Code Of Honor: What Do You Think?

[Orphalesion]

The actual black woman playing the main female role in Code of Honor doesn't see it as a bad or racist episode, she actually thinks it was nice that there was an all-black planet with powerful women, didn't find the costumes or musical sticks problematic,

So one person involved with it likes it, good for herl. And yes,the costumes were rather pretty, especially on Yareena, and especially those earrings.

and thinks that people who hate the episode might have a problem with it because of its positive portrayal of powerful blacks

That is nonsense for a good percentage of people and drawing the "you all of you just don't like powerful black people/women/gay people/insert minority here" card is, in my opinion a bad argument that doesn't further discussion. I am honest when I say that if the Ligonians had been in any other episode (except maybe Justice and Angel One) I wouldn't have blinked an eye at them. I'm the person who thinks Will Riker should have been black.

She has the right to her option,of course, but nobody has to agree with her.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The actual black woman playing the main female role in Code of Honor doesn't see it as a bad or racist episode, she actually thinks it was nice that there was an all-black planet with powerful women, didn't find the costumes or musical sticks problematic, and thinks that people who hate the episode might have a problem with it because of its positive portrayal of powerful blacks

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She certainly makes some good points here, but I can never not cringe at watching the "black men steal the white woman" plot. "They're coming for your women" is such a horrible trope and completely invented by white men and to see it play out here in Star Trek of all places will never not make me uncomfortable.

 

[Tallguy]

She certainly makes some good points here, but I can never not cringe at watching the "black men steal the white woman" plot. "They're coming for your women" is such a horrible trope and completely invented by white men and to see it play out here in Star Trek of all places will never not make me uncomfortable.

Just as there is "this all would have been fine if they had been blue" there also seems to be the statement of "this would have been fine if they had stuck to their own kind." There is never any indication that the attraction to Yar is because of her skin or hair color but strictly for her own "Crosby-ness". Not because anyone was dreaming a White Christmas.

It occurs to me that none of this would have been a problem if the Enterprise had acted like many actual colonial powers and simply taken what they wanted (medicine? dilithium, time travel? I forget) by force. But Star Trek had been out of that business since Mirror Mirror, if not Errand of Mercy.

 

[Turtletrekker]

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[Michael]

She certainly makes some good points here, but I can never not cringe at watching the "black men steal the white woman" plot. "They're coming for your women" is such a horrible trope and completely invented by white men and to see it play out here in Star Trek of all places will never not make me uncomfortable.

What that interview underscored for me is that everyone will just draw the line at a different point. She says something like “it’s not like we were running around with bones in our noses” (implying that that’s where she would agree it might be a racist stereotype), which actually made think “Well, they weren’t far off, were they?”

 

[Tallguy]

which actually made think “Well, they weren’t far off, were they?”

I think you've hit on problem. This indicates that these are seen by some as not only stereotypes but very negative ones. Are there any positive African cultural tropes?

And as always I will direct you all to Up the Long Ladder.

 

[Skipper]

And as always I will direct you all to Up the Long Ladder.

I'm so glad they never ended up on a planet founded by Italian colonists.

(In picture, the President of Pizza-III. A medicine created only on their planet, spa-ghe-tee, can cure a terrible epidemic, and the Enterprise must obtain it.)

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Are there any positive African cultural tropes?

I'd say respect for the local wildlife, but then the bushmeat problem immediately rears its ugly head.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

I do agree with her that it's nice that the women are the ones who truly hold power on the planet. The men run around being all macho but in the end it's the women who hold the cards because they own the land.

And yeah, it is like this with all communities - I'm most familiar with it when it comes to the lgbt+ community: One person will find things offensive whereas someone else from the same community is fine with the things and sees no reason to get upset and probably also looks at it from a completely different perspective. That's normal, it's a community that consists of different individuals. It only starts to go down a VERY bad road once someone who is NOT a member of the community starts trying to tell the community member(s) what to find offensive and what not to find offensive.

 

[Skipper]

One person will find things offensive whereas someone else from the same community is fine with the things and sees no reason to get upset and probably also looks at it from a completely different perspective.

Yep! I mean, Kanye West said that slavery was not so bad!