Diversity And The Notion Of Utopia In Star Trek: The Original Series

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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

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