Everything I know about Canadians comes from this documentary I saw about "super" state troopers. Has anyone heard of that? They were pretty rowdy.
That line was ridiculous because he was a soldier who was raised in 1920s-30s working-class Brooklyn. The idea that he would care about mild language in the middle of a fight was laughable, just not the way the director intended.
One point to consider, though, is that the series is based on a vision of a future of significant level of abundance and exploration, to the point that people barely obsess over mass entertainment and reputation. In which case, not just bad language but even teenage slang would barely appear. On the other hand, archetypal flaws in the human condition would remain, which explains the major conflicts that appear throughout the franchise. A combination of these two themes might have been the reason why the series was so popular across several generations.
This might be another interesting point, as Spock, who represented both Vulcans and humans, is one of the most popular characters in the show. The idea of rationality driving a refined, cultured state is something that all societies aspire to whether or not they are aware of it. This is in contrast to the banal characteristics of the dialogue we see in STD.
"If I were human, I would say . . . go to hell. If I were human."-the refined and ever cultured Mr. Spock.
But seriously, how are rationality and profanity mutually exclusive? And "cultured, refined" dialogue can quickly cross into stilted and snobbish if you're not careful. STAR TREK is not supposed to be Downton Abbey.
I agree with this, and I feel that even the realistic, flawed human beings of the 23rd century should be at least a little more enlightened than us mouth-breathing 21st-century primitives, and it would show in their comportment. Yes, people swear a lot today. But Star Trek does not take place today. It takes place in a more enlightened, civilized and cultured future. I understand that many don't find swearing to be a big deal at all due to its commonplace nature ("kids hear it all the time"), and that's their prerogative. For me, it was the opposite. I grew up hearing a lot of angry swearing in the domestic setting. I found it repulsive and backwards, and I decided I did not want any part in such crudity going forward in my adult life. So I went to college and worked hard on developing a modicum of culture and refinement, and then entered into professional work settings where decorum and propriety are standard routine. Sorry if that makes me some kind of prude. Kor
Agree with the OP. Even without my kids watching, it just seems out of place. Like every episode they have to meet a quota of swearing just because. It's like an old man wearing skinny jeans and a popped collar with beats head phones on. They're trying too hard. Like if you're gonna start swearing on Star Trek, then start fucking swearing. Don't tip toe around that shit, get the fuck in there. Lorca: "Fuck you Mudd, you ain't going anywhere" Mudd: "I'm gonna fucking kill you Lorca, you hear me." Saru: "Discovery to Klingon vessel" Lorca: "It's your captain, beam me the fuck outta here" Ash: "I fucked her. That's why I'm still here."
I remember watching Transformers the movie back in 1986 and hiring spike say "Oh Shit! What do we do now." I fell out of my seat. lol! Times and values change.
Mental exercise: Choose ten or more popular star trek character, and imagine them using the f-word in an existing episode. I'll choose, Kirk Chekov Nurse Chapel Deanna Troi Beverly Crusher Worf Odo Garak Dukat Ensign Kim T'Pol Who is the least likely to use that word? I say Garak, and Nurse Chapel.
Sometimes you need a certain type of language to get the message across. At the end of City on the Edge of Forever, we understood that Kirk was in pain acutely because of the uncharacteristic 'Lets get the Hell out of here'. However we also saw Kirk's devastation expressed without swearing at the end of 'Paradise Syndrome' and 'Requiem for Methuselah''. Swearing can be a concise way of getting the message across. I personally think Star Trek doesn't need it (not that sort of show) and could elaborately write around it but it doesn't worry me if it has it on occasion. In the scene it was used in Discovery, it's use showed (again) how quirky Tilly was but more importantly that Stamets was not just a one-dimensional robot guy - that he could see the wonder in what they were doing