Episode 60: Exactly What Stardate Am I Living In This Time?
Ladies And Gentlemen I have another article for you and, as usual, please read this one before getting my take on it.
Wired: Star Trek's History of Progressive Values-And Why It Faltered on LGBT Crew Members
Okay now that you've done that I have to completely disagree based on what I have seen from Star Trek. Majel Barrett (Gene Roddenberry's Wife) did not get her part shitcanned because the studios hated her as a first officer, it tested badly with female members of the test audiences. Keep that in mind. I don't know if we'll come back to it later, but we might so just keep that in mind.
When it has come right down to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) community, I haven't really minded. I have friends since childhood that have since come out recently and my response was simply that we've been friends this long, it would kinda be stupid for me to suddenly have a hangup now. On top of that. If you'd read my last blog then you'd know that I put human being before all the rest. Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender...none of that will make a lick of difference to me. You're a human being and you have something that will make a difference to me...character. If you have a shit character then I want nothing to do with you. If your character shows that you're a person true to their word and you're you without apologies and able to function because of it, that's really all that matters.
Know where I learned that? Star Trek.
Star Wars taught me to mistrust my government and resist true evil and oppression but Star Trek showed me what a society nearly devoid of that would look like. It taught me that if you and I simply treat each other well or just stay the hell away from each other then we would have no problems.
In the 1960s, a multiracial cast clearly outlined that. There was even a race none of us had ever met before...Vulcans. We had a black communications officer (Uhura), a Japanese-American navigations officer (Sulu), a very grumpy doctor (McCoy), a Vulcan First Officer (Spock), a Scottish Engineer (Mr. Scott) and a whole cast of expendable Red Shirted Crew.
In the late '80s - early '90s we got to know a different crew. This time we had a new breed of Klingon, the cast was more racially diverse and we even had a sort of clairvoyant (Troi) and even someone suffering a disability (LaForge). They had a blind guy as the freakin' engineer! Not once did anyone ever worry that he was going to trip over something and cause a warp core rupture or anything like that. They gave him jobs and let his Hacker Flag Fly. At the end of the day, he always wanted to curl up with a book and relax...that's right....the blind guy wanted to read. Then you also had an Android Navigation Officer (Data) and he was arguably one of my favorite characters.
Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise...new crews, some old crews, the movies....this franchise had a list of people working with each other, resisting each other, solving their problems with each other, banding together, falling apart but throughout every series or movie, the crew remained like family though none of them were ever related.
Still...they failed because they didn't have a gay or bisexual character? Complete...Bull...Shit...
Enter Kurzon Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) in which you have a race called Trills. These Trills meld with a symbiote and live with it's memories and experiences. When we first meet Dax it's under the name Jadzia Dax and Commander Sisko does let us, the audience, know that it's odd talking to his old friend as a woman. Kurzon had died and the Dax Symbiote had melded with a young Jadzia, thus creating a transgendered character. Sisko was always calling Dax "Old Man" even though there was a decidedly young woman (and rather attractive) standing in front of him. Dax also tells us that He or She has been a Mother and a Father though not at the same time but at differing lifetimes with various other Trills. This is a character that has experienced both sides of the gender coin and has loved on both sides of the gender coin.
Deep Space Nine addressed the LGBT issue without forcing it down our throats. As an audience member I could appreciate that and I have met many who wish to undergo gender changes. None of that offends me but to say that Star Trek failed the LGBT Community by not including a character that is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered is completely ridiculous. If the Star Trek franchise wishes to include such a character, then as long as it's not overly done, I wouldn't mind in the least but the thing I would like to know is will the story be sacrified just to show off Star Trek's progressive nature? If so then exclude the character but if it can be worked in then by all means, be my guest. I would rather Star Trek bring me the adventure and all the wonder without having to become heavy-handed and preachy.
Personally, I have no problems with a character that may be an arachnid, polydactyl with blue skin and red eyes as long as the story isn't going to be sacrificed to tell me I need to be kind to my web-footed friend. I already know that but show me that perhaps the character I'm underestimating is hiding a huge character bonus that will save our butts in the nick of time...they just can't employ it until the nick of time. Yanno I don't think that is much to ask.
With cast members coming out of the closet, I honestly would ask them if they feel as though Star Trek has failed them. If not then you have voices closest to the franchise that will confirm what it is I'm saying here.
