To Boldly Not Go

Discussion

Jul 28

I suspect most of you are familiar with the metaphor, to walk a fine line; however, one of my responsibilities is to educate whenever the opportunity arises. This metaphor speaks of achieving or maintaining a balance or to be very close to two different ideas or attitudes at the same time (Britannica Dictionary). This post will attempt to do precisely what I just defined. Although I had the subject matter already decided at the beginning of the month, the decision to move forward with it was, perhaps, more difficult than any of my prior posts since beginning this blog in 2017.

Let me begin with what has become unnecessarily necessary in our society. It is a practice I believe we should not have to adhere to ad nauseum, although I find myself doing it incessantly in my everyday work with State government and anytime, I may trigger the masses on social media. I call it the almighty caveat or disclaimer syndrome, where you feel the necessity to apply 15 to 20 caveats before you even begin speaking about any subject matter. The obvious downside to said practice is putting people to sleep before you have a chance to begin a conversation! See what I just did here?

Those in my private life have been privy to an expression I coined a little over a year ago to describe our current era. If given the opportunity to be a historian for a day, I would write in every historical text, we live in the age of unintellectualism where nuance has gone to die. You could also say, we speak conveniently of nuance when it suits our purpose and when it doesn’t, it is a burden to us. Come to think of it, we can justifiably apply the aforementioned sentiment to just about anything in our lives. The key is to practice self-awareness, so we do not allow it to take hold in the first place.

Agree to disagree if you chose but if you look at the fact, I have just spent almost a full page describing the caveat syndrome, it should go without saying, I proved my point. Look no further than the title of this month’s post and it should be fairly evident why my introductory paragraph has morphed into the introductory page. I will be applying a critical eye to one of my most favored universes in the genre of science fiction, aside from Star Wars. Yes, at times, even Star Trek needs a set of critical eyes to keep it on the right track.

As with any popular and historically significant piece of content, Star Trek has its own unique tribe of fanboys, a term which can be applied to all genders, who see any and all criticism of their beloved franchise as an afront, where the offender must repent or suffer the wrath of keyboard warriors who swaddle themselves in such a perceived sense of superiority and self-righteousness, it would make a Vulcan blush. Yet, my approach to July 2024’s blog post will be two-fold and may have the masses fuming rather than blushing.

If you have followed my blog for any length of time or are new, choosing to comb through the Archive section and clicking on title’s tickling your fancy, it will become abundantly clear I have no qualms about detailing the content creation industry’s abysmal treatment of characters, especially if they belong to the LGBTQ2S+ community. I have highlighted everything from your standardized tropes to barely enough screen time to qualify as a contributing character, and Star Trek is not exempt from this criticism.

In the references section of this post, I will allow the two articles speaking to Star Trek’s queer history do the heavy lifting in detailing its wonderful record and attempts to incorporate diversity of thought into its cultural makeup. When I do provide references, I make a fairly broad-based assumption, you, the reader/listener will perform your due diligence and educate yourself on the specifics I am speaking to in a particular post. I believe in working smarter, not harder. If someone has already done their own due diligence in creating a piece of content I will be writing about, only in a different light, I will be using them as a reference. No need to reinvent something if the good work has already been done.

Yes, you read/heard me correctly. Star Trek, overall, has down remarkably well with incorporating cultural norms and social issues at the time each piece of content has run its course. In its latest piece of extraordinary content, Star Trek: Discovery, which I am currently binge watching, the proverbial stopper has been removed from your ornamental queer decanter of choice allowing for a rainbow of characters to emerge in abundance. The most laughable critique against Discovery comes in the form of it being too woke. Lobbing such a criticism at a franchise whose original creator, Gene Roddenberry, coined the phrase when describing his universe as infinite diversity in infinite combinations, clearly demonstrates just how pedestrian the fanboy mentality can be.

In spite of Star Trek’s abundantly clear record of incorporating queer characters, I have found myself lately questioning what I view as one glaringly obvious omission; why no LGBTQ2S+ starship Captain? Now, before you run off to start citing all the queer characters in the franchise and think you have created a gotcha moment, let me clarify so the mind does not proceed from a false assumption. Funny thing, are there really any true assumptions?

If you have not seen any of the seasons associated with Star Trek: Picard and do not mind a small spoiler, please continue to read or skip to the next paragraph. The character, Seven Of Nine, who was first introduced on Star Trek: Voyager in the 1990’s and played by the talented Jeri Ryan, could be poised to be the next captain of the starship Enterprise based on how the Picard series ends. Plus, in the final episode for Picard season one, Seven Of Nine is shown sharing an affectionate moment with another main character, Raffi Musiker, played by another equally talented actor, Michelle Hurd.

