News Harberts: The Klingons Are Americans

[Prax]

Well, we know now that some of these statements have been taken out of context, both in headlines, and to varying extremes by fans.

They also compared the Klingons to N. Koreans in the same quote.

There's a greater irony in all this. Alex Kurtzman said that until Discovery, the Klingons had basically just been portrayed as bad guys, and that they were going to delve deeper into Klingon culture, and also that they wanted Discovery's audience to be able to sympathize with the Klingons, or see the situation from their perspective.

I'm going to assume he hasn't seen the other series, which isn't that rare, but is unfortunate. So far we are 40% through the show, and the Klingons have been portrayed as simply "bad guys," and they've barely scratched the surface compared to the other series.

That's pretty crazy to take the most developed alien race, across all the different shows, 3 of which had Klingon main characters, then imply that they haven't been very developed, then brag that they will do better, then proceed to make Klingons simple bad guys. These new Klingons are treacherous villains of the week, and not smart enough/ and too barbaric to possibly sympathize with.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Discovery had been pitched and outlined 5 years ago so the people claiming its about the Trump campaign are very probably lying for publicity.

Just my .02.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Turtletrekker]

So if the Klingons are America, who's the Federation supposed to be?

The Federation.

 

[XCV330]

The Federation.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Mattadd]

The Klingons aren't Americans, the Shenzou are Americans, and the Klingons are the people in third world countries perceiving it as cultural imperialism and responding with violence.

Or rather, Shenzou is liberal America and the Discovery is conservative America.

And this is also along the lines of what Eddington was saying about the Federation looking for 'Sneaky assimilation', the Klingons are perceiving the Federation that way as much of the world perceives the US that way.

You think America is xenophobic? Compare to almost any other country in the world.

+1

I think this is exactly right. There are a lot of cases in tv/movies where the writers don't necessarily have the best or most logical interpretation of their own work, and this is one of them. The Klingons are most definitely not the US, they are indeed more like, say Zimbabwe or Somalia. Countries deeply distrustful of American imperialism, and much more xenophobic than the US.

 

[ichab]

Well, we know now that some of these statements have been taken out of context, both in headlines, and to varying extremes by fans.

They also compared the Klingons to N. Koreans in the same quote.

There's a greater irony in all this. Alex Kurtzman said that until Discovery, the Klingons had basically just been portrayed as bad guys, and that they were going to delve deeper into Klingon culture, and also that they wanted Discovery's audience to be able to sympathize with the Klingons, or see the situation from their perspective.

I'm going to assume he hasn't seen the other series, which isn't that rare, but is unfortunate. So far we are 40% through the show, and the Klingons have been portrayed as simply "bad guys," and they've barely scratched the surface compared to the other series.

That's pretty crazy to take the most developed alien race, across all the different shows, 3 of which had Klingon main characters, then imply that they haven't been very developed, then brag that they will do better, then proceed to make Klingons simple bad guys.

I agree. Whoever said that never really watched TNG nor DS9.

 

[Rhodan]

Well, at least they will do a better job than Ferengi :-)

 

[Dijeirusan]

As a UK fan, I see the Klingons as Brexit, and The Federation is the EU.

 

[Megapolis]

Discovery had been pitched and outlined 5 years ago so the people claiming its about the Trump campaign are very probably lying for publicity.

Sounds pretty desperate if Discovery's showrunner thinks that the new Star Trek series alone are not enough for publicity.

 

[Prax]

It's not. That's why they spend hundreds of millions on advertising.

 

[CardassianAssassin]

Apparently DSC's way of winning over American fans is to base their show's bad guys on them. Yeah, that'll work.

Don’t forget the international audience, who’ll surely be captivated by the never ending pie fight in American politics, being elevated to a weekly sci-fi show.

Roughly a third of the country elected a president that a third of the country can’t stand. (The remaining third didn’t vote and think the other two thirds are ridiculous.)

Guess what... The rest of the world doesn’t really give a toss, they just want good entertainment. Not dressed up monologues about how distasteful you think “the other side” is.

 

[shakham]

Apparently DSC's way of winning over American fans is to base their show's bad guys on them. Yeah, that'll work.

Depends how much of their revenue stream is Global. For example, the recent Transformers movie were more intended for the China audience than American.

We always assume locally produced content is for local consumption, but it may be intended as an export.

Welcome to the world of 2017 .

 

[Xhiandra]

Apparently DSC's way of winning over American fans is to base their show's bad guys on them. Yeah, that'll work.

To be fair, the TNG/DS9 Klingon empire always had American undertones: in constrast with their Federation allies (EU), who view armed conflict as a last resort, they've always been more willing to solve problems with guns.
This would make the Borg (and/or Dominion) jihadis.

 

[Mattadd]

To be fair, the TNG/DS9 Klingon empire always had American undertones: in constrast with their Federation allies (EU), who view armed conflict as a last resort, they've always been more willing to solve problems with guns.
This would make the Borg (and/or Dominion) jihadis.

The Borg seemed more like communists. Every drone is equal, they can never understand why the individuals resist and don't want to be elevated to their egalitarian, perfect ways.

 

[fireproof78]

These new Klingons are treacherous villains of the week, and not smart enough/ and too barbaric to possibly sympathize with.

It's interesting because these Klingons feel far more driven by fear than in the past.

Or, maybe that's just my random observation.

 

[SharkD]

It's interesting because these Klingons feel far more driven by fear than in the past.

I don't think they're *more* driven. I think they're just less drunk!

 

[Megapolis]

The Borg seemed more like communists. Every drone is equal, they can never understand why the individuals resist and don't want to be elevated to their egalitarian, perfect ways.

I don't know about that but the Borg are clearly Star Trek's version of undead or zombies.

 

[Blamo]

The Borg weren't every really an allegory for anything, they were "just" a monster along the lines of the Doomsday machine. They were the eldritch abomination, the space cthulu. Atleast until after BOBW.

The Dominion felt, deliberate or otherwise, like a strange mix of ancient China and WWII Japan.

 

[Megapolis]

It's not. That's why they spend hundreds of millions on advertising.

If that's true, then apparently, CBS' definition of "advertising" includes outright lying to potential viewers for publicity and monetary gain.

There are only two possibilities here: either the showrunner is lying through his teeth or the new Klingons are a demonization and smear campaign of a United States party or faction by an opposition that is also within the United States.