this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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Star Trek

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submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by cypherpunks@lemmy.ml to c/startrek@lemmy.ml
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cross-posted from https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/59585123

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[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Star Trek went from embracing pacifism while displaying the workings of a utopian world
to embracing warmongering and displaying a miserable world.

And I will criticize Deep Space Nine for having started this.

But I guess it accurately reflects US culture
influenced by the ideology of the Soviet Union from the 20th century,
a "we can do socialism better than the Soviet Union" story,
to the China-avoiding-capitalist-embracing culture of this century,
where socialism is absent and a soft cyberpunk world embraced as inevitable.

STD and Picard look more like Mass Effect than STOS or STNG.

[–] into_highest_invite@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

hard disagree on ds9. the gabriel bell storyline was kind of idealist but i still really liked it

[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I don't mind the Gabriel Bell storyline at all.
That's a past that the Federation has supposedly left behind.

What I mind is the well-written but ultimately still a mustache twirling saturday morning cartoon villain known as Gul Dukat, together with the sycophantic Weyoun and the Dominion lady.

The villain's chief if not only motivation? More power!

This sets up for excuses for the Federation to justify any action, like Section 31, because the villains are always one step ahead in evilness.
That doesn't challenge Roddenberry's vision which they set up to do. It dilutes it by bringing in conflict as the central part of the story, with irredeemable antagonists and beatified protagonists, where you root for the heroes to save the day and where you're told that the villains are undefeatable, yet were easily and quickly defeated, just like any other action flick.

Luckily, most episodes did not focus on the overarching story, so DS9 was still very enjoyable, but it set a precedent for further disappointment.

[–] into_highest_invite@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 days ago

yeah i guess you're right about that. bashir should have done more to challenge section 31 than just run it up the flagpole and nothing else. especially after it became clear ross and the rest of high command were in on it. both sisko and bashir were key players in the bell riots and yet neither of them bothered to do anything about section 31 besides complain through proper channels? it's not disco

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

And I will criticize Deep Space Nine for having started this.

i hated section31 when they first did it and some part of me still does; but it did a lot to flesh out the fully automated gay space communism fairy tale.

[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Gay space communism fairy tale?

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

LUXURY gay space communism fairy tale. Lol

[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I mean like, why call it gay or a fairy tale?

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

it is a fairy tale in almos every sense of the worde and gay is from the meme; i don't know why it's here, but i like it. lol

i bet it comes from the early clothing aesthetic of tng and those were done by a gay man.

[–] undergroundoverground@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

Politics? I'm MY fully automated luxury space communist space utopia?

How dare they!

[–] robot_dog_with_gun@hexbear.net 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

trek shouldn't be about contemporary electoral politics.

trek has always (well, when abrams and kurtzman aren't involved) been about social issues, which are only political because the kind of assclowns who would say "star trek shouldn't be political" are still hanging around shitting up the real world.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

trek shouldn’t be about contemporary electoral politics.

the tos episode "let this be your last battlefield" and movie #6 were both literally contemporary politics.

[–] robot_dog_with_gun@hexbear.net 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

electoral politics. like captain kirk shouldn't look dead to camera and say "don't vote for nixon" or say some candidate's slogan, etc.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

kirk plainly said that you must be from the southern part of the galaxy during a time of jim crow and segregation laws on several ballots in the south & southwest in “let this be your last battlefield”

[–] robot_dog_with_gun@hexbear.net 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

in addition to the rizzler's comment, that's also really hammy and we usually want better writing.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

there's plenty of ham and questionable writing all over start trek. lol

[–] into_highest_invite@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

blaming the south for racism was just as goofy then as it is now. gives liberals a smug sense of superiority without identifying the underlying issues and systems that they perpetuate too

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

it was a show created by a liberal who didn't understand what socialism is.

also; back then; thinly veiled portrayals of civil rights on tv felt revolutionary for american liberals.

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com -5 points 4 days ago

Currently has bad politics in the new shows unfortunately.

[–] kboos1@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago

But it shouldn't be ham fisted like DISCO, it should be smart, changing minds is done in inches not miles. Yay for emotionally immature and insecure senior staff!

Some of the best Star Trek is when you didn't know that it was making a political statement and it was thoughtful and thought provoking.