Since Discovery, despite the Star Trek writers repeatedly beating us over the head with this, I still somehow didn’t catch onto the pattern. If there is a through-line to all the new shows, the notion that acknowledging one’s own vulnerability is a sign of individual strength, and that showing support when others are being vulnerable around you, is also a sign of individual strength.
This may not feel “woke” in the way it’s usually understood, but I really think it’s pushing a long overdue envelope, and one that is arguably more important to our times than a half-black half-white face representing the “illogical” nature of racism.
When I read the angry tweets about the new series (ie; the “pussification of men”, etc.) I can’t even force myself to see them as coming from anything other than weak, scared people who are too afraid of what the world would think of them if they expressed their authentic selves. They want to scare the rest of us into being as scared as they are, because they believe it will make them feel less alone. But loneliness can only be fixed by showing vulnerability.
And that’s the root of the problems in our modern era, isn’t it? Deeply insecure people hurting others in a desperate effort to not be hurt themselves. They haven’t always portrayed this concept in a graceful way, but kudos to Star Trek for keeping up the tradition of asking its audience: “What is it you’re so afraid of?”
I’ve definitely maintained that the overarching theme of Discovery was valuing mental health, and so far that seems to be getting carried forward by Academy. I think that aligns with what you’re saying. I’m not sure it applies quite as much across all the other Trek shows. Probably yes, but to a lesser degree.
Most of the discussions of “wokeness” I see break down into a grievance with white men not being the overwhelming majority of characters, so I never really thought of it in those terms, but it makes sense. It’s definitely something the world needs more of but large chunks seem actively opposed to.
Why are you even listening to the opinions of CHUDs?
The problem with new trek isn’t “wokeness”, too little or too much. It’s that they abandoned what made Trek so unique: It’s supposed to be a time after humanity has dealt with all of the stupid in-fighting and conservative BS. It’s supposed to be about a time when the drama doesn’t come from inside the house. When humanity is exploring the stars, not having a moment.
It’s just a complete lack of imagination. It’s not like Trek has ever been wanting for drama. They just decided to write new Trek in the lamest, same-old Hollywood way possible.
The problem is it’s action and drama scifi now, and not a real vision of a better future. It’s no longer unique or enlightened. It’s just drama with Trek paint.
It’s supposed to be a time after humanity has dealt with all of the stupid in-fighting and conservative BS. It’s supposed to be about a time when the drama doesn’t come from inside the house. When humanity is exploring the stars, not having a moment.
And yet all the drama is derived directly from real world human issues, so what makes a difference between Starfleet characters creating it or some fictional alien race? The latter too closely resembles “American exceptionalism” by acting like Starfleet always has all the answers and can do no wrong and these uncultured foreign aliens need to bend to our will in order to solve their problems. I don’t see that being super appealing considering everything that is happening currently.
The latter too closely resembles “American exceptionalism”
Yeah, I’ve always found the “Starfleet must always be in the right” mentality to be patronizing at best, imperialistic at worst.
I can think of another sci-fi series where the highly advanced civilization is always in the right, and I’ve heard it kinda sucks
That is a grossly terrible charictarization of what it’s supposed to be…
No wonder everything is going to hell if people cannot even understand what it means to be done working through shit…
What do you find to be grossly terrible about it?
No wonder everything is going to hell if people cannot even understand what it means to be done working through shit…
If they were done working through shit then there wouldn’t be any problems left to write a TV show about. What you’re describing is one group of people being superior to another and that superior group swooping in to save the day much like the way America has viewed itself historically.
Nope. There are plenty of episodes with drama that comes from other sources, or from their adventuring, or interaction with different cultures, or just things plain going wrong. They’ve even already challenged the whole idea of the post-scarcity human culture being so superior in older treks.
So you’re kinda’ just further proving my point that it’s a gross lack of imagination to assume it has to be a fascistic superiority complex.
That is a small thing. Meanwhile in Picard you have have the most boomer takes you can get : technology bad, young are brainwashed, fate,… I haven’t seen any science after season 1, and I haven’t seen any progress.