You are probably wondering, if a new series featuring Seven Of Nine as the next Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes to fruition, my reason for writing this post is moot. In this context, I would wholeheartedly agree but I am specifically referring to a gay male Starfleet Captain in a mainstream series who is also the main protagonist. In all the main television series’ dating back to the original series, all Captains typically have been white, heterosexual males with the exception of Captain Benjamin Sisko in Deep Space Nine, Captain Kathryn Janeway in Voyager, and Captain Michael Burnham in Discovery. Naturally, the common denominator in all the series’ is the heterosexual component, which leads to my second observation.

If you have not already caught on, please keep in mind most of my posts, which touch on this type of content are purely thought exercises. They are a conglomeration of observations, novice detective work, and supplemental hypothetical statements, which I secure with duct tape and a prayer. Even though I may only provide a small number of references for your own research and reading enjoyment, rest assured I have read twice the amount before sitting down in front of a monitor and whisking often wandering fingers off the home row of my keyboard to state my opinion.

Some of what I am about to convey is more personal and reminded me just how effective it is to simply be in the moment. As with most writers, especially this one, allowing words to come out organically, absent of any previously rehearsed mental meanderings, allows for honesty and vulnerability to deliver a lasting impression. Also, putting your incessantly buzzing cell phone in focus mode to silence the never-ending political texts asking for more of your hard-earned cash, helps out as well.

Much of my own perceived identity was initially formed around those figures I watched in television and motion pictures. This was during a time when no internet existed, phones were attached to walls, your search engine was a series of books referred to as encyclopedias, and music was listened to on what was called a record player, which are oddly on a comeback. Also, televisions were their own, individual pieces of furniture. Oh, did my parents ever so love their RCA (Radio Corporation of America) TV.

As referenced in one of my prior posts, I grew up watching notable figures such as John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and was named after Gregory Peck, whose first name was actually Eldred. In their roles, even though I knew they were merely personas, I gleaned from them what being a strong and masculine man was supposed to look like. Little did I realize it was a concocted narrative, written, produced and directed by those in positions of influence, which were typically white, heterosexual males.

Even though I knew I was gay at the age of eight, I now refer to myself as queer, the concept of representation in any medium of content creation did not come to the forefront of my mind until I started asking, “Where are all the gay people.” At the time I was attempting to figure out where I fit into society, the term “gay” in my vernacular encompassed everyone in the LGBTQ2S+ community. It is only when you become older do you realize life has an overabundance of harshness to spread around and has no problem in letting you know, you are not in charge. Life also has an abundance of wonderment and where you see yourself in it, takes time to navigate. Dare I say it is a continual journey with no definitive end.

It is through the accumulation of knowledge and what I have witnessed in over a half-century of living where I toss out my hypothesis, if you can even call it such. In the varied instances of conducting research for numerous writings, I have read and witnessed, content creators of past and present, indicate audiences find it more palatable if same sex attraction is presented as a female presence, especially if they are the lead character. This palatable concept continues to perpetuate the maternal stereotype where females are too soft and gentile, i.e., not threatening enough, so they cannot possibly be strong enough to swoop in and save the day. In my opinion, out of all the Star Trek captains, Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager, exemplified the proper balance of both strength and pragmatism.

My point? I do not believe it is the audience who adheres to this concept. It is the insecurities and I understand more than you, self-appointed arbiters of perceived morality who are in positions of creative decision-making. If anything, audiences are craving more realistic approaches to creating content reflective of the world we currently live in. This content should also be available via typical streaming outlets where it can reach all audiences, not always specifically regulated to what I call, specialty apps, such as Here TV, Dekkoo or SVTV. Innovative content featuring a variety of representation from such venues as the Cannes Film Festivals is often more elusive to track down, thus making it less likely to reach audiences who primarily use Netflix, Hulu, or Max as their primary streaming services.

As long as we continue to allow ourselves to be distracted by frivolous and nonsensical outrage, the decisions of who should represent and reflect infinite diversity in infinite combinations will be left up to those whose biases are trapped in the draconian and bizarro world of yesteryear.

I have always felt this type of content should not be forced and happen organically. Stories involving queer male protagonists in the leading role should not be a box to check off on a content creators Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) list. It should come through the natural course of creating any story, where love is its strength, not the gender of its characters.

In closing, your moment of Zen is to talk less, do more and be humble. This will allow wisdom to take hold and give you the ability to help yourself, while being effective in helping guide others to take their journey towards living in the moment.

Until next time, be safe, be well and let us continue to hone the fine art of creative writing.

References

Cannes Film Festival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannes_Film_Festival

Masculinity in Films (2018)

https://wiki.ubc.ca/Masculinity_in_Films

Men and Masculinity in Film (2023)

https://www.thebubble.org.uk/culture/film/film-and-masculinity/

9 LGBTQ+ People Explain How They Love, Hate, and Understand the Word “Queer”

https://www.them.us/story/what-does-queer-mean

Star Trek: A Queer History of the Franchise

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-queer-history-timeline-lgbtq/