This is sounding more and more interesting. It's been a while since I read any TrekLit but this trilogy really intrigues me.
Germany exclusive Star Trek trilogy "Prometheus" coming in 2016
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But this reminds me of The Expanse - both the books, which have conspicuous and widely placed people of colour in almost all key roles, and the series, which introduced early its most powerful non-white person (who of course is now the head of Starfleet in Beyond probably because of The Expanse).
And yet the two lead characters, Miller and Holden, both have European names and are played by white actors. There's a long tradition of shows that have diverse supporting casts but still put white men in the lead roles; I'm happier when women and people of color penetrate that glass ceiling and get to be the stars themselves.
In general, the Belter characters in The Expanse seem to have a higher proportion of white people than the Earth characters, who are predominantly other ethnicities. I've been wondering if there was some historical reason why the Belt was settled heavily by Americans or Europeans.
Sounds good. After all, there are already plenty of American captains/series leads in Trek -- Archer, Kirk, Sisko, Janeway, Riker, Sulu (born in San Francisco), David Gold.
At least in the 22nd-century, it was known as United Earth, which suggests a federal union. We have heard references to specific states on future Earth like the European Alliance, the African Confederation, the United States of Africa, and the North American Administrative District/North Am.
Are they all referenced before or after Earth became unified though and I think you'll find @Jarvisimo liked my postulations that by the twenty-forth century no one from Earth will identify from specific countries but from just Earth itself.
In the books the Belters are a real mix; no dominant ethnic groups and descendents of all the continents. You should read them Christopher if you haven't; I'm surprised you haven't since they are so good on diversity! They'll be in the library and you'll like the grand science in them too.
I'd say that from S2 the primary cast will be even less white - they properly cast Bobbie, who is Polynesian & female & Martian
In the books the POV characters are always an ethnic and gendered mix. More so, it is really a mix. Just because someone has a surname doesn't mean more than a certain ancestor; arguably most people are not quite white! However Book 2's POVs are Holden, a Chinese surnamed scientist from Ganymede (who is an educated Belter), Bobbie who is Polynesian-Martian, and Avasarella. Arguably Bobbie and Avasarella are the stars of the book! Book 3 has one of the Maos, a Mexican Belter, and a Russian female gay pastor. Book 4 is again very diverse. Then Book 5 is the crew of the Rochinante. We shall see what Book 6 brings.
I think it was established in "Articles of the Federation", that United Earth is a global nation with a central government. However I think the "member states" still exist, like Bayern or Hessen in Germany or California or Florida in the United States. So it's reasonable to assume, that someone would identify himself as French when talking to other people from Earth, but as hailing from Earth when talking to other species.
It's just a scale issue. If I talk to someone from my hometown I tell him I live in this particular steet. If he is from the same area I tell him the name of my hometown. If he is from another part of Germany I say I live in the vicinity of Stuttgart. And so forth.
It's just a scale issue. If I talk to someone from my hometown I tell him I live in this particular steet. If he is from the same area I tell him the name of my hometown. If he is from another part of Germany I say I live in the vicinity of Stuttgart. And so forth.
I've always assumed the countries or Earth are still acknowledged, even if they are more like Earth's "provinces" now, similar to provinces within a country (or states within the US) today. With other planets on Trek, we did hear various provinces on Bajor being singled out for whatever reason throughout DS9's run.
I guess it could be for an earthern, 24th century style:
- nationality (Earth citizen)
- national identity (Earther)
- regional identity (German/French/British/American/etc)
- local identity (Bavarian/Alsacian/Cumbrian/California/etc)
Then also:
- racial identity
- religious identity
- work identity
- political identity
- gender identity
- sexual identity
- nationality (Earth citizen)
- national identity (Earther)
- regional identity (German/French/British/American/etc)
- local identity (Bavarian/Alsacian/Cumbrian/California/etc)
Then also:
- racial identity
- religious identity
- work identity
- political identity
- gender identity
- sexual identity
JMS said something similar about casting Matheson in Crusade - a character who ended up being played by a South Korean actor.
