I have not noticed any social commentary in the series. Nothing that makes me think.
Sometimes, events in the real world bring a new context to the film or tv series. Like, hearing the horrendous stories involving the police and the black communities, made me re-evaluate what I was told as an audience member in the film "To Shoot a Mockingbird". The lawyer, played by Gregory Peck, is told that his black client was shot by police while attempting to escape. I did not pay much mind to it before. Now, I see that as a lie, that something more sinister happen between the black man and the cops. That the lie was a cover-up.
Or, after watching "The Shape of Water" tonight, it came home to me that there is a black community and a white community in this country. That they are divided by an invisible line, and that when a white character, who was looking into the whereabouts of a missing asset, not only intruded into the black women's home, he was intruding into her community. He used fear and intimidation to get the information he wanted.
This type of examination has not availed of itself when I watch Star Trek: Discovery. There is little in the series that is relatable to the real world.
I was listening to commentary by Mission Log about First Contact. It was posited by the film that for Humans to become a more enlightened society that we (a.) had to suffer a major catastrophe and (b.) we had to experience a major external event, like first contact between the Vulcans and Humans. They were skeptical. I, too, am skeptical. I read an article about the West's reaction to the refugees. Refugees are not fleeing because they want better economic oppurtunities elsewhere - they are fleeing to save themselves and their loved ones.
The refugee crisis is not about refugees, rather, it is about us. Our prioritisation of financial gain over people’s struggle for the necessities of life is the primary cause of much of this crisis. The west has all but abandoned its belief in humanity and support for the precious ideals contained in declarations on universal human rights. It has sacrificed these ideals for short-sighted cowardice and greed.
Establishing the understanding that we all belong to one humanity is the most essential step for how we might continue to coexist on this sphere we call Earth. I know what it feels like to be a refugee and to experience the dehumanisation that comes with displacement from home and country. There are many borders to dismantle, but the most important are the ones within our own hearts and minds – these are the borders that are dividing humanity from itself.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/02/refugee-crisis-human-flow-ai-weiwei-china
We struggle as a people to look beyond numbers. We are told that there 800,000 or 1.8 million individuals who might be DACA. We do not consider that there is more than this. We do not consider the people they have touched in their lives, the people who have become more than acquaintances, who have become friends and family. The communities they have created. We do not consider that when we send these people back to countries that they are having an impact on those countries, on the communities they are involuntarily joining. We are taking people who are successful here and making them a burden for another country.
If there is an external factor, we will come together, fight it, and go back to our squabbles. In the Napoleonic era, after Napoleon was defeated, a Pandora's box of resentments was unleashed, especially in southeastern Europe which had long-standing resentment against the Ottoman Empire. It turned into open warfare. Over a century later, after World War II, many feared civil wars in Europe, as again long-standing resentments boiled to the surface, erupting into localized wars.
Some will think climate change will be that great event which bring us close together. No, I do not see it. I see nations closing borders to refugees, I see nations and groups fighting over resources, I see nations collapsing. I do not see Humanity coming out of it as one great community, bonded by shared values. I see a world more divided, I see more sorrow and suffering and despair.
Star Trek: Discovery does not come close to addressing the issues in our society. The writers have demonstrated at best a facile understanding of the issues. They read the headlines, the brief summaries, and think they know the issues. They do not. What they present is Hollywood claptrap. And, next year, they plan to examine the role of science and faith in our society.
“We are very interested in tackling themes of faith next year, science vs. faith,” Harberts said. “We’re interested in different points of view on that and we’re still hashing out what we want to tell. The second season is not a war season. We’re in this interesting pocket of time, 10 years, now nine years before TOS. There are a lot of things in terms of TOS canon that we want to do some nods to and we’re still figuring it out. This next season is going to be jam packed with stuff that we wanted to do [the first season].”
http://www.slashfilm.com/star-trek-discovery-season-2-tca-2018/
"Angels and Ministers of Grace, defend us." McCoy, Star Trek IV
