...sorry...what was that about America you said in your quote above?...could you please clarify?...
The idea of american exceptionalism is in a lot of ST, only its translated into human exceptionalism. "We are special and different". We arent the fastest, we arent the strongest, or even the smartest, but (imagine one of kirks speecheus) there...is...something...unique....about....us...as...a...people....
Dude was all about the human exceptionalism, which was an extension of american exceptionalism in space to an extent. The federation was basically Americas idealised image of itself leading the world, and the aliens...
Kirk was often known to win the day with his "humanity" while spock served as contrast with his cold dispassionate logic.
If you go forward to TNG, Q is fascinated with these humans, and their uniqueness.
Fact is, who is to say other species arent more charming, funnier, wittier, better gamblers, and more courageous than the humans? This ever redeeming human charm, and this special and different exceptionalism is Americas idealised image of itself writ large.
Im not necessarily knocking it, but its a factor in ST.
The idea of american exceptionalism is in a lot of ST, only its translated into human exceptionalism. .
4 of the 5 hero captains are Americans (present day borders), a fair number of the other Human officers too.
Thank you for clarifying...I never thought about it like that...thank you for giving me a different perspective, and, I agree!...
From "Contact"...
"...You're capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares..."
Indeed, its a perspective. If you ever study film, theres always different ways of looking at things, usually trading on some degree of merit.
ST as american exceptionalism is space, does have some credence. Look at the cultural context as well. America was in the middle of the cold war. It was an era of hope as well, with generational and technological revolution. So you have the need for both propaganda and also the genuine desire for a hopeful future. I certainly dont think ST was all about propaganda. You have to remember there were substantial counter culture elements in ST. But it did reflect an idealised image of a western and american future.
Two things tho.
1 As much as we can laugh at the idea of exceptionalism in humanity, it is responsible for our success as a species to an extent, vs nature. We arent the strongest or the quickest. We are probably among the more intelligent, but theres evidence even we might not be the smartest ever, if you look at other humanoid cultures that are no longer here. Intellect and the ability to communicate are incredibly strong traits in humanity, vs nature.
Also the idea of humanities exceptionalism is something that exists in religion, to an extent.
So by no means is it just about America.
2 America herself does have some exceptional traits, and exceptionalism as a narrative fits in someways and in others can be laughed at as self delusional. America is quite a different nation and humanity in star trek shares some of those traits.
Of course ST didnt genocide the solar system to build its diverse world on, or enslave the galaxy to build its diverse world on, but the diversity and idealism of america is there in ST. Also the "into the west" exploration thing. "manifest destiny" in space if you like.
You could look at ST in a lot of different ways.
I think, if you are not american, its easy to see it as "the good side of america" and to an extent the west.
Later on, the religious element of our world were indeed explored a bit more, with the bajorans especially and for example in the klingons and the idea of traditional cultural rights.
On screen denoted, we had representatives of every culture in star trek. We literally had a russian, a black lady, and a south east asian roots guy, to go along with our white euro "all american" captain.
And if you look at the connotations of what we are seeing, you could easily look at Spock and the vulcans as Jewish, and the klingons could be claimed by anyone and everyone from black people, to russians, to muslims, to japan with its samurai tradition.
Lastly, one very strong redeeming feature of ST is there are no cultures of peoples without redeeming features. Aliens are explored, and not just charicatured. However much they start of joke worthy, they become flesh through a show that explores them, rather than just stereotyping them.
There are more educated and thoughtful portrayals of earths on screen enemies in star trek, than there is of some of earths most popular religions on some of americas news channels. !. So I tend to think ST is a good show overall, that retains its idealism, but also explores and seeks to understand other cultures, literally fighting only as a last resort. To me, its not a binary show and not bad propaganda like Homeland, Fox news, 90pc of hollywood, or reefer madness.
