No, it wasn't. If a woman can be First Officer, a woman can be captain. In most cases, a First Officer is in fact being groomed for captaincy at some point.
Janice Lester was clinically insane. Why would anybody take her rantings at face value?
Worst stereotype in Trek...
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Janice Lester was clinically insane. Why would anybody take her rantings at face value?
I'm slightly perplexed at what you may or may not be suggesting here. It's far from anti semitism, but it seems as though you are actually stereotyping Jewish people in a couple of your posts.
Just out of curiosity, do you have anything against Jewish people for any reason? I'm not Jewish myself, but I'm intrigued about your reasons pertaining to classing Jewish people are "greedy, fat and with big noses"
I agree that this episode not only seems but is completely out of place with the world depicted in The Cage and The Menagerie. But that's not the point here is it. This is the last episode of a dying show, preceded by really crappy episodes, and itself not particularly well written either. I'm going by the clear suggestion of what was on screen in this episode. Sweep it under the rug if you don't like it, but deal with the fact that Kirk agrees with Lester:
and that it ends with this:
(source = http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/79.htm) It's misogynistic crap. But it's the episode.
That's not the poster saying that. It's the way Jewish men have been pictured in anti-semitic materials ad nauseam. Google image the poster for the film, "The Eternal Jew" or pages from the children's storybook, "The Poison Mushroom." Both from Nazi-era Germany.
JANICE: Jim Kirk's world of starship captains doesn't admit Janice.
How do you explain the closing line of the series?
And, do you seriously think yours there is the meaning intended, or are you saying there's enough wiggle room in the spoken lines to imagine that they meant that? Because I don't think they meant that. Clever, though.
You know, I was going to argue that the meaning really was ambiguous. But then I realized, who am I kidding? When I watched the episode during syndication in the 1970's what was my interpretation? Did I have any doubt at all? Was I alone in that interpretation? Who were the breadwinners depicted on TV at that time? Why was The Mary Tyler Moore Show so revolutionary? You see, part of the interpretation is also the environment in which it aired. In that environment, I don't believe the spoken lines admit any other reasonable interpretation than what I said. And yes, that interpretation contradicts the expectation of the command structure you get from watching The Cage. But again, the episodes here at the end of the series in many ways betrayed the universe established in earlier seasons. As one other example, just look at Spock's behavior towards Droxine in The Cloud Minders.
Yevetha
Commodore
For what it's worth, Memory-Alpha says Janice Lester became embittered over the lack of oppourtunities for a woman to command a Starship. Kirk felt she was punishing him for her circumstances.
No worries, I was just slightly confused by your statements. I know that these stereotypes are pretty commonplace countries like the USA, whereas in the UK the stereotypes are different (but just as bad).
I wanna backtrack just a bit...
about Rappaport playing the role of Fajo.
So they were gonna have Data kill a midget? (or dwarf or little person or other term).
I assume the script was written and already featured that showdown at the end, where Data must kill Fajo with the disruptor. Why would they then choose a little person in casting? Or it doesn't make a difference?
about Rappaport playing the role of Fajo.
So they were gonna have Data kill a midget? (or dwarf or little person or other term).
I assume the script was written and already featured that showdown at the end, where Data must kill Fajo with the disruptor. Why would they then choose a little person in casting? Or it doesn't make a difference?
I was going to say the Maquis, portraying people like that as all simple noble people fighting for their homes and all that crap, against the Big Bad Evil Empire (the Federation 
). But they managed to avoid this with Eddington, who - unlike many Maquis, such as Chakotay - was just an arrogant jackass who *thought* he was that noble. Eddington, in a way, was their own way of skewering the myth - that "freedom fighters" can do no wrong. (As was, to a lesser extent, Lon Suder, who only joined the Maquis because he liked to kill people.)
). But they managed to avoid this with Eddington, who - unlike many Maquis, such as Chakotay - was just an arrogant jackass who *thought* he was that noble. Eddington, in a way, was their own way of skewering the myth - that "freedom fighters" can do no wrong. (As was, to a lesser extent, Lon Suder, who only joined the Maquis because he liked to kill people.)
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It probably didn't matter. It could have been normal for the original Fajo's species.
Wow you're kind of showing your own prejudices there.
Little people can be just as greedy, fat and with big nosed as any Jew.
Fang, if you're trying to convey an image of lack of prejudice, you might want to try some wordsmithing next time, because oh boy, that reads wrong.
You might want to develop an irony meter.
No no, I wasn't thinking of any discussion of Jews or noses or greed or any of that.
I was only thinking of that final showdown with Fajo, when Data is going to shoot him pointblank. That image of Data killing a midget in cold-blood (as it were)-- Why? Or is it, why not?
If that was the dramatic climax between Fajo and Data, where Data must commit pre-meditated murder against an unarmed man... they wanted to cast a little person in that role? Why or why not?
Or is it a stereotype prejudice to think evil unarmed little midget people shouldn't be seen getting gunned down as well as anyone else?
^ Why assume that David Rappaport was hired because they wanted a midget? Perhaps he was just the right actor for the part. Regardless of height.
I mean, Saul Rubinek is not a midget, and he turned out OK, in my opinion he did fine in the role. So clearly the character of Fajo does not depend on height. It was never an issue in the script. The height of the actors cast in the role is irrelevant.
And I don't see any anti-Jewish stereotype in the role either. I rather think that if Rubinek had thought there was, he would not have taken the role.
I mean, Saul Rubinek is not a midget, and he turned out OK, in my opinion he did fine in the role. So clearly the character of Fajo does not depend on height. It was never an issue in the script. The height of the actors cast in the role is irrelevant.
And I don't see any anti-Jewish stereotype in the role either. I rather think that if Rubinek had thought there was, he would not have taken the role.
I've got nothing against Rappaport's height. I very much liked him, I thought he was a swell actor. I can see him pulling off the Fajo role, sure. Maybe even better than Rubinek.
I just got that one scene stuck in my craw, Data shooting an unarmed Fajo. All things aside, it's an image of a guy shooting an unarmed midget. Is that the impression they *really* wanted? I mean, why not cast an actor in a wheelchair and have Data shoot him? Is it more dramatic that way?
I just got that one scene stuck in my craw, Data shooting an unarmed Fajo. All things aside, it's an image of a guy shooting an unarmed midget. Is that the impression they *really* wanted? I mean, why not cast an actor in a wheelchair and have Data shoot him? Is it more dramatic that way?
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