"? Picard, Sisko, O'Brian, eyc, there was more to them than there culture, so much so sometimes you forgot Picard & Sisko both are French in heritage. With Chakotay, there was nothing else to him but his heritage. They never explored his life in the Maquis at all, we never even knew how he meet Be'Lanna or Seska.

Other than that, great post.

 

[Kai Winn]

...as a Christian, I find lots of Trek rather spiritual and interesting from that POV ...

Same here, watching people venture out into God's cosmos is a spritual experience.

Sure is, God, spirituality, and Star Trek all are immaterial realities. Why shouldn't those in quest of revelation and salvation not enjoy a more elaborate fiction once in a while? As an anti-theist I must admit that I enjoy those Star-Trek episodes best which kick religious butts.

 

[Lynx]

Well, if we start with the original topic: Was "Tattoo" a racist episode?

Yes!

I don't think it was meant to be that but it turned out that way. I guess it's all about sheer stupidity from the writers. The whole "Sky Spirits" thing was so incredible stupid and insulting. "tattoo" could have been a great episode if it had focused on Chakotay's flashbacks to his childhood and omitted that "Sky Spirits" thing. I could easily re-write the story by having Chakotay stranded on some jungle planet, reflecting on his childhood while trying to get in touch with Voyager.

As for the "anti-religion" thing, I know that many Christians do like Star Trek because of its optimistic view on the future.

I must also point out that even if Gene Roddenberry may have been anti-religion, his views were mostly expressed in a rather moderate way which even Chritians or those who have other religious beliefs could accept. It was never shoved in our faces the same way as Braga did in some episodes.

Fortunately some of the authors of the Voyager books were more tolerant, showing that religious beliefs weren't prohibited or forgotten in the Federation.

CHAKOTAY: "Henley, do you have faith?"

HENLEY: "Sir?"

CHAKOTAY: "Faith. Do you have religion?"

HENLEY: "Well, I was raised Catholic, if that's what you mean."

CHAKOTAY: "We've never tried this before and it's one of the riskiest ventures we've ever undertaken. I think any prayers to any deity couldn't hurt."

HENLEY: "Understood, sir."

(From the book "Marooned" by Christie Golden, page 147)

 

[Guy Gardener]

Christie Golden hurt me.

I can't believe no ones stopped her yet.

Somebody stop her.

The "Sky Spirits" Chakotay's fake tribe worship are the DQ Aliens from tattoo.

Using a real tribe and saying Aliens made/defined them, would have been a kick in the junk to their historical identity.

How odd they didn't use the Preservers who were set up as players in TNG Journeys End which was a follow through from one of Kirks adventures.

Shit.

There was fake tribe with real trek history and Taylor didn't care.

Fuckers dropped the ball "inventing" Chakotay, by stuttering on a redundancy.

The weird thing is that Chakotay continued to worship the aliens he met in Tattoo long after he figured out that his gods were just people from another planet who had enough technology to dupe an encampment of stone age aborigines into thinking that they were gods.

Something Chakotay has the opportunity to do a couple times a month, if it wasn't for the Prime Directive.

Surely that would indicate that the Gods who used to "look after" his people were assholes polluting the integrity of his tribe racially raping them, or it was a do-over of Caretaker and Chakotay was no better than an Ocampa who missed the days when the Caretaker made the plumbing work.

I've seen now and then in historicals that there are sometimes black characters lamenting how much better and easier it all was under slavery and that they can't be bothered with freedom because it's too hard and it's kicking their ass. Rare, but it happens and it's usually not a positively lighted character, but Chakotay continued to pretend that his gods were real when he had proof positive that they were not and chose the pretence of ignorance rather than cold clarity that god was a space man who stopped on Earth to take a dump midway between point A and point b.

 

[exodus]

However, this is not the first time Trek has made an episode that turned out to be racist or stereotypically insulting. TNG has two: "Code of Honor" and "Up the Long Ladder". It's my understanding the latter was so insulting, I believe some areas in Europe refused to show it until fairly recently.

Was it done on purpose.....
L.A. & NYC are the two most densely populated multi-cultural places in all the US, if not the world. There is absolutely NO excuse why none of the writers couldn't turn to any of their co-workers or neighbors and ask questions about proper representation of a race/culture. There is no excuse why in this day and age the adverage person doesn't know Black Africans holding spears and fighting for the love/status of a White woman is considered racist.

So the answer is yes.
You'd have to be purposely ignorant of the world around to write and continue to write and approve episodes like these.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Thing I never understood, as a child in the 80s mostly, is how Picard thought that the Ligonianins were identical to the Chinese from the 13th century.

Or am I just connecting dots that are not supposed to be connected?

I mean it's entirely possible that "You remind me of an ancient human culture" and "Here's a gift, it's from 14th century China" are noncontiguous elements?

Were the Chinese insulted by Code of Honor?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

However, this is not the first time Trek has made an episode that turned out to be racist or stereotypically insulting. TNG has two: "Code of Honor" and "Up the Long Ladder".

"Up the Long Ladder" was written *by* an Irish person, so how racist could it be?

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's part of their culture.

There was an Irish kid at school when I was little and he said that all the ":'Latest Irish invention" jokes in Ireland were told to be about the Southern Irish by the Northerners and about the Southies by the blokes form the top half.

These people spent decades sorting out a civil disagreement with carbombs, and hadn't started earlier because cars had only just been invented.

Fricking carbombs.

Of course, they had been invaded and had a foreign religion forced on them that centuries later only a fraction of the Irish left living knew well enough to challenge their foreign overmastrers when the taxman came knocking at their door.

Imagine if Washington cocked it up and the American War of Independences didn't start till tomorrow?

The US would make the Irish look like the French.

beisdes.

the author wasn't being racist as much as he was pandering and exploiting American racism, which is just capitalism.

Americans needed jokes about the Irish, so how pervese is it to deny the Irish the opportunity to make a little money on the side denigreating their own poeple, in turn making sure that actual racists who "hate" them as a nation, starve and are kicked into the streets becuase there's a glut in the market they can't wring a cent from?

Yay capitalism!