I was thinking about this earlier - and how Daniel Dae Kim appreciated that his character's surname was not changed.
^Sure, but it'd be nice to balance that out by having a blue-eyed blond character named Hiroshi Nakajima or Muhammad al-Bayyari, say. (We did have Leila Kalomi in TOS, but that's because the character was originally meant to be Sulu's love interest and thus presumably Asian.)
I always liked how Susan Wright's The Best and the Brightest featured an alien character who was born and raised on Earth, named Bobbie Ray Jefferson, and spoke with a Southern accent. Really, if 24th-century Earth is as egalitarian and integrated as alleged, there should be plenty of nonhumans who are part of human culture and have names in human languages, and humans who have alien names and cultural identities. Indeed, by now there should be a hybrid culture emerging, a blend of various influences. Why don't we ever see humans who follow the word of Surak or the Rules of Acquisition, or who worship the Prophets or Kera and Phinda?
I always liked how Susan Wright's The Best and the Brightest featured an alien character who was born and raised on Earth, named Bobbie Ray Jefferson, and spoke with a Southern accent. Really, if 24th-century Earth is as egalitarian and integrated as alleged, there should be plenty of nonhumans who are part of human culture and have names in human languages, and humans who have alien names and cultural identities. Indeed, by now there should be a hybrid culture emerging, a blend of various influences. Why don't we ever see humans who follow the word of Surak or the Rules of Acquisition, or who worship the Prophets or Kera and Phinda?
I wonder if Sisko is a Bajoran by law, at least during the time he lived on Bajor. Also I think there was a Caitian doctor who was raised on Andor in Articles of the Federation.
Sorry to go back to The Expanse for a bit, but I got kick out of the fact that the character Alex Kamal, who is of East Indian ancestry, speaks with a Texan accent. They eventually explain that he was from the Mariner Valley on Mars, which was originally colonized by East Indians, Texans and Chinese, so those cultures had a big influence on the population, although I don't think we saw much of a Chinese influence on the character in the first half of the first book.
I believe the original treatment had her as Hawaiian? I remember hearing that somewhere, at least.
Alien: So where are you from?
Human: Earth.
Alien: Earth! Oh, then you must know Jennifer Smith!
Human: Er, no.
Alien: But she is also from Earth.
Human: It's a fairly large planet...
Although somewhat amusing, I'm not seeing your point, do you disagree with my postulating/musing on the subject? Do you expect an alien visiting to know all the former countries of Earth or just a few major cities and continents?
I'd see it go down more like this:
Alien: So where are you from?
Human: Earth.
Alien: Oh nice, which part? I've always wanted to visit Asia.
Human: Oh I'm afraid not from there, I'm from what used to be England which is part of Europe.
Alien: Europe? So near the capital? Paris?
Human: I'm sorry, no, I'm a good few hundred miles away from there.
Alien: But the capital is in Europe.
Human: It is, but It's a fairly large continent.
And Star Trek Into Darkness featured Ketha Province on Qo'noS.
Which was first mentioned in DS9's "Once More Unto the Breach" as Martok's childhood home.
Which was a reference to DS9.
What I'm referring to is that STID specified "Ketha" to be the name of a political division in addition to a physical geographic feature. Also, DS9 never physically showed it.
No real point, just making a joke. FWIW, I agree with your postulating that someone from Earth in Trek's time would probably be more likely to identify themselves as being from Earth, in part because Earth is unified into a single polity, and partly because it's much less likely that an alien would be that familiar with individual nation/states or cities.
My post was really just a riff on the old stereotype of a subset of Americans thinking all Canadians must know each other, because our country is the size of a small village or something.* ("Oh, you're from Canada? Do you know John Smith from Canada?") This type of thing was even referenced in that old Molson "I am Canadian" ad from 2000: "And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzie from Canada, although I'm certain they're really, really nice." I just jokingly applied it to a planetary scale.
* I guess it's our own fault for naming our country after the word for "village". Cartier should have never listened to that priest!
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