Most ridiculous thing: the third act of "I, Mudd." 
Most ridiculous thing about TOS
- Thread starter AdmiralBruno
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On a side note, I think one of the charms of Star Trek are the various absurd technologies that do absurd, outlandish things. The transporter itself cheats physics to even exist, so the fact that it can turn people younger or split people in two is almost expected.
Wormhole bread?
Why the need to make it less impossible? That has always been part of the fun of Star Trek.
It uses a "heisenberg compensator." It's magic. 
It uses a "heisenberg compensator." It's magic.
Actually I read something about quantum copying or something that allows one to know both the position and momentum of a particle. But it was in an article saying time travel was possible. But seems legit.
That's interesting!
I mean, a lot of things are possible. They might very well figure out time travel and Heisenberg compensating and warp drive and subspace legwarmers. To us, that technology is magic, but it very well might be real someday.
The miniskirt uniforms were ridiculous, not because I am so sure fashion might not evolve that way, but because they were supposed to be playing to a 1960s audience. Even in the late 1960s, when miniskirts were in fashion for clubs or leisure situations, they were absolutely not what a woman in a professional job would wear to work. Dressing the female officers that way made the audience take them less seriously.
So many people keep saying this and saying this and saying this, like an elementary school bully trying to get you to believe the undeserving target of their ire is whichever epithet they're using that day. Maybe it would be unprofessional in universe, maybe not. But the fact is, the actresses themselves WANTED to wear the miniskirts, as during that period of our history, they found them empowering and wanted to bring that to the table in their performance.
That's not bullying, it's arguing: Stating an opinion and explaining the reasoning behind it.
I suppose there were young female military personnel who would have found miniskirt uniforms empowering in the 60's and 70's when they were fashionable. Just as there are young women today who would find find shorts, flip-flops and tank tops empowering office attire. They didn't get the miniskirts then for the same reason they don't get tank tops and flip flops now: It's unprofessional and impractical. It seems reasonable to assume that will be a consistent standard in future uniformed services as well.
Whether the actresses wanted to wear those costumes or not it still looks ridiculous in my opinion, because it seems very unrealistic. I fail to see why a female military member would need a uniform that's distinctly different from a male's in order to feel empowered, considering that a military female has exactly the same power as a military male of the same rank.
They're definitely fun to look at, but they're still ridiculous military uniforms.I liked them too as well!
JB
It'd be even more fun to look at if the official female uniform was shoes and a smile, but it'd be that much more ridiculous, too.
They're definitely fun to look at, but they're still ridiculous military uniforms.
It'd be even more fun to look at if the official female uniform was shoes and a smile, but it'd be that much more ridiculous, too.
But in a climate controlled environment...
I'm sure GR fought them both real hard on this issue.
From my perspective, generally speaking, it was a different time, and what was considered feminist and female empowering in the 1960's might be considered both quaint and sexist today. I have been told by some that at the time the miniskirts were considered empowering for women, and it absolutely goes along with Roddenberry's idea of a progressive military, where there's a militaristic chain of command, but in general, it's a more relaxed atmosphere with more room for personal expression. It is an exploratory mission after all, not a military campaign, at least most of the time.
To that end, I wish that women were shown to choose either the miniskirt or standard uniform. Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, basically all the Starfleet women wore miniskirts. I would have liked to see women choosing either, and maybe allowing the men to choose between a few different basic styles as well (this kind of choice ended up in TMP, with everything from long-sleeve variants to t-shirts).
Even in TNG, extras were shown to be using a few different styles of uniforms, and in Generations, people wore either the old style uniform as well as the DS9 variant. I realize a lot of people dislike the non-uniformity (har har har) of Starfleet attire in various episodes or films, but I think expression of individuality is a major point that separates today's military with Starfleet and I welcome it.
All that said, in retrospect, a show run by a man with mostly male writers putting all its women in miniskirts as well as using them for mostly support roles, like yeomans (i.e. glorified secretaries), seems a bit sexist. But, again, it was a different time. We couldn't get away with it today, but it is what it is.
To that end, I wish that women were shown to choose either the miniskirt or standard uniform. Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, basically all the Starfleet women wore miniskirts. I would have liked to see women choosing either, and maybe allowing the men to choose between a few different basic styles as well (this kind of choice ended up in TMP, with everything from long-sleeve variants to t-shirts).
Even in TNG, extras were shown to be using a few different styles of uniforms, and in Generations, people wore either the old style uniform as well as the DS9 variant. I realize a lot of people dislike the non-uniformity (har har har) of Starfleet attire in various episodes or films, but I think expression of individuality is a major point that separates today's military with Starfleet and I welcome it.
All that said, in retrospect, a show run by a man with mostly male writers putting all its women in miniskirts as well as using them for mostly support roles, like yeomans (i.e. glorified secretaries), seems a bit sexist. But, again, it was a different time. We couldn't get away with it today, but it is what it is.
We did occasionally see a trouser variant for women in the background. But the fact is the budget for costuming was, like everything else, constrained so they opted for primarily one uniform design for both men and women respectively.
The real power and success of TOS is that the whole resonated with countless viewers unhindered by some of the show's missteps.
The real power and success of TOS is that the whole resonated with countless viewers unhindered by some of the show's missteps.
Definitely. I recognize that some problems exist with presentation that are a product of the time period in which it was produced. But don't get me wrong, I love all of Trek with absurd levels of passion.
Never hurts to discuss these issues, of course, but at the end of the day, the positives vastly outweight the negatives. In so many ways, Star Trek was progressive and ahead of its time. None of these negatives harm the show irreparably.
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