Everything I Needed To Learn In Life, I Learned From “Star Trek”
by Katy on March 21, 2022 · 16 comments
Prompted by Star Trek leaving Netflix at the end of the month, please enjoy this reprint of a previously published blog. By the way, I am not okay with this news!
I am a geek.
I am in fact a super geek. Not only do I think that everything related to frugality is fascinating. (Have I told you about my homemade laundry detergent? Really, I already did? Can I tell you again?) I have about zero interest in being cool. Clothing, makeup and even popular music hold little interest for me. (This has been frustrating to my friends, who think I could be so pretty if I “just wore a little bit of makeup.”)
My lack of the cool gene is actually quite freeing.
Because I’m free to pursue interests others wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. For example:
Star Trek.
I have rediscovered the different Star Trek series’ through the library, (The Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise) and have felt great watching these shows with my sons. I came to realize that the ethics I’m trying to impart to my kids are perfectly mirrored within the various series.
Higher Education: All the officers worked hard to go to Star Fleet Academy. It was hard work, but worth all the studying.
Conflict Resolution: The crews of the various ships are constantly trying to find diplomatic resolution to conflicts.
Non-Consumerism: Future Earth has done away with money. The one species obsessed with profit, (the Ferengi) are seen as greedy and unattractive.
Tolerance: The main mission of the Federation is to, “Seek out new life and new civilization.” Accepting and embracing each another’s differences is the whole point of the show.
Intellectual Curiosity: The characters are always striving to learn new things.
Environmental Responsibility: The various starship crews are always very aware of environmental concerns. Whether that’s prevention, or helping a planet to reverse damage.
So go ahead and call me a geek, you can even go so far as to call me a Trekkie. Just don’t call me a money grubbing Ferengi. That would simply be going too far.
Live long and prosper.
Please confess your geeked-out Star Trek stories in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
And there was total gender equality.
Not quite “total gender equality.” For example, Seven of Nine’s overly sexualized uniform.
And Deanna Troi’s cheerleading outfit and then later the pink unitards. And in the earlier series (not in Discovery), some pretty heterosexist views of marriage and relationships that are a bit hard to swallow, as well as some dodgy episodes set on pleasure planets. A lot of those aliens seem inevitably attracted to Will Riker.
Also:
The rooms were minimalist – even though they could fill their spaces with all the junk in the world, given they could replicate whatever they wanted, mostly they did not.
They were released from a focus on money, so they spent their time pursuing cultural and intellectual interests, as you note above. Picard was interested in archeology, Data in painting and music, Crusher in dancing, Riker in music (and luurve).
We’ve always said “Riker, with a spacebabe in every port.” Not really in a good way.
Yes: We speak quite rudely about Riker as well. On the other hand, I greatly admire Captain Picard.
I attempted to watch some of the original series a couple years ago, and I couldn’t do it. The gender rules, the objectified women, (who were probably called “girls”), the drooling lust. were just more than I could handle. It gave me new appreciation of how Lieutenant Uhuru held her own.
One of the themes of Next Generation and Deep Space was also that characters could change, set goals and work toward making themselves better, maybe even go farther than the species they were born into was expected to do. I liked that.
I was soooooo disappointed when the Seven 0f Nine character was introduced. The idea was creative and interesting, but her character took over the series and it was clearly for the purpose of showcasing huge breasts.
The new Treks have nailed it though!
Forensic, or something similar, is used in several languages for stranger/ foreigner( see?)
My lack of the cool gene is actually quite freeing. I too am blessed with this. It’s wonderful.
I also fail at cool and would rather be comfortable while hanging out with the smart, interesting people. 😀 And the older I get, the more I abide by what Henry David Thoreau said about avoiding occasions that require new clothes.
What I always loved about the various StarTreks was that war and violence were not the answer. If only it were so on earth now.
Dyed in the wool Trekkie here and for all of the ethics reasons you name.
Have you read the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers?
4 books with the same tone as the Star Treks and an even more comforting feeling describing the interaction among the species (who, for example, helped the earthlings after they destroyed their own planet in the ways that it’s happening as we speak). Cracking good stories, too.
I am a Star Trek purist – original series (and movies starring those from the original series) only. Yes, a bit sexist given the era, not as disgusting as it could have been. Agree that Uhura held her own. BUT original Star Trek took on issues of the times, can’t say that about other series of the 60s. However, I have to admit Roddenberry’s wife likely dressed as she saw fit (including blonde wig). Wigs and hair dye will keep blondes around forever lol.
Now I need to look for laundry detergent recipes!
So… if you have a ROKU – get the FREE Pluto TV app. There is a channel that streams Star Trek Next Gen, all the time. It has been a lifesaver when we argue about what to watch (ages 5-47!)
Thanks for the tip!
We’ve found it completely worthwhile to stream Paramount+ long enough to watch Star Trek: Discovery and Picard. Discovery is the first series that doesn’t treat straight, cis white men as entitled to representation and treats female commanders as matter of fact (all the love for Janeway, but the producers were a little too proud of executing the obvious).