This is the common theme going about on Facebook and Twitter a lot these days. I am old like watching the originals on repeat old! I remember a time before Netflix and chill, Amazon Prime and se*y time and we had no internet no social media and trolls just lived under bridges and you never saw them.
I am 43 this week and I had a Star Trek annual as a child, it was the ongoing joke from my brother and sister that it would be my Christmas present. In the 80s Star Trek was seen as sad and geeky and for guys who have never even kissed a girl. Watch William Shatner in Free Enterprise.
I had no cares no worries and was very anti-social as a child and didn’t want to play out or see people all I wanted to do was watch TV and I did all the time. I used to love all the old Sci-fi shows such as Lost in Space, and Land of The Giants and did start with Star Trek: TOS and The Animated Series. It was all cheesy and very low-budget.
Going past warp 8 they shock the camera and the crew pretended to be feeling the G-force and stumbled about all over the place, but it did begin to teach me morals and the Star Trek way and finally Klingon honour.
Is Star Trek Suddenly Too Woke?
Nope, it was always inclusive and painted a bright way to the future where the human race gets on as one in peace. They broadcasted the second interracial kiss between Uhura and Kirk in the racist 1960s pushing the boundaries of tv.
Unlike a lot of Trekkies, I was very excited about The Next Generation. It was a simple case of cash and money; the original crew were demanding too much money, so they lead the way for the next generation.
The stories were awesome true old-fashioned TV neatly wrapped up into 45-minute episodes with a logical start middle and conclusion and if we were really lucky an epic two-parter with a cliff-hanger.
I tried to keep up and watch every episode of Star Trek that has ever been released and have seen some to death a million times on VHS or now firestick. Just as the original show paved the way for black rights, the next generation and deep space 9 paved the way for LGBT rights and all the latest functions.
Non-Binary appeared in The Next Generation long before it ever did in the real world with the Bynars a group of paired aliens who communicated in 1’ and 0s and then again with William Riker using his sex appeal on women in “The Outcast”. The outcast was played by a woman but was an androgynous species and as far as I know the first introduction to non-binary people on TV.
There wasn’t that much LGBTQIA+ representation in the media or on the small screen at the time. But if you fast forward to Deep Space 9 once again, they totally crossed the boundaries. Again, too many trolls and everyone now is not only entitled to their opinion, but the internet gives them a voice.
They are just people who just love sex and all that goes with it, and they feel a sense of attraction to anyone. I love the mirror universe Major Kira is the intendant, she rules with so much power and authority and is a total dominatrix and she loves sex with men as well as women.
“I love the cross-over episodes into the mirror universe, but many people express their distaste. It shows a world of perverts, Pansexuals, Bisexuals and Heteroflexible people”
I never realised until I recently watched World Pride during lockdown a true remembrance of the spirit of gay pride that bisexuals get so much phobia, from the straight community and the gay community and unless I am living under a rock it gets no coverage.
Lesbians also had good screen time coverage in Deep space 9 and like Dr Who demiromantics. Rose Tyler was in love with the Dr like Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant cos she loved his mind.
In Deep space 9, we were introduced to Trills, a symbiont where the host dies, and the Trill carries all their memories over into the next body. Dax was a favourite character of mine and a worthy wife to Worf; it was such a shame she was killed off due to filming conflicts.
She found love with an old flame when she originally was a man and she still had love as a woman and Deep Space 9 had a love episode with a lesbian kiss. Demiromanticism came back when Jadzia was killed and came back as Ezra, Worf had mixed feelings for her as it was a different host body, but she had all the memories and emotions of Jadzia.
A true Klingon warrior and demiromantic Worf in the end fell for her and they ended up dating again.
Fast forward to the current trek with Picard and Discovery and all people seem to do is call them woke, but they forget what has come before…
So is Star Trek suddenly too woke?…
Nope…
It was always this way since Kirk you need to open your eyes and realise racism, homophobia and not accepting people for who they are isn’t very Starfleet of you.
Written by: Tom Gallagher
