‘ Star Trek then and now is a framework for a better future … I am convinced we need it more than actually’
If you’re a Star Trek fan and apparently mustered the will to endure through shows/films like” Discovery” and” Section 31″, then you’re comfortable with how academy-think and popular media stories have infected the company.
Writer Joshua Patton recently complained about Trek’s” toxic fans” — aka conservatives, typically — a relatively new concept used by progressives to tar those who disagree with their “reimaginings” of long-time entertainment properties ( in Star Trek’s case it’s colloquially called” NuTrek” ).
Like many others regarding Trek, especially on social advertising, Patton calls out the alleged poisoning by invoking the stop that the show’s shows have always been about “diversity”, “science”, and “expertise” … and that their past “is a reminder, not a roadmap”.
” Beyond merely picture,  , Star Trek , then and now is a framework for a better potential”, Patton writes. ” As I look at the world now, I am convinced we need it more than ever”. There’s the” risk of global climate change” and the “reckless dictatorship of the latest US state”, he says.
More than ever? Patton is saying this then just because he, like some (especially in education ), just can’t handle the fact that Donald Trump is again in business, and with greater help than previously. Despite many efforts to eliminate him socially and physically.
That’s a concern for NuTrek. Besides the abysmal writing (especially in” Discovery” and” Section 31″ ), contemporary creators go out of their way to make connections to current times, and like Patton believe such is needed “more than ever”.
But is now actually more harmful than when the Original Series came out? Subsequently” The Next Generation”? ” Enterprise”?
The Original Series, alias” TOS”, debuted during the very height of the Cold War, just after the Cuban Missile Crisis, and ended straight before the Vietnam War heated up. ” TNG” began during the Cold War, and” Enterprise” debuted almost immediately September 11, 2001.
However, Trump Derangement Syndrome is genuine and makes people believe the person is a danger as serious as nuclear conflict.
Example 1: Patton , doesn’t specifically discuss it nor apply a picture, but NuTrek” Odd New World’s” album episode featured Capt. Pike ( Lt. Kirk’s immediate father ) warning a current warp-capable culture not to get Earth’s way. Images from the January 6 Capitol “insurrection” were shown as a precursor to the” Second Civil War”, which eventually led to World War III. C’mahn.
Example 2: Patton says we need to “celebrate” knowledge and experience nowadays, because too much skepticism is “unhealthy”:” Today, science denialism is on the rise, from bad skepticism of the miracles that are vaccines to the plain foolish’ Flat Earth ‘ conspiracy theorists”.
MORE: Professor says colorblind philosophy behind’ Star Trek’ is a’ blind spot ‘
Now why in the world would people currently have an “unhealthy skepticism” of vaccines? Can Patton answer” What is a woman”? Why would folks be skeptical of “experts” who believe Trump is a dangerous threat to virtually anything conceivable… but were mum about Joe Biden?
Not to mention, what about those who predicted cities would be underwater today and/or that we’d never again see snow due to global warming? How often are these folks permitted to be so completely wrong in their predictions?
Star Trek itself gave up on a silly climate change tie-in in the last season of” The Next Generation” ( 1994 ). In the episode” Force of Nature“, a pair of alien scientists attempts to convince Capt. Picard and the Enterprise that warp travel is damaging the very fabric of the universe. For some episodes thereafter, a maximum speed of warp 5 was established except in emergencies.
But after these few mentions, it’s never brought up again. Not even in the far-future in which the last few seasons of” Discovery” took place where everyone lamented a phenomenon that … hindered warp drive.
Example 3:” Star Trek champions infinite diversity in infinite combinations”, Patton ( X account bio pictured ) says. What he omits is that while celebrating not only the vast diversity of Earth but that of alien worlds, everyone involved in Starfleet agrees to abide , by the same set of rules. And every planet that wants to join the Federation has to do the same.
The concept of a” same set of rules”, however, is completely anathema to modern progressives. Starfleet entrance exams would be deemed” white supremacy” and culturally biased. Starfleet vessels would be required to have a proportionate number of various demographics ( race, sex, sexual preference ) that match that of Earth and other planets. Etc.
Patton adds that” ]e ] fforts to vilify immigrants, transgender individuals or others from historically oppressed demographics are the very attitudes Star Trek , was created to change”.
Note the word “illegal” is missing before “immigrants”, and there’s no explanation regarding the “vilification” of transgender folks. That’s because there is no vilification.
Most could care less how people live their lives, but , the vast majority of folks don’t want biological men competing against biological women in athletic endeavors ( which would be a legitimate issue even in the 24th century ), nor want medically unnecessary life-altering procedures for minors.
As for other “historically oppressed”, Patton links to one of the best” Deep Space Nine” ( and Trek in general ) episodes,” Far Beyond the Stars“. In it, Capt. Ben Sisko imagines he’s a science fiction writer in 1950s America, complete with the prejudice and bigotry of the times.
Patton would have us think these prejudices apply to Trump’s America in 2025, a problem, of course, is that candidate Trump received a record number of votes from minority groups in November.
Patton concludes in part:
We need more Star Trek , stories like ]” Section 31″ ] because it reminds viewers it’s not the institutions that create a better future, but people fighting to make the right choices and uphold these ideals … Modern threats to liberty, the rule of law and civil rights are being challenged by courageous, heroic people every day.
Many of those who voted for the eventual winner last November view themselves as part of that last sentence… and believe the person for whom they voted is one as well. So?
Selective moralizing isn’t going to work this time, Mr. Patton. We saw what happened during the last four years, and you and your ilk didn’t utter a peep.
If you have it within you, be honest with yourself and ask How could a guy who should have been utterly destroyed manage to not only survive, but come back … and regain the office he had lost?
IMAGES: Joshua Bryant IX, Joshua Patton/X
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