Space. The final frontier.
William Shatner’s voice echoes while the screen is flicking with the stars.
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
And indeed, no one ever went this far as the creator of Star Trek. Post war science fiction was too dark, always horror-like. People were too depressed, and they needed a change. Gene Roddenberry’s series offered something totally different; it offered hope. Hope for the brighter future, hope that the mankind will change, hope for the best…
First Star Trek episode aired in 1966 while the World’s nations were in the midst of a Cold war. In these times, in this world full of hatred and ignorance, Roddenberry decided to talk about things which no one was suppose to discuss; in a way, which would be acceptable in the current political situation. He created a work of science fiction, set in a twenty third century thus he could portray the foolishness of Cold War without any trickery, expose the still ongoing problem of racism against black Americans, criticize wars. He went even further in The Next Generation series; he wrote a story about a same sex love affair. Where else could one talk about such things this openly, if not on a television screens hiding behind the branding of sci-fi?
Interestingly enough though, the audience was not fascinated by the first series as they are now. In fact, the show had to be cancelled after only three years due to the low ratings even though it was suppose to be running for another two seasons. It took some time for us to accept Roddenberry’s world full of utopian ideas, racial equality and a vision of a man who was willing to change. Perhaps the very era of disbelief between Americans and Soviet Union caused that even a mediocre citizen was not willing to accept any kind of change, moreover to watch it on the TV.
The politics of Star Trek strongly resembles that one from the real world. Klingons and the United Federation of Planets were eternal enemies. Quite predictable, Klingon Empire represented then existing USSR while the Federation was the mirror of the US. Klingons had an oriental look and were often portrayed inferior to the humans during the original series. They were acting based on their instincts, almost animal-like. The first appearance of Klingons was in the episode ‘Errand of Mercy’ from 1967 where they were clearly described as violent, non logical people. The episode also predicts that the Federation and Klingon Empire will one day become allies; what, indeed, happened not only on the screen but also in the real world.
In the spin-offs much has changed for Klingons, especially the relationships between these two races. However, the Klingon animal look, simplicity of the characters (they were often referred to as having a small brain) remained even in the following shows. The reason for such a change is that The Next Generation was written in the second half of eighties, when the relationship between the States and the USSR had calmed down. Also, Klingons somewhat incline to a radical religious principles. They are not only warriors, but they also wage wars in order to win a favour of their Kings and earn the name (TNG: The Rightful Heir). They practises are violent and their afterlife is fruitful only when one is a great warrior, dying in a battle… reminds you of someone? Extremism has been quite common in the real life during the last two decades.
Fictional stories of Klingon mythology bears a strong resemblance to terms such as Muslims and Jihad. Star Trek went boldly much further; it took sides. Interestingly, the series does not condemn Klingons, rather praise them on many occasions.
And yet this wasn’t all. Examples of political partiality of the writers are shown in many other occasions. Data speaks about the Irish unification of 2024 (TNG: The High Ground) pointing out that the terrorism was used successfully as a tool for a political change. Due to the then still ongoing tensions in Northern Ireland (the episode was aired in 1990), UK broadcasters refused to show the episode on television for almost seventeen years. So even the work of sci-fi can get controversial.
Do you remember the famous quote ‘A Single Death is a Tragedy; a Million Deaths is a Statistic’? It is questionable where it originated from, but it is for sure that Roddenberry reused it in the original series episode The Immunity Syndrome, when Spock talks to Doctor McCoy: "You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be in yours."
Always repressed Bajoran citizens represent Palestinians, Dominions represent Japanese, Romulans resemble new era Russians. So is Star Trek really a piece of a fiction? I don’t think so. In almost every episode we can see some reference to the real world and a critique of governments or wars. Especially Second World War is mentioned quite often. The infamous practises of German doctors in second world war and the big question of whether to use their findings or not were mentioned in more than just one occasion (VOY: Nothing Human). Robert Picardo said about this episode: "I found that it was one of the classic Star Trek episodes where, because it's in science fiction, you can really deal with the essential ethical issue, you can pare away all the externals and just look at a core question [....] That is a really terrific example of what Star Trek can do better than any other show." (VOY Season 5 DVD, "Braving the Unknown: Season Five").
Roddenberry used to ask his writers “What do you want to say with this episode? What message do you want to give?” and it worked. Alike Star Wars movies which were not horrors as most of the sci-fi was- what was for that time revolutionary, along with special effects of course- Star Trek actually left a message for its viewers. Hence, the community of Trekkies or Trekkers (whatever you want to call them) flourished instantly. Those are not just fans, as one could usually witness with other pop cultural movies or television series, but are smart, well educated people who often became engineers. Only in NASA itself, what is quite interesting, employees are indeed admitting their love for the Star Trek universe. What is more, a lot of them even call themselves Trekkies. (Again, the name does not really matter. Gene himself said that he doesn’t care how the fans are calling themselves. In the end of the day, the whole point of the saga is to forget the differences and not focus on a trivial issues such as spelling.)
It is understandable that the writers needed the stories to be spicy and fascinating enough to keep the audience interested. So they had to create sufficient drama, intergalactic battles and interspecies quarrels. Unfortunately, to the satisfaction of the writers, the world was full of hatred anyway (especially during the Cold war), so they did not have to look too far to find their stories. In Star Trek, however, stories ends in a so to speak happy ending; the antagonists most of the time learn, or admit their mistakes.
The society has changed, new Star Trek series had been produced, but the idea is always the same. To educate people and show them a different angle. Whether the writers are indeed impartial, I strongly doubt. Whether it helps the case, I do not know. But one thing is for sure: the series predicts a better future. Live long and prosper, indeed.
