I found this while randomly stumbling on the internet, and I think it’s a great read! I know that there is a Star Trek section, but because there are general rules, I thought I’d throw it up here. Please move it if its in the wrong section. Enjoy!
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Commandments.html
Good find. The racism page is pretty interesting, too.
I have to say that Worf’s whole “More Klingon than Klingon” thing bugged me. As far as I can tell he was raised Jewish.
I remember reading that site several years ago… some of the points he (?) makes are valid, but they are presented in such an antagonistic way that he ultimately undermines himself. While the discussion of racism is interesting, most of his examples appear to be more about cultural relativism than racism as it’s understood in the US today.
Example: the discussions/controversies about girls wearing hijab to school in France. French government says no way, you’re here and you can’t wear that (what the writer would see as “non-racist”); some Muslim women and girls protest that the government is constricting their rights and prohibiting them from practicing their religion, preserving their culture. And of course this is wrapped up in issues of immigration, women’s rights, “modernity” and “progress,” all of which complicate the scenario.
All of it’s more complicated than right and wrong - living in our society imbues in each of us cultural attitudes that are there and hard to unlearn. We are all racist, in some degree. However, calling someone or something inherently racist doesn’t help an anti-racist agenda (I admit that I’m just as guilty of slipping back into that mode of discourse, try though I might to focus on actions and attitudes rather than selfhood), particularly since we all are. Fiction necessarily reflects the culture in which it is produced, as well as the culture of the individual (or group) that produces it. Focusing on attitudes, beliefs, and actions as opposed to impunging selfhood with a label that all but few view as negative allows for a more productive conversation on the issue.
Short version: interesting, but in my view lacks nuance.
(I really should get back to working on my dissertation :p)
Racism can’t be purged, though. Even in Star Trek and other science fiction, racism will always exist. So, in a way, I can see what he did there, but he does raise some good points.
This makes me mad on a regular basis.
Thou shalt lose all comprehension of the concept known as “suppression fire.” Thy soldiers shalt poke their heads out from behind obstacles, carefully aim at enemies who are incomprehensibly standing in clear view, and squeeze off shots like Dirty Harry.
This is basically the plot of Eureka, although Carter sometimes makes some appropriate inferences.
Thine most experienced, qualified and brilliant engineers shalt be hopelessly befuddled by a technical problem until they overhear a moron talking about a mundane, everyday occurence such as his bowel movements. At this point, they will shout “that’s it!” and solve the problem. Apparently, thy writers enjoy the idea that engineers are helpless without “inspiration” from scientific ignoramuses.
I LOL’d. Good link.
Semi-related to that, from Futurama’s ‘Where No Fan Has Gone Before’ take on Star Trek:
Leela: I didn’t want to leave them either Fry but what are we supposed to do?
Fry: Well, usually on the show someone would come up with a complicated plan then explain it with a simple analogy.
Leela: Hmm. If we can reroute engine power through the primary weapons and reconfigure them to Melllvar’s frequency that should overload his electro-quantum structure.
Bender: Like putting too much air in a ballon!