As I near the end of the final season of the original series, lot of questions come to mind about the hype around the same. Especially the number of times Star Trek was referenced in “Big Bang theory”, the detailing about Klingon language, the characterization of Spock in particular, lead me to believe, this series was something of a cult classic. In a manner of speak, it is surely a cult classic. But it does have its share of controversy.
I read somewhere about this series that it has imperialistic overtones and at times sound supportive of the same. Initially I thought people were reading too much into such a simple sci-fi series. But the more carefully you watch, the undertones come out clearly. Like the voyagers who roamed the oceans in search of newer lands and civilizations to trade/conquer, the space”ship” traverses the space in search for newer civilizations that requires “preservation” and probably “help” in survival. There is a prime directive of every star fleet that at no point they should interfere with internal affairs of any planet or civilization, which sounds ominously similar to how the companies, sponsored by European kingdoms, set shop on Asian and African continents. The way they go about setting newer posts, command centers, calling up the federation HQ for orders on went to fight and went to use diplomacy, their tactics in getting mining rights and how considerate they are about other near extinct life forms in their efforts to preserve the dying culture everything reeks of imperialism. There are certain episodes where they enter to protect a planet from upcoming asteroid strike or any catastrophe which mirrors the way they conquered Asia. There is a very specific episode on arms race, where despite the prime directive, which gets broken once, has to be broken again so that both the warring tribes of that planet have equal amount of arms!!! The characters even shed a tear that they’ve triggered an arms race unwillingly and if only they had not even entered that planet!! There are cases where the crew take an off-ship leave, where in they visit a earth like planet on the way to have a vacation time. Quite naturally it ends up in conflict scenario with the natives of that planet and results in fights. There are some episodes where the ship is warned not to enter prohibited space by the natives who claim they would defend their freedom. Like the famed American way, the star ship demands right to free navigation and eventually ends up meddling with the regime on the planet. If the federation of planets is USA then Klingons are direct casting for the Russians/Chinese, communists in general. The 3rd season, especially, reeks of political messages, relevant during cold war, where the Starfleet is projected as saints and Klingons as barbarians bent on fight. They show spy situations that would put James Bond to shame. And interestingly, every single cast member was white other than the communication lady, which apparently was a rebel thought for those times it seems. I read a controversy that on one of the episodes, Kirk happen to kiss the lady which the male actor denied on interviews while the lady actor proclaimed. Supposed to have been the first inter racial kissing scene on screen involving a black lady. Of all the controversies, this one happens to be the most intriguing and most serious as well, considering that even after 5 decades that country is still reeling from this color infatuation.
On the characterizations, I actually googled to check why William Shatner who plays Captain Kirk was never a James Bond. That guy has the flair, the style and the looks to give Sean Connery a run for his Bond money. Charismatic is a simpler way to describe him. I actually wanted to see the series for Spock. After having heard so many references about him on Big Bang theory, I actually thought he would’ve been the central character in these series. Much to my dismay, he is at best, a heroes friend or a character artist like in our tamil movies. It is captain Kirk who is the central character of the series, though Spock does come a quite close as second lead. Rest of the recurring characters like the doctor, engineering lead, communication lady etc have bits and pieces role on most of episodes. But the lion’s share is between Kirk and Spock. I am still amazed at the depth of story telling for each episode and how simple each episode’s content were from story perspective. For a time when CG would’ve been at its nascent stage, this sci-fi series, surely reaches out to layman in talking tech. More than the science, the imagination and creativity of this series, for the time it was conceived makes it a cult one and a definite watch for thriller genre fans. Off to Star Trek “The New generation” series next.
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