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Aug. 9th, 2020 06:57 pmSomething just occurred to me.
In all three current Star Trek series, the female protagonist is related to somebody significant/powerful. Either significant to the existing canon (Michael to Sarek/Spock/Amanda, Soji to Data), or to the command structure of the show (Mariner).
(Unfortunately I have to state that I am not bashing the shows or looking for a huge debate on the merits of nu!Trek. YES they are "Real Star Trek". NO I am not a Trump supporter, I do not follow Doomcock or these other "Get woke go broke" people, they suck. Please do not misunderstand where I'm coming from before I continue.)
Generally in the past, when shows have introduced the female characters as another character's relative, frequently, that was the only reason the woman was there in the action. She didn't get there by her own merit, and honestly, it always felt half-assed.
"Oh, this character is so & so's daughter, that's why we let her onto the spaceship to serve us coffee and look pretty."
"Oh, this character is so & so's sister, she can interact with him and then fall in love with the male protagonist."
There are COUNTLESS shows like this.
Star Trek in the past hasn't been that much of a "so and so's female relative" show. Yeah there have been cases of that, but for the most part, if you're on the goddamn ship, you're an important character in your own right. You don't need the "sister" crutch.
Like, was Uhura some admiral's daughter? Was Deanna Gary Mitchell's long lost twin whose embryo was frozen? Was Jadzia Zefram Cochrane's grandmother? Was B'Elanna John Colicos (I forget his character name)' niece? NO. They stood on their own.
An exception from The Orville does not escape me. Kelly started out significant because of being the captain's ex. That's unfortunate, but in my opinion not as bad as, for example, Soji. I, tragically, did not give one single shit about Soji except that she was Data's daughter and possibly the conduit for Picard and Data (TWO MEN) to be able to interact again. That's pretty damn sad.
To me, (and again I am NOT shitting on the shows and I don't have a podcast where I yell about SJWs) it doesn't show a lot of confidence in the character standing on her own two feet. We HAVE to care on some level because she's related to someone we already know and love.
It feels half-assed. And I know Lower Decks isn't as extreme an example as DIS/PIC. But the show has these two black women, and the show makes them related. So now the stakes are higher for Mariner because the captain is her mom.
Can we... can we make it routine again to have female characters that are important, first and foremost, for being themselves, not for being related to someone else? Was Uhura someone's niece? Was Deanna Gary Mitchell's long lost granddaughter?
This is just happening too often to be a coincidence. It's like they keep reusing the same template when planning out a female protagonist. And while I'm glad none of these women are just here to get coffee or pose in a miniskirt, it's still disappointing.
Also, and I'm having trouble wording this, it's upsetting that we have these two capable awesome black women and they're related?? It feels like they're purposely shrinking the universe. Why not have two capable awesome black women that aren't mother/daughter?! Have 200 of them!
In all three current Star Trek series, the female protagonist is related to somebody significant/powerful. Either significant to the existing canon (Michael to Sarek/Spock/Amanda, Soji to Data), or to the command structure of the show (Mariner).
(Unfortunately I have to state that I am not bashing the shows or looking for a huge debate on the merits of nu!Trek. YES they are "Real Star Trek". NO I am not a Trump supporter, I do not follow Doomcock or these other "Get woke go broke" people, they suck. Please do not misunderstand where I'm coming from before I continue.)
Generally in the past, when shows have introduced the female characters as another character's relative, frequently, that was the only reason the woman was there in the action. She didn't get there by her own merit, and honestly, it always felt half-assed.
"Oh, this character is so & so's daughter, that's why we let her onto the spaceship to serve us coffee and look pretty."
"Oh, this character is so & so's sister, she can interact with him and then fall in love with the male protagonist."
There are COUNTLESS shows like this.
Star Trek in the past hasn't been that much of a "so and so's female relative" show. Yeah there have been cases of that, but for the most part, if you're on the goddamn ship, you're an important character in your own right. You don't need the "sister" crutch.
Like, was Uhura some admiral's daughter? Was Deanna Gary Mitchell's long lost twin whose embryo was frozen? Was Jadzia Zefram Cochrane's grandmother? Was B'Elanna John Colicos (I forget his character name)' niece? NO. They stood on their own.
An exception from The Orville does not escape me. Kelly started out significant because of being the captain's ex. That's unfortunate, but in my opinion not as bad as, for example, Soji. I, tragically, did not give one single shit about Soji except that she was Data's daughter and possibly the conduit for Picard and Data (TWO MEN) to be able to interact again. That's pretty damn sad.
To me, (and again I am NOT shitting on the shows and I don't have a podcast where I yell about SJWs) it doesn't show a lot of confidence in the character standing on her own two feet. We HAVE to care on some level because she's related to someone we already know and love.
It feels half-assed. And I know Lower Decks isn't as extreme an example as DIS/PIC. But the show has these two black women, and the show makes them related. So now the stakes are higher for Mariner because the captain is her mom.
Can we... can we make it routine again to have female characters that are important, first and foremost, for being themselves, not for being related to someone else? Was Uhura someone's niece? Was Deanna Gary Mitchell's long lost granddaughter?
This is just happening too often to be a coincidence. It's like they keep reusing the same template when planning out a female protagonist. And while I'm glad none of these women are just here to get coffee or pose in a miniskirt, it's still disappointing.
Also, and I'm having trouble wording this, it's upsetting that we have these two capable awesome black women and they're related?? It feels like they're purposely shrinking the universe. Why not have two capable awesome black women that aren't mother/daughter?! Have 200 of them!
