Star Trek as Utopia
Science Fiction Franchise Gives Fans an Optimistic Outlook on Future
Jun 6, 2009
Since the debut of Star Trek's original incarnation in the 1960s, fans have noted the program's strength as a predictor of the dominance of the human spirit as well as an analysis of morality, ethics, and leadership. That first incarnation, colloquially referred to by fans as "The Original Series" (or simply TOS) and led by William Shatner's portrayal of Captain Kirk, would ultimately be recognized universally as a cultural phenomenon and arguably one of the most successful media franchises of all time.
For those unfamiliar, the original series depicted the exploration mission of a starship manned by a large crew but focused on seven main characters; it lasted three years on network television but was resurrected after it gained larger popularity in syndication (i.e. reruns) and owner Paramount Pictures decided to fund a feature-length movie. The success of this initial movie spawned ten more films, four more television series, and most recently a refresh of the original series in film format.
To understand the basics of this fictional universe, read "Explaining Star Trek."
Allowing Science-Fiction to Illustrate Real Strengths and Weaknesses
Star Trek, as in the entire forty-plus year run of the franchise, has consistently gained critical acclaim for its address of humanity's foibles and conquests. Creator Gene Roddenberry and his successors specifically chose casts who were representative of minorities, women, and indeed even aliens who served as allegory for larger issues.
Much of the franchise has focused on the character Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy and others, who is a half-human, half-alien scientist and officer (and later diplomat). Spock, in essence, portrays the constant human struggle between emotion and reason...personified by the character's constant quest for total logic despite his genetic predilection for feelings.
This dissection of the human struggle for logic is perhaps no more evident than today, as we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, a new Trek film releases, and a new US President faces turmoil on multiple political and societal fronts. In a 9 May 2009 New York Times article titled "The Two Sides of Star Trek" by Dave Itzkoff, the author saliently points out that "the country is again gripped by anxieties about entanglements abroad, compounded by the fear that the economy could collapse at warp speed. A cautious optimism has emerged in the afterglow of the election of President Obama (whose Vulcan-like composure has invited frequent comparisons to Mr. Spock)."
Realizing Our Path via Episodic Drama
As esoteric as it may seem, there is indeed something powerful about seeing a fictional scenario that illustrates the real-life landscape. When an alien with a half-black and half-white face threatens to annihilate his planet attempting to eradicate a co-located race with opposite features (that is, back and white face on opposing sides), it forces one to realize the lunacy of looking down on another human being based on the color of their skin.
When an android crew member argues in court for his right to exist as an independent being and not as government property, it creates internal debate in the viewer on human freedom issues and due process of legal argument. The list of similar allusions to social issues in the Trek universe is virtually endless.
Writer Mark Bain sums it up: "Science fiction, by nature, comments on the time in which it's made, postulating a future that is either better or worse depending on what we make of the present. When "Trek" first appeared, race relations, the women's movement, the Vietnam War and the Cold War were key social issues, and the show dealt with all of them, even if obliquely. Even the crew's first rule of conduct, the Prime Directive, essentially stated that they were not to interfere in the development of other cultures...that was Roddenberry's way of criticizing U.S. involvement in Vietnam," quoted from a 6 May 2009 Newsweek article.
Star Trek may not have directly changed the course of politics, it may not have directly ended a war, and it probably won't be credited as the sole reason for a diplomatic success. But it is the subtle, indirect value of the phenomenon that encompasses its true worth. With four decades of popular entertainment wrapped around a core educational message (watched the word over), it isn't a stretch to say that it likely influenced all of those things, and probably for the better.
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