The Celebration of Infinite Diversity and the Notion of Utopia in Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek, an American science fiction series created by Gene Roddenberry, revolved around the interstellar escapades of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise as they explored galaxies to seek new discoveries and establish allegiances with otherworldly beings. The first instalment of the show, referred to as The Original Series, had been aired on NBC in 1966 until its third and last season in 1969. After the show’s discontinuation, spin-offs and successor franchises of the series had spawned during the 1980’s due to the increasing number of fans which petitioned for its revival. Star Trek continues to be a phenomenon in popular
…show more content…
It had been the first American live-action series to have an interracial cast, where people of colour and women had been given recurring roles such as astronauts, engineers, and doctors. The multi-ethnic crew comprised an African-American woman, a Scotsman, a Japanese American, and later on a Russian cadet. The casting had opposed prevalent patriarchal norms of the 60’s generation and was a direct opposition towards racial and gender discrimination. The addition of the latest Russian crew member at a time when the United States had been at war with the USSR (Cold War) had been an implicit social commentary of weighing solidarity over schism. The show’s complex narrative was considered progressive because of its advocacies towards feminism, anti-racism, and anti-white hegemony in a society that put women and minorities at the bottom of its …show more content…
Scholarly articles such as “Star Trek: A Phenomenon and Social Statement on the 1960s” by William Snyder Jr. expounds in great length the micro-level aggressions towards the women and minorities that Star Trek intended to promote. Snyder claims that the show falls flat in its ambition to represent equality in media. In his assessment, he notes how the characterization of female characters within the show still conform to the patriarchy’s ideal woman (a woman who still needs man), and how revealing outfits of female crew members objectify them for male consumption. As for minority microaggression, he refers not to discrimination against people of colour, rather to the xenophobia exhibited by crew members to the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock. Spock receives a slew of insults on his biology (his pointed ears and green blood) from crew members like doctor McCoy, who constantly reminds him of his totally alien existence (he is the only human-Vulcan hybrid on the ship). Perhaps this is still analogous to how society often rejects its genetically mutated population—the
“Leave it to Beaver” was a popular sitcom about a traditional nuclear family played out through the perspective of an adolescent boy whose curiosity and antics often got him into trouble (TV.com). Despite the show promoting positive family values, it also inadvertently shed light on a historically dark period of time in American history. One such instance was the lack of diversity on the show. Nearly 100% of the show’s characters were white throughout the six-season, 234 episode series. In the single episode that depicted an African-American, the character was a servant, further a reflection of the times when African-Americans where predominantly seen and treated as second-class citizens (Leaveittobeaver.org). However, this 1950’s ideal serves as a reference point to what typical families looked like and how vastly different they look now.
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
I chose to analyze the sitcom That 70’s Show, a show that follows the lives of a group of teenage friends: Jackie, Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Eric, and Fez. The show addresses several social issues of the 1970s, including: sexism, sexual attitudes, drug use, politics, and the recession. I selected certain episodes from Season One based on their titles and descriptions; ones I thought may deal with sexism more in-depth than other episodes.
A “utopia is that which is in contradiction with reality,” said the famous French novelist Albert Camus in his collection of essays, Between Hell and Reason. History shows us that seemingly exemplary ideals in practice have led to the collapse of societies. Just examine the two most prominent attempts at a utopia: Hitler’s attempt to socialize all of Europe and create the “perfect” Aryan race coupled with Karl Marx’s beliefs to instate communism into society. The final result was the destruction of their perspective visionary worlds. There was one major facet that prevented these two from creating their paradigms: utopias take away individual freedom and identity and therefore society cannot exist. Aldous Huxley’s science fiction novel Brave New World examines the large disconnect between the future and present day societies, showing how several aspects of this dystopian world lead to the downfall of the individual identity, most prominently exemplified by the death of John Savage.
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
It is natural that the significance of events decays with the passage of time, such events remain alive in the history forever for reference of generations ahead. The episodes of events that may be termed as the most significant of the last century is the Cold War that happens to retain any relevancy in modern times. With the death of Soviet union and world turning from bipolar to unipolar shape, the incredible saga of cold war is over but its distressing memories are still alive in the minds of the people around the world as it happened to shape up the destiny of at least a couple of generations in every corner of the world. In particular, the cold war affected every aspect of American life for over 30 years. The foreign policy, political doctrines, economy, education and even the media felt the impact of cold war for a painful amount of time. In that way, the cold war shaped up the lives of entire American nation and they lived a life of uncertainty for more than a quarter century. Before coming back to the subject of impact of cold war on films, it is imperative to understand a brief history of cold war. The origins of the cold war dates back to decade of 1910’s when American felt the scare of communism for the first time. American Skepticism of communism, spearheaded by Soviet Union, as the potential threat to American sponsored ideology of democracy remained consistent for next 20 years and it even aggravated with the usurpation of Josef Stalin's ferocious regime. The apprehensive feelings attributed towards Soviet Union in the mindset of American leadership subsided for a while; rather they took a sharp reversal of policies, as the clouds of Nazi threat appeared on the skies of world politics. With the advent of 2nd world ...