Let’s give Picard some credit, it spent most a season giving us a look at the challenges of building a community while evading immigration officers, and the heartbreak of losing someone whose only crime was being “illegal” or undocumented.
Yes indeed. But the season before that it showed us a planet were romulan migrants took over the planet they took refuge on and made an apartheid for them.
There are a few good things in Picard. There are also a lot of terrible things.
I don’t think that planet was portrayed as a particularly idyllic place…
I’d say they took it even further than that - the reason they were in that all-too-relevant “past” to begin with was that they had travelled back in time to an inflection point that could lead to a global descent into fascism.
I seems like your combining two separate groups and their separate criticisms. I’ve definitely criticised the new shows for not doing woke well. I think TNG era trek also covered vulnerability but in a more subtle way, were new Trek seems overly dramatic and forced to me.
I think anyone who complains about characters being pussies is probably a conservative who is just looking for something to complain about today lol.
It’s cringe when “wokenes” is so emphasized. It looks clownish. That’s how I perceived half of discovery. Like if half of tng would be of people talking about how is ok to be bald.
TOS wasn’t exactly subtle with its wokeness…
This is from an episode about how stupid racism is.
I know it. It’s a different time tho.
Agreed. DSC was filled with superficial Mary Sue slop. All anyone ever needed to overcome their problem was a cookie-cutter motivational speech from Burnham, while inspirational music played and the camera slowly panned across every crew members face as they smiled and gave a nod of approval.
It is cringy because it’s like a virtue signaling characature of “wokeness” along the same vein as “after-school TV specials” or Christian evangelist movies of decades past. There’s no depth or substance just endless variations of “there’s no problem that can’t be solved with a hug.”
For a more serious critique of new Trek that you might find more interesting than the angry tweets you refer to, consider this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB5DroolqFU
As if Star Trek wasn’t corporate from the beginning!
Every major difference between the original pilot ‘The Cage’ and the original series / TOS was rooted in corporate priorities.
The bright, primary coloured uniform tunics, bright colourful flashing lights on the bridge and other sets were designed to promote NBC’s ‘Living Color’ television broadcasts.
Kirk was younger, physically more vigorous and less cerebral than Pike, no matter what Roddenberry wanted. Action adventure hero, romancing women, was what the network wanted no matter that Roddenberry wanted Kirk to be a ‘stack of books with legs’ and for Yeoman Rand to be the original third principle character and long term romantic interest.
Sure they were subject to all the constraints of commercial prime-time TV, but as that video discusses in some detail with respect to DS9, the writers still had freedom within that corporate framework to tell woke anticolonialist stories beyond the classic sci-fi adventure fare of TOS which itself often explored what was new ground for commercial television at the time. Under some other corporate masters it might’ve been possible for the new crew to find similar freedom today, if things had worked out differently — and if any of them have the ability to do it and the willingness to try. But Larry Ellison and the forces he’s standing in for seem far more alert to the subtleties of it than they used to be. There’s bigger money involved now and they’re keeping it on a tighter leash.
Is there any evidence at all of the writers of the more recent series not having “freedom,” or of corporate interference in the shows?
I don’t know. It just seems like one plausible explanation for what’s been produced. To me it has that feel to it.
Skydance only bought Paramount this past summer after production of SFA season one was well advanced and SNW was largely done seasons four production.
While there is genuine reason for concern regarding future Star Trek, it’s very hard to make the case regarding anything in pre production before 2025.
Thanks, I enjoyed that.
This is an interesting take! I’ll admit, I was concerned about whether there will be enough wokeness in Starfleet Academy, and in upcoming seasons of Strange New Worlds. But you’re right, the foundation of what we need is a sense of shared humanity. And when you put it that way, I see how new Trek is showing us that. Thanks!
But I’d still be delighted to see another episode on unionizing!
Actually, I like the inhumanity in SFA. So many of the extras are aliens, it’s great. I’ve had enough of Starfleet being mostly humans
