I also miss professionals exploring space, solving problems with science and diplomacy, engaged in intriguing stories that explored the complex moral and ethical issues of the day instead of just blowing shit up all the time and with some superficial lip-service pandering to certain social issues just to appease fans but without much more lasting presence than mere tokenism and self back-patting for the effort.
TOS: In the future, Americans and Russians will work side by side
TNG: where do we draw the line between respecting foreign cultures and respecting trans people? (BTW this is still relevant. Ask a Hispanic conservative their opinion on “latine”)
DS9: Gee it sure was fucked that we couldn’t have black people as Starfleet captains until now. Let’s show you exactly what the 50s were like for black people
VOY: Hey what if we hired a fraud as a native American consultant and made the captain a massive racist for drama?
ENT: It’s a prequel, so we have to make Starfleet less progressive somehow. I know, make the black and the Asian the lowest ranking officers on the ship and give them the worst writing
DIS: idk I didn’t watch it but apparently they think nonbinary people are new to Star Trek
PIC: Let’s make the worst and most right wing part of the Borg a central plot point I guess
SNW: Star Trek is finally getting a blind actor! And we’re gonna kill him off after one season!
LDS: Hey what if we tried being progressive again and made a black lesbian a well written main character without either of those things being plot relevant because it’s the future and these things aren’t marginalised anymore?
PRO: I like where your head’s at Lower Decks, but let’s also ask thorny questions about the value of cultural isolationism without giving a simple right answer
DSC: you want trans people to be seen in Trek? How about we make the only trans character a fucking ghost so they’re only visible to the only enby person in the galaxy, further isolating them both! How’s that for ‘being seen’? And, of course, because they’re both LGBTQ characters, they have to be in a tortured relationship. Sigh…
The queer characters in that show were written as queer first and people second, resulting in them just coming off as token caricatures rather than solid characters that feel like real people.