Interestingly enough Majel Barrett was the voice of the Computer in The Next Generation, the LCARS app and she's played the hedonist mother of Cousellor Troi. She was also supposed to provide the voice of a series of GPS devices but she died before that could happen. I'd say that's turning a frown upside-down
Wired: Star Trek's History of Progressive Values-And Why It Faltered on LGBT Crew Members
Okay now that you've done that I have to completely disagree based on what I have seen from Star Trek. Majel Barrett (Gene Roddenberry's Wife) did not get her part shitcanned because the studios hated her as a first officer, it tested badly with female members of the test audiences. Keep that in mind. I don't know if we'll come back to it later, but we might so just keep that in mind.
When it has come right down to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) community, I haven't really minded. I have friends since childhood that have since come out recently and my response was simply that we've been friends this long, it would kinda be stupid for me to suddenly have a hangup now. On top of that. If you'd read my last blog then you'd know that I put human being before all the rest. Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender...none of that will make a lick of difference to me. You're a human being and you have something that will make a difference to me...character. If you have a shit character then I want nothing to do with you. If your character shows that you're a person true to their word and you're you without apologies and able to function because of it, that's really all that matters.
Know where I learned that? Star Trek.
Star Wars taught me to mistrust my government and resist true evil and oppression but Star Trek showed me what a society nearly devoid of that would look like. It taught me that if you and I simply treat each other well or just stay the hell away from each other then we would have no problems.
In the 1960s, a multiracial cast clearly outlined that. There was even a race none of us had ever met before...Vulcans. We had a black communications officer (Uhura), a Japanese-American navigations officer (Sulu), a very grumpy doctor (McCoy), a Vulcan First Officer (Spock), a Scottish Engineer (Mr. Scott) and a whole cast of expendable Red Shirted Crew.
In the late '80s - early '90s we got to know a different crew. This time we had a new breed of Klingon, the cast was more racially diverse and we even had a sort of clairvoyant (Troi) and even someone suffering a disability (LaForge). They had a blind guy as the freakin' engineer! Not once did anyone ever worry that he was going to trip over something and cause a warp core rupture or anything like that. They gave him jobs and let his Hacker Flag Fly. At the end of the day, he always wanted to curl up with a book and relax...that's right....the blind guy wanted to read. Then you also had an Android Navigation Officer (Data) and he was arguably one of my favorite characters.
Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise...new crews, some old crews, the movies....this franchise had a list of people working with each other, resisting each other, solving their problems with each other, banding together, falling apart but throughout every series or movie, the crew remained like family though none of them were ever related.
Still...they failed because they didn't have a gay or bisexual character? Complete...Bull...Shit...
Enter Kurzon Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) in which you have a race called Trills. These Trills meld with a symbiote and live with it's memories and experiences. When we first meet Dax it's under the name Jadzia Dax and Commander Sisko does let us, the audience, know that it's odd talking to his old friend as a woman. Kurzon had died and the Dax Symbiote had melded with a young Jadzia, thus creating a transgendered character. Sisko was always calling Dax "Old Man" even though there was a decidedly young woman (and rather attractive) standing in front of him. Dax also tells us that He or She has been a Mother and a Father though not at the same time but at differing lifetimes with various other Trills. This is a character that has experienced both sides of the gender coin and has loved on both sides of the gender coin.
Deep Space Nine addressed the LGBT issue without forcing it down our throats. As an audience member I could appreciate that and I have met many who wish to undergo gender changes. None of that offends me but to say that Star Trek failed the LGBT Community by not including a character that is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered is completely ridiculous. If the Star Trek franchise wishes to include such a character, then as long as it's not overly done, I wouldn't mind in the least but the thing I would like to know is will the story be sacrified just to show off Star Trek's progressive nature? If so then exclude the character but if it can be worked in then by all means, be my guest. I would rather Star Trek bring me the adventure and all the wonder without having to become heavy-handed and preachy.
Personally, I have no problems with a character that may be an arachnid, polydactyl with blue skin and red eyes as long as the story isn't going to be sacrificed to tell me I need to be kind to my web-footed friend. I already know that but show me that perhaps the character I'm underestimating is hiding a huge character bonus that will save our butts in the nick of time...they just can't employ it until the nick of time. Yanno I don't think that is much to ask.
With cast members coming out of the closet, I honestly would ask them if they feel as though Star Trek has failed them. If not then you have voices closest to the franchise that will confirm what it is I'm saying here.
Interestingly enough Majel Barrett was the voice of the Computer in The Next Generation, the LCARS app and she's played the hedonist mother of Cousellor Troi. She was also supposed to provide the voice of a series of GPS devices but she died before that could happen. I'd say that's turning a frown upside-down
posted by Lord Genocyde at 12:50 PM
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