{"id":5979,"date":"2016-11-24T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-11-24T21:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2016-11-02T18:09:17","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T01:09:17","slug":"mark-watches-deep-space-nine-s06e09-statistical-probabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/11\/mark-watches-deep-space-nine-s06e09-statistical-probabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Deep Space Nine’: S06E09 – Statistical Probabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth episode of the sixth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, Bashir becomes involved in a complicated journey with four other individuals who were genetically enhanced. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of ableism, particularly the depiction of various mental illnesses and autism.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

This is a tough one, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rare that, when doing critical analysis as I do, I find cases where creators doing things intentionally. As is often the case, preconceived notions about people or places or phenomena creeps into the work that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m consuming, and I hope I can shine a light on how this happens. And it happens to everyone, myself included! There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly stuff I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read in reviews of mine from the start of Mark Does Stuff that embarrasses me now, especially since I was so certain I got things right.<\/p>\n

Nothing in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Statistical Probabilities\u00e2\u20ac\u009d feels willfully malicious. The writers tried their best, and I wonder if, at the time, many people saw it as an admirable attempt to talk about mental illness in the context of genetic modification. At times, there\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a sympathy in the text that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect, but at other times, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough to counter the Othering I felt from the narrative. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the challenge I face when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reviewing things that are decades old. How can you hold something to a standard that, more or less, did not exist to the same extent that it does now? How can you criticize ignorance when everyone is ignorant about practically everything at one point or another?<\/p>\n

So my goal here isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to say HOW DARE YOU, YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, but to analyze this show through a modern lens as an educational tool. If my work affects how people perceive the world going further, then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pleased. In the case of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Statistical Probabilities,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I was unnerved by how little the show builds up each of these four \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enhanced\u00e2\u20ac\u009d characters beyond the obvious. Julian tells his friends that many people whose parents submitted them to genetic enhancement did not fair as well as his own. The DNA resequencing created mutations that manifested in mental and physical disabilities. The problem I saw, though, was that these disabilities are never defined. What\u00c2\u00a0exactly<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0was wrong with these people? Instead, the show presents us with four \u00e2\u20ac\u0153broken\u00e2\u20ac\u009d people, and then communicates this Otherness by trotting out a ton of very common visual stereotypes for people who aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t neurotypical.<\/p>\n

I know that\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is a visual medium, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not expecting lengthy biographies on these characters, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s virtually nothing here to give these people anything beyond their attributes and behaviors, many of which are portrayed as deliberately silly or off-putting. What does that do? What does it accomplish? Well, for one, it makes it very difficult to see these people as something other than a caricature. Take Lauren for an example. Is she supposed to have histrionic personality disorder? If so, why isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that ever acknowledged? What about Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paranoia and anxiety? Is it based on a real condition or did the writers just shove a bunch of things into one person? Patrick seems to have a lowered emotional development\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I think? And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sirena, who was the most glaring stereotype of someone who is autistic that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen in a LONG time.<\/p>\n

Now, the show\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0show us how, for many years, all of these people were utterly ignored by society, that they were institutionalized and treated as if it was\u00c2\u00a0unfair<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0for them to contribute. Once Julian began to engage with them in a way that was respectful and showed that he was interested in their perspective, look what happened! They\u00c2\u00a0flourished.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>They found the world exciting and thrilling! And most importantly, they had a unique way of contributing to society, one that no one would have ever discovered\u00c2\u00a0without<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Julian. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good thing! In this specific context, the episode soars, showing us that prejudicial treatment of people like this is bad for everyone, but\u00c2\u00a0especially<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0for those who are ignored and invisible to the world.<\/p>\n

On top of all of this, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an ethical dilemma that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s equally as compelling. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sort of hard to wrap my head around the idea that these people could \u00e2\u20ac\u0153calculate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the future, but the underlying horror was still there. What if you\u00c2\u00a0could<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0do a cost-benefit analysis of the future? And what if that analysis could save hundred of billions of lives? Would it mean that a person would be ethically compelled to guarantee that future? That sounds like a ridiculous idea, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even more upsetting once we got the details. The group calculated that more lives would be saved if the Federation\u00c2\u00a0surrendered<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to the Dominion. On the surface, as horrible as this was, I could see exactly why they thought this was the best option.<\/p>\n

But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something the group missed. Maybe live would be save, but what would the\u00c2\u00a0quality<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0of that life be? Could you ever calculate that? Because yes, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say they saved 898 billion lives. Those lives would exist in a world of Dominion occupation and oppression, and I would be willing to bet that many of those lives would be downright miserable. Is\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the world they should live in? Is\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a moral act?<\/p>\n

I respect that Julian abandoned his grim cynicism. For a moment, this seemed like a truly difficult decision for him to make, but I also didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think he would ultimately choose to betray the Federation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans to the Dominion. That would have been an unforgivable offense, and I think he knew that. I enjoyed this episode and how difficult it was, too, though I do wish more care had been given to executing these characters. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the worst thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen, you know? But it could have been better.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Statistical Probabilities\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b>
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"