Star Trek and the Cold War

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On September 8 1966, Star Trek the Original Series premiered to American audiences for the first time and was given a vision of the idealized future of space travel. Set in the 23rd century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starship Enterprise as the “seek out new life and boldly go where no man has gone before. ” Although the Science Fiction television show was set in a timeline into the distant future, many of the episodes centered around current themes of the 1960s, especially around the Cold War. The Cold War was an ongoing conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union since the closing days of the Second World War. The Cold War was at its height in the 1960s with the Cuban Missile Crises, the emergence of the space race and the Vietnam War. This conflict transcended all parts of society and television was no exception. Gene Roddenberry, the creator the Star Trek series, was a former military pilot that held strong beliefs that “The Strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them”. Star Trek used its unique appeal to television in order to glorify American idealism along with opening criticism to the United States Foreign Cold War Policy.
The Starship Enterprise was part of Starfleet, the scientific space exploration branch of the United Federation of Planets whose peaceful mission is to explore the galaxy. Lead by the strong leader Captain James T. Kirk and his first officer, the Vulcan, Spock, the Enterprise was made up of diverse group of people from all branches of the Galaxy. The Federation represents the United States, a country that is a melting pot of different cultures that blend together to make one unique nation. The Fe...

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...sode was written before the first season, but was released years latter. Gene Roddenberry reminds the viewers that although every citizen has the right to be critical of United States Policy, the United States is a country based on the foundation of freedom and gives its citizens the right to have freedom.
Star Trek the Original Series was a groundbreaking television series that broke barriers between the audience and the media. Using their unique genre of Science Fiction, the creators of Star Trek were able to show television audience a glimpse of the idealist future along with displaying lessons of contemporay times. The critiques of the Cold War were prevalent throughout the series that educated Americans of the real realities of the cost of war. Although the series lasted only three seasons, it left an enduring legacy that created multiple spinoffs and movies.

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