this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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In the very first episode of Star Trek: the original series, we see a white Captain reporting to his black Admiral boss, a black woman on the bridge just a couple years after Jim Crow was abolished, wearing a short skirt (a symbol of feminist liberation at the time), a Japanese helmsman on the bridge only 20 years after the internment camps, a Russian crewmate on the bridge during the Cold War [edit: actually did not appear until Season 2 but the point stands], and the foundation of the modern concept of queercoding.

In the very first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, we see male crossdressing crew members, a female officer on the bridge in charge of security, a literal ship's counselor stationed at all times on the bridge, a single mom raising her teenage son on her own while juggling a full career in medicine, a blind mechanic whose "disability" is shown to be a strength, and an angry, all-powerful godlike being who is revealed to be simply a petulant child masquerading as a deity.

In the very first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, we see a black man gain a powerful command position, respect the hell out of the customs of a religion he didn't understand, show respect and equal treatment to members of three other alien races he didn't understand, appoint a female guerilla fighter who defeated imperialist fascists to a position of authority within his administration and defer to her judgement in areas of her expertise, accept his friend's gender change, and tell his son he loves him.

Star Trek has always been woke. You just grew up to be a bad person.

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[–] usernamefactory@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Trek is known for allegory, but routinely abandons it for time travel stories. Star Trek IV and Deep Space Nine’s “Past Tense” and “Far Beyond the Stars” all examples that tackle societal issues very directly, and they’re all highly thought of.

To be clear, I think Picard features possibly the worst writing in modern Trek, so I’m not setting out to defend it on all fronts. But the idea that addressing societal issues head on isn’t a valid approach for Star Trek doesn’t add up for me.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Maybe it's a question of degree - I didn't watch all of DS9 and don't remember those two episodes, but I honestly can't think of other instances where characters walked around bemoaning the state of affairs beyond a comment or two. In the Harlan Ellison episode with Edith Keeler nobody commented on it being a shame that there were still millionaires while poor people were eating soup kitchens, for example. Same for the Gary Seven episode - there were brief matter of fact comments on young people being unhappy with things, but no lecturing on the military industrial complex profiting off the Vietnam War. Maybe what you're talking about evolved later.