An Observation About diversity on Discovery, 32nd Century

Unfortunately the synths were all powered by dilithium and exploded.

 

Worf was certainly played by a black actor, but I'm not sure one could argue he is a black character. The makeup they used purposefully built up the bridge of his nose - and they gave him a wig with straight hair. When viewed in concert with how most Klingons had straight-to-wavy black hair and tan skin, the level of visible difference between Klingons played by white and black actors was pretty minimal - basically just down to skin shade.

This was very different from how Tuvok was shown on Voyager - as he was very clearly intended to be a black Vulcan.

 

Hmm, I guess it is nebulous. If you take out Worf then TNG just has 1 black character similar to TOS, VOY and ENT meaning the only series that went beyond having the 1 token black character was DS9.

 

I would hope that Tim Peel, Andy Tsang and a few others would be up for creating a book.

Who'd work up the deep-background text, though? Michelle Paradise? Michael Chabon? Kirsten Beyer? All of the above?

 

Worf is really not considered a black member of Starfleet. Worf is a Klingon portrayed by a black actor.

I am talking about humans mostly, not non-aliens being portrayed by black actors.

 

Nobody likes humans...

 

That much is certain. With the Final attacking Earth, then the Synth attacking Mars and the Borg trying to destroy the Federation altogether, it is apparent the Universe considers humanity to be the backwards child that no one wants.

 

I meant in Star Trek fandom.

 

I think this is right. Basically people like the captains (generally) and they like the aliens (or nonhumans, to be more exact).

TOS - Spock was the breakout character.
TNG - Data and Worf were the breakout characters.
DS9 - Hard to identify breakouts given the nature of the show, but people generally loved Odo, Quark, Garak, Nog, Martok, etc.
VOY - Seven and the Doctor
ENT - Might be the exception, as Trip was generally speaking the most beloved. But Shran came a close second, and people clearly liked T'Pol more than Archer (or the rest of the human crew).
DIS - I think Saru is pretty clearly the fan favorite among the regular cast.

I think part of the reason people like the aliens so much is because there's just more interesting character potential there. Conflict makes for interesting drama, and internal conflict is the key form which allows for character development. Non-human characters are outsiders looking in at the stale beige world of the Federation, and there is always that tension between wherever they are coming from and what they have to be to fit in. Most Trekkies also see themselves as outsiders, and thus identify more with the aliens than with relatively well-adjusted human characters.

 

I have always felt like an outsider, even in Trek fandom. Spock is my favorite character, whether Nimoy, Quinto or Peck. Each one appeals to an aspect of me. Burnham is far more closer to me though-an outsider but not necessarily in appearance like the others.

But, more for me, it is the fascinating idea that in a show that espouses that humanity can become better humans are regarded very poorly by the fandom.

 

Pretty much agree with this analysis and your listing of favorite / breakout characters mirrors mine. I liked all the captains except Archer (who always seemed kind of bland to me). On DS9 my breakout was Garak. He might be my favorite character in the entire franchise.

 

The way that future humanity's convinced they've reached enlightenment actually makes humanity seem more alien than most actual aliens.

 

This observation really isn't about diversity, but it could later on.

After watching a few You Tube videos on the Klingons I found this interesting.

Klingons are known as God killers, The Kortar and Female Heart epic.

In essence, Su'Kal has killed all of the Gods and Goddesses of the galaxy. Not a single race in the galaxy has experienced a single being, a child none-the-less, destroying the voice of all other religions across the galaxy.

Such a notion is driving me to believe that war is coming to the galaxy to get rid of the Kelpiens and Starfleet so that the beliefs of each race, even the Klingons would not be ruled by a child.

Did Su'Kal purposely get rid of diversity in the galaxy by using his voice so that the Kelpien opera would reign supreme and the truth?

 

The hell are you going on about now?

Whatever drugs you're on I suggest you stop.

 

Discovery is a story about the limitation of promotional opportunities for black women.

The main character in Discovery is a black woman, and a central theme of the show (through season 3) is the fact that she's not the Discovery's captain. Instead of Burnham, the Discovery's captains are a white man from a mirror universe, a white man who's actually captain of the Enterprise, a Kelpian man who worked with Burnham on the Shenzhou, and a white woman who was an ensign. In contrast to other Star Trek shows, before getting promoted Burnham has to end the war, escape the mirror universe, become a timetraveling angel, permanently bring the whole ship into the far future, and identify the cause of the collapse of galaxial society. (And then the Kelpian man has to go off-duty.)

Not everyone gets to be promoted, but if you're a black woman, it's you in particular who doesn't get to be promoted.

That is a problem in reality, and it's not worth ignoring just to pretend there's no racism or sexism in a fantasy universe.

 

Yes, the majority of the Discovery's crew didn't get promoted to captain.

Burnham is a loose canon, a wild card. She has difficulty following orders, and seemingly no respect for the chain of command. Why the leadership of Starfleet would permit her to command a starship is difficult to see.

It not that Burnham can't be a asset to the organization, just not in the "center seat." You would never know when she might decide to go off on her own yet again.

 

Wait, are you saying that this theme is an allegory to the struggles of a modern day black woman or that the bar was actually higher for Burnham to be promoted in universe (i.e. Starfleet brass is actually racist and sexist)? I can kind of see the former but I disagree with the latter. I mean, in the series premier she started a munity that would've landed her in prison so the fact that she is serving in Starfleet in any capacity at all is remarkable in itself.

I interpreted S3 more being about Burnham's journey of self discovery (i.e. an internal struggle). That year she spent in the future changed her, she wasn't sure if she fit in Starfleet anymore. Because of her uncertainty about who she was and what she wanted to do, she turned down the captain's chair at the beginning of the season (or at least, said she was not going to challenge Saru for it). She then had a set of experiences throughout the season that made her realize she actually was a good fit for Starfleet and the captain's chair. I never really got the sense that she wanted it from the beginning and that external forces were preventing it.

 

The point of a story arc is to have the character grow towards something, not get it immediately. The whole point of her character is slowly becoming a part of the crew, gaining their trust after being the only traitor in Starfleet, and proving herself as a capable leader who sometimes comes up with solutions that Starfleet wouldn't come up with. She then achieves it and it feels earned. They didn't just make her captain like they did Kirk on the Kelvin films. It seems to be an odd impetration to assume that she wasn't immediately made captain because she was a black woman.

 

Where are all the damn space vikings?? No Greenlandic space seal hunters either...nothing....I am dissapointed!