In the fourteenth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i>, this was uncomfortable. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For talk of misogyny, gender essentialism\/cissexism, and homophobia.<\/b><\/p>\n
Oh lord.<\/p>\n
I can see the point that the writers\u00c2\u00a0attempted<\/i> to make with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and I can understand that the intent here was to shed a light on misogyny by\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, see, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely where this falls apart. Once you try to explain\u00c2\u00a0how<\/i> Patrick Barry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script attempts to talk about sexism, you suddenly realize that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re spouting some pretty sexist nonsense.<\/p>\n
So here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the thing: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to do my best to talk about this episode, but I recognize I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a dude and I really\u00c2\u00a0shouldn<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> be explaining what sexism is to anyone else, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to be considerate about this. I have learned (the hard way, honestly) that I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exempt myself from misogyny just because I\u00c2\u00a0think<\/i> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m good at this shit. At the same time, I recognize that what this episode does is common of science fiction\/fantasy, and I\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> comment on why it ultimately fails.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfortunate that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a hint of potential in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d particularly in the complicated navigation of the Prime Directive.\u00c2\u00a0That<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0interested me. This was more than just an issue of not interfering in an existing culture; how does the crew deal with a rescue mission when the people being rescued are now part of their\u00c2\u00a0own<\/i> culture? So, at the heart of that conflict, there are issues of consent and politics. However, the whole thing is crammed inside an absolutely ludicrous reversal of fortunes, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s painfully distracting.<\/p>\n
If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not a video person, then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll explain further. (Apologies for repeating myself.) This specific trope \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is called the Persecution Flip over on TVTropes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is one of my least favorite things in the universe. And despite that I said at the end of the video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d try to think of an example of this trope done well, I COULDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DO IT. Every example of this I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen on television or in books has\u00c2\u00a0always<\/i> ended in an awkward disaster.<\/p>\n
Why is that? What is it about reversing the oppressor\/oppressed class that rings so hollow? Why does it always feel crass? Often, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about context. To use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as an example, this episode attempts to show us how a matriarchal society damages and harms men by devaluing their input and treating them like they are less than a whole person. This is clearly done as a sort of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wink-wink, nudge-nudge\u00e2\u20ac\u009d tactic to communicate how this same behavior, when committed by men, is terrible and demeaning and oppressive. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s extremely heavy-handed, first of all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious and wielded brutally, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very little room for nuance.<\/p>\n
Of course,\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i> likes to imagine that this future universe is free from such oppressive elements, and yet, the man (Riker) is the star of the show. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only one desired by any of the women here; he gets the most screen time; and in a grand display of mansplaining, he saves the day by merely telling the women leaders about evolution and how wrong they are, and IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO BORING. What is this episode trying to say about women? Or men, for that matter? Was this show trying to suggest that if women just nicely explain evolution to them that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll stop oppressing women??? Is it supposed to be an exploration of power? Then why split along gender lines? How come we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re billions of trillions and GAJILLIONS of miles from Earth, and yet nearly every culture still respects the gender binary, going so far as to have their version of gender essentialist nonsense?<\/p>\n
I wish the virus plotline were more interesting, too. For a moment, this show had A BLACK CAPTAIN OF A STARSHIP, and his number one was WORF, A KLINGON. Like???? DO YOU REALIZE HOW FUCKING COOL THAT WAS? Lo and behold, the moment is swept aside so that there can be tension down on Angel One, inspiring Riker to make his impassioned plea to the council. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an utter waste; I loved seeing Geordie in command, and that scene where Worf gave him advice made me wish those two got a whole show devoted just to their friendship. Seeing Dr. Crusher try to solve the mystery of the infection was rewarding, especially since she\u00c2\u00a0was<\/i> allowed to be in control.<\/p>\n
But oh my god,\u00c2\u00a0nooooo<\/i>. No! What are you DOING,\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>? Like, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing the outfits for the men were supposed to be references to the skimpy outfits that men put women in, but here, they felt way more like they were making fun of queer\/gay folks who dress that way. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something I thought of while I was watching the episode, but in hindsight, it feels a lot more obvious to me. The joke isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that Riker is dressing as the local does; the joke is that\u00c2\u00a0he<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dressing as a straight man on Earth\u00c2\u00a0wouldn<\/b><\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i><\/b>. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel all that funny to me anymore.<\/p>\n
I think that this episode can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t escape the trappings of the trope it utilizes, basically. Instead of addressing sexism and centering that experience on\u00c2\u00a0actual people who are harmed by it<\/i>, we instead get a story that centers entirely around Riker. Hell, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even about Trent, who, in this world\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i> oppressed! They just leave him to his fate in the hands of the council, all in the hope that progress and evolution will eventually give him the life that he wants. What an utterly lazy and horrifying decision, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I get that the Prime Directive limits the crew\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s available options, but throwing it all to\u00c2\u00a0hope<\/i>?<\/p>\n
Lord.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Angel One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a> In the fourteenth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation, this was uncomfortable. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[614,632],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-4551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-star-trek","category-the-next-generation","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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