William Shatner’s voice echoes while the screen is flicking with the stars.
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
And indeed, no one ever went this far as the creator of Star Trek. Post war science fiction was too dark, always horror-like. People were too depressed, and they needed a change. Gene Roddenberry’s series offered something totally different; it offered hope. Hope for the brighter future, hope that the mankind will change, hope for the best…
First Star Trek episode aired in 1966 while the World’s nations were in the midst of a Cold war. In these times, in this world full of hatred and ignorance, Roddenberry decided to talk about things which no one was suppose to discuss; in a way, which would be acceptable in the current political situation. He created a work of science fiction, set in a twenty third century thus he could portray the foolishness of Cold War without any trickery, expose the still ongoing problem of racism against black Americans, criticize wars. He went even further in The Next Generation series; he wrote a story about a same sex love affair. Where else could one talk about such things this openly, if not on a television screens hiding behind the branding of sci-fi?
Interestingly enough though, the audience was not fascinated by the first series as they are now. In fact, the show had to be cancelled after only three years due to the low ratings even though it was suppose to be running for another two seasons. It took some time for us to accept Roddenberry’s world full of utopian ideas, racial equality and a vision of a man who was willing to change. Perhaps the very era of disbelief between Americans and Soviet Union caused that even a mediocre citizen was not willing to accept any kind of change, moreover to watch it on the TV.
The politics of Star Trek strongly resembles that one from the real world. Klingons and the United Federation of Planets were eternal enemies. Quite predictable, Klingon Empire represented then existing USSR while the Federation was the mirror of the US. Klingons had an oriental look and were often portrayed inferior to the humans during the original series. They were acting based on their instincts, almost animal-like. The first appearance of Klingons was in the episode ‘Errand of Mercy’ from 1967 where they were clearly described as violent, non logical people. The episode also predicts that the Federation and Klingon Empire will one day become allies; what, indeed, happened not only on the screen but also in the real world.
In the spin-offs much has changed for Klingons, especially the relationships between these two races. However, the Klingon animal look, simplicity of the characters (they were often referred to as having a small brain) remained even in the following shows. The reason for such a change is that The Next Generation was written in the second half of eighties, when the relationship between the States and the USSR had calmed down. Also, Klingons somewhat incline to a radical religious principles. They are not only warriors, but they also wage wars in order to win a favour of their Kings and earn the name (TNG: The Rightful Heir). They practises are violent and their afterlife is fruitful only when one is a great warrior, dying in a battle… reminds you of someone? Extremism has been quite common in the real life during the last two decades.
Fictional stories of Klingon mythology bears a strong resemblance to terms such as Muslims and Jihad. Star Trek went boldly much further; it took sides. Interestingly, the series does not condemn Klingons, rather praise them on many occasions.
And yet this wasn’t all. Examples of political partiality of the writers are shown in many other occasions. Data speaks about the Irish unification of 2024 (TNG: The High Ground) pointing out that the terrorism was used successfully as a tool for a political change. Due to the then still ongoing tensions in Northern Ireland (the episode was aired in 1990), UK broadcasters refused to show the episode on television for almost seventeen years. So even the work of sci-fi can get controversial.
Do you remember the famous quote ‘A Single Death is a Tragedy; a Million Deaths is a Statistic’? It is questionable where it originated from, but it is for sure that Roddenberry reused it in the original series episode The Immunity Syndrome, when Spock talks to Doctor McCoy: "You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be in yours."
Always repressed Bajoran citizens represent Palestinians, Dominions represent Japanese, Romulans resemble new era Russians. So is Star Trek really a piece of a fiction? I don’t think so. In almost every episode we can see some reference to the real world and a critique of governments or wars. Especially Second World War is mentioned quite often. The infamous practises of German doctors in second world war and the big question of whether to use their findings or not were mentioned in more than just one occasion (VOY: Nothing Human). Robert Picardo said about this episode: "I found that it was one of the classic Star Trek episodes where, because it's in science fiction, you can really deal with the essential ethical issue, you can pare away all the externals and just look at a core question [....] That is a really terrific example of what Star Trek can do better than any other show." (VOY Season 5 DVD, "Braving the Unknown: Season Five").
Roddenberry used to ask his writers “What do you want to say with this episode? What message do you want to give?” and it worked. Alike Star Wars movies which were not horrors as most of the sci-fi was- what was for that time revolutionary, along with special effects of course- Star Trek actually left a message for its viewers. Hence, the community of Trekkies or Trekkers (whatever you want to call them) flourished instantly. Those are not just fans, as one could usually witness with other pop cultural movies or television series, but are smart, well educated people who often became engineers. Only in NASA itself, what is quite interesting, employees are indeed admitting their love for the Star Trek universe. What is more, a lot of them even call themselves Trekkies. (Again, the name does not really matter. Gene himself said that he doesn’t care how the fans are calling themselves. In the end of the day, the whole point of the saga is to forget the differences and not focus on a trivial issues such as spelling.)
It is understandable that the writers needed the stories to be spicy and fascinating enough to keep the audience interested. So they had to create sufficient drama, intergalactic battles and interspecies quarrels. Unfortunately, to the satisfaction of the writers, the world was full of hatred anyway (especially during the Cold war), so they did not have to look too far to find their stories. In Star Trek, however, stories ends in a so to speak happy ending; the antagonists most of the time learn, or admit their mistakes.
The society has changed, new Star Trek series had been produced, but the idea is always the same. To educate people and show them a different angle. Whether the writers are indeed impartial, I strongly doubt. Whether it helps the case, I do not know. But one thing is for sure: the series predicts a better future. Live long and prosper, indeed.
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