AnotherGuy
Hero
Sounds like it was a show about humans.
Spoilers Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Thread starter jian
- Start date
Ryujin
Legend
I can tell that you've never worked in an airport.
Ryujin
Legend
Kira was also a great character, that remained true to herself for the entire run. And now I'm remembering Tybee Diskin's anecdote about when her mother thought that Nana Visitor was Tybee, while watching DS9
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️⚧️
Well, yeah. That's what Star Trek has always been. And the open-minded Federation represents, in part, the viewer as various problems of human existence are explored and we ask the questions, "how can we all get along?" and "How can we deal with this?" War and violence, political and religious extremism, greed, social rigidity and mobility, human rights and dignity. The Federation viewpoint is the one that has to be open and tolerant of everyone else around them without being encumbered by too much of any other extreme viewpoint in order to really explore these topics and think of methods for dealing with them.
A lot of (perhaps most) science fiction, Trek especially, is only nominally about the future. In actuality, it uses the future to tell allegories about the present, or human nature in general.
payn
Glory to Marik
I've posted this a few times, but since we got a DS9 specific thread ill discuss it again. The fact that previous Trek shows were the galaxy through the Federation's eyes and that DS9 was actually the Federation through the galaxy's eyes. This reexamination was very interesting to me. It finally made the Trek world feel less curated and more real. A lot of folks disliked the show because it broke Trek-isms like one ship and crew, and Rodenberry's utopia optimism, but I think it wasn't either of those things. The real culprit was exceptionalism, particularly for an American audience.
In the original series, you had a diverse cast under a BAMF captain. They went around solving problems by the seat of their pants. As long as they followed diligently captain BAMF as he always knew what to do. Essentially, a hammer punch and/or lip lock resolved anything the universe could throw at them. TNG was a bit more nuanced. We now had a diverse ship of the absolute best minds of the Federation. They tended to solve problems more with their mind, but still you had this exceptional crew taming a violent and unreasonably wild yet endless supply of caricature aliens filled galaxy.
Then, you have DS9. The Federation is sent into a backwater system to play neutral party to a formerly occupied species and their captors. Neither of which wants them there. The station systems are not reliable, the species not satiated or defeated easily overnight, but problems that adapt and change over the entire series run. A lot of this had to do with the rise of serial television over episodic, but at the same time Trek was breaking a mold and moving into telling more nuanced story telling. The moraly grey aspects often appeared to chafe the utopia Gene set up, but I think it goes well beyond that in expectation of an exceptional crew blowing through a straw galaxy. YMMV.
In the original series, you had a diverse cast under a BAMF captain. They went around solving problems by the seat of their pants. As long as they followed diligently captain BAMF as he always knew what to do. Essentially, a hammer punch and/or lip lock resolved anything the universe could throw at them. TNG was a bit more nuanced. We now had a diverse ship of the absolute best minds of the Federation. They tended to solve problems more with their mind, but still you had this exceptional crew taming a violent and unreasonably wild yet endless supply of caricature aliens filled galaxy.
Then, you have DS9. The Federation is sent into a backwater system to play neutral party to a formerly occupied species and their captors. Neither of which wants them there. The station systems are not reliable, the species not satiated or defeated easily overnight, but problems that adapt and change over the entire series run. A lot of this had to do with the rise of serial television over episodic, but at the same time Trek was breaking a mold and moving into telling more nuanced story telling. The moraly grey aspects often appeared to chafe the utopia Gene set up, but I think it goes well beyond that in expectation of an exceptional crew blowing through a straw galaxy. YMMV.
AnotherGuy
Hero
@Umbran and @billd91
My reply to @Smackpixi was stating the obvious about these curious races who are (his words) "all a-holes" and "annoying people", were but a representation of ourselves. i.e. he had an issue with people being people.
I'm a huge fan of DS9 - the characters, the relationships, the worldbuilding....
My reply to @Smackpixi was stating the obvious about these curious races who are (his words) "all a-holes" and "annoying people", were but a representation of ourselves. i.e. he had an issue with people being people.
I'm a huge fan of DS9 - the characters, the relationships, the worldbuilding....
Ryujin
Legend
The Federation was still the semi-utopia of Roddenberry's vision, for the most part, but we got to see both how they interfaced with other cultures and how they dealt with war.
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️⚧️
Yes, and our posts are pretty clearly expounding or amplifying what you're saying.
payn
Glory to Marik
Sure, but this felt a lot more earned. You have two species here always dubious of the Federation and now realizing they are actually a generally good force, and at this point, their only hope.