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
I gave several examples where Asian Americans were used to play very simple characters. These roles were defined by stereotypes that exist in America. I also researched instances on counter actions taken by Asian Americans to protest against these negative images. My research also has examples of Asians that have succeeded in breaking through the racial barriers in the media.
Hassler, Donald M., and Clyde Wilcox. "Gender Identity in Star Trek." Political Science Fiction. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1997. Print.
In the essays, “Turkeys in the Kitchen” by Dave Barry, and “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples, they argue the theme of gender, and racial stereotypes that have been present in our world from the very beginning. Barry suggests through a sarcastic and humors tone that gender stereotypes have been present since before the start of time; he uses a highly conversational style to prove this, as well as narrates to give the reader a better understanding of exactly what he’s talking about. Staples, on the other hand, uses a more authoritative tone to support his theme of racial stereotyping; he also uses the mode of rhetoric exemplification to his benefit, and is able to show the audience that this issue is just as important as the gender stereotypes that take place in our society still today. Barry believes that despite the fact that people are against stereotypes they still will always fall back on them; and Staples believes that people need to change themselves in order to not fit into those common stereotypes. They prove this through the history of gender discrimination in the 19th century factories, and through the 1970-1980’s and also up until today’s racial discrimination in the media. However, if we all hate stereotypes, then why do we always seem to be falling back on them?
Since the making of the television, this invention has helped the American public become more accepting of diversity. To the first African American on a prime time tv show, to the first interracial couples shown, television has normalized and celebrated diversity and differences. Cartoons are doing the same for children, and helping them become accepting at childhood. Steven Universe a show on Cartoon Network is a frontrunner in cartoons that show diverse sexualtes. Steven Universe is a coming-to-age story about a preteen half Gem half human boy named Steven fighting monsters and internal issues with his three Crystal Gem guardians. In Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe, specifically the episode “Jailbreak”, LGBT relationships are shown having
Hollywood’s diversity problem is well-known; however, the extent might be surprising to most Americans. According to a 2014 report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television, Film & New Media, found that females comprised only 30% of all speaking characters among the top grossing films of 2013. (Lauzen, 2014) However, minority women faired far worse than their Caucasian counterparts. As a matter of fact, if one looks at the numbers even female characters from other world’s were as better represented in film than some minority women; the numbers are as follow for women: Caucasian (73%), African American (14%), Latina (5%), Asian and other world tied (3%). (Lauzen, 2014) If the lack of representation were not enough consider a 2009 study which found that when minority groups are portrayed on television the portrayal tends to be negative. (Alexandrin, 2009) A study by Busselle and Crandall (2009) found that the manner in which African-Americans are portrayed, often as unemployed criminals, tends to have an influence on the way the public perceives African-American’s lack of economic success. Furthermore, the news media does an equally poor job in the ways that African-American’s are presented; according to the same study while 27% of Americans were considered “poor” in 1996 the images of America’s “poor” being presented by news media was heavily Black (63%). (Busselle & Crandall, 2002) Today, this can be seen in the way that African-American victims of police brutality are depicted in the media. Even when African-Americans are murdered at the hands of police for minor and non-violent offenses (e.g. Mike Brown, Eric Gardner, and Tamir Rice) they are often portrayed as thugs, criminals, and vandals. What’s more, seve...
To explore the concepts of Utopian theory, both political and social, one must first engender a concrete definition of what Utopia means. Sir Thomas More, the original creator of the term Utopia, signifies it as “no place”. However, More’s clever play on words seems ultimately to suggest that ”no place” is just no place right now. That is to say that Utopia is “an ideal place that does not exist in reality” yet (Murfin and Ray 529).
good points to Utopia, I would not want to live there. “Every house has a door to the street and another to the garden. The doors, which are made with two leaves, open easily and swing shut automatically, letting anyone enter who wants to—and so there is no private property” (Utopia, Book 2 / 549). There is no criminal activity so they have no fear of leaving their doors open. There are three main reasons I would not want to live in Utopia, slavery, wives and children subject to husbands rule, people uprooted for under population.