#smithsonianx

“Who is your favorite Star Trek character?” Feel free to discuss any character from the franchise. Why is this character your favorite? Is it someone you personally connect with? Is it someone who played a particularly powerful role in the franchise? How is this character grounded in the social or political time of his or her creation?" 

My all-time favorite character is Dr. Phlox. He's a Denobulan served as the Chief medical officer on the Enterprise NX-01. I like him because he's of a nutreul voice of reason that many confide in. Due to his scientific approach he never seems to be surprised by the many various emotions many of his patients are feeling and has a way of explaining personal mattters from both an informative and education perspective. These explanations are helpful the the inquiring staff and audience too. I personally relate to this character because human connection, function, social constructs are a passion of mine. I also have many people that confide in me due to my 'neutral' approach and I have learned very much by that method. I enjoy seeing the show explore human nature and connection.

Dr. Phlox is aired on the Enterprise series which is often over looked. Although the character writing did not start off strong, it developed into a show that doesn't get enough credit. His character is not associated with what might traditionally be considered powerful but I appreciate the the crew acknowledges the importance of his role on the ship, both personally and professionally.

When I was first introduced to Star Trek it was not something I went out of my way to do. My boyfriend at the time was watching and for the most part I just didn’t care, Star Trek was nerdy right?!

But slowly I began to watch. Little bits here and there to begin but over time I became hooked. I don’t know how long it took but I feel in love with the characters, got invested in their stories and wanting to know more about this brave new world that was being told to me.

Star Trek is always something I go back to, something I could probably rewatch forever and maybe even learn from. So that is what I am going to do, learn from it.

So here I am sitting in my bedroom as we fight a global pandemic hoping to have some fun while learning.

Hello fellow students!

Long time trekkie here. I decided to use a star trek blog that I created a while ago for this course, because why not!

My name is Caitin Sheek and I work in the film industry. Star Trek was the main influence for my career choice. I’ve always admired how progressive it was for its time. That inspired me to create art in the same manner.

In your opinion, what are the benefits of adhering to canon? What creative potential exists in jumping off from it? Where has Star Trek (or other similar franchises) done it well or poorly?

The benefits are continuity, which is fair. However, that can set dangerous precedent. One of the canon things that I have found the most disturbing is from Voyager. People were outraged that Tuvock was Black and insisted that there are no Black Vulcans, which seems so far away from the entire spirit of what Roddenberry wanted to create.

Entry 3 - Stardate 15 May 2019

Canon and sci-fi franchises.

What are the benefits of adhering to canon? What creative potential exists in jumping off from it? Where has Star Trek (or other similar franchises) done it well or poorly?

One of the major benefits of adhering to canon is that it builds a mythology around your franchise.  As ideas and conceits central to a series are reinforced over the years, the mythology provides a narrative framework that helps ensure that the central ideas and spirit of your franchise are maintained, even as characters, actors and the creative staff guiding the franchise change.

But canon can also be limiting.. By slavishly adhering to ideas that were relevant when the franchise was first created, and not being willing to evolve the central ideas and conceits, a franchise can become mired in the past, catering only to its existing fan base, losing it’s relevance to modern audiences and limiting it’s ability to attract new fans.

In my opinion, canon can become especially limiting when show runners start to place to much faith in the wants and needs of fandom. Many fans are very vocal in their dislike of any changes or evolution of their favourite shows... I have to admit that I used to be like this. I was obsessive about my favourite show (Doctor Who), and got hung up on any inconsistencies that may have crept in over the years. But when the show went on it’s long hiatus in the Eighties, I absolutely loved the novels that continued the Doctor’s adventures, and they took many liberties with canon, while completely evolving the notion of what the show could be. When it returned to our screens in the 21st century, I WAS NOT one of those fans who vocally opposed NuWho and mourned for the good old days. In fact I continually had to defend the show, and remember telling a friend that if they brought it back how it was, it would have been a 1 season return before it was placed back on the scrapheap again! 

I think we are seeing a similar malaise affecting Star Wars fandom now, where fans are taking to social media bemoaning more diverse casting choices in the latest films, completely failing to realise that times have changed, and the films are simply reflecting what people expect to see in their entertainment today. 

I believe that Star Trek has very effectively used it’s canon, whilst also not being afraid to evolve the franchise. The central, utopian ideals espoused by Gene Roddenberry have continued to shine through in each Star Trek series, and for me this is a timeless ideal that is central to Star Trek. Despite this, the show has been willing to change it’s tone to better match the climate of the period it was being produced, and explore issues relevant to the time it was made, evolving with its audience and building it.

Others franchises that I believe have not been shackled by canon are classics of literature, such as the Sherlock Holmes stories, H.G. Wells “War of the World”, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” etc. These timeless classics have been constantly reinvented in various media formats, as books, audio plays, movies, games, television series and who knows what to come. These timeless stories often have messages that are relevant across the years, or can be subtly updated to reflect modern society. Take for instance the TV series Sherlock, which takes the Sherlock Holmes character and very successfully transports him to present day London. No explanation is given as to why, they even do an episode where they plonk him back in Victorian England! At the same time, a US Sherlock series “Elementary” is also airing, taking place in contemporary New York City, in which Watson is a woman, and not too long ago there was a series of movies with Robert Downey Jr playing Sherlock Holmes. All were great, and while the canon probably does not fit between each or with Arthur Conan-Doyle’s novels, I find them all enjoyable and surely that is the whole point?

Similarly Star Trek was willing to recast the classic series crew, and place them in an alternate timeline when the new Star Trek movie returned to our screens in 2009. I would argue that this also turned out well, introducing a new legion of fans to Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew.

I’M MOVING UP!

I’ve received a promotion to Lieutenant 

Entry 2 - Stardate 7 May 2019

Media Analysis - Star Trek Pilots

Question 2: Which pilot best addresses the contemporary societal issues from when it was produced while taking the most advantage of the television format on which it was shown? Rank the episodes you watch in numerical order where 1 is the episode that best answers the question prompt

“The Cage.” Star Trek: The Original Series

“The Man Trap.” Star Trek: The Original Series

“Broken Bow.” Star Trek: Enterprise

For my media analysis of the pilot episodes I chose three. The pilot for the Original series “The Cage” as I have never seen it, the 1st episode with the original series cast we have come to know and love “The Man Trap” and the first episode of Enterprise, “Broken Bow Parts I & II”. The reason I watched “The Man Trap” rather than “Where No Man Has Gone Before “ was that “The Man Trap” was the first episode to be televised while “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was the first episode of the original series with James T. Kirk to be produced, so this is what Netflix showed me after “The Cage”. My bad! Comparing the two pilots of the Original series, the differences are quite stark. Captain Pike is a more serious, less fun character than Captain Kirk, with none of the swagger that Shatner brought to the role. There are some similarities in the two episodes, with an attractive woman being controlled by an alien intelligence, but to my mind “The Cage” featured a stronger female protagonist. Vina was an intelligent woman, kept alive as an artefact in some perverted museum, who simply longed for some companionship. When it was revealed that her appearance was being made more attractive for Captain Pike, and she was in fact horribly disfigured after she crash landed on the planet and was rebuilt by the Talosians, who lacked the knowledge of what humans looked like and therefore did a botched job. For me this was heartbreaking, but it was a nice conclusion that the Talosians constructed an illusion of Captain Pike to act as her companion. In “The Man Trap”, Nancy Crater is shown to being an alien who can manipulate how others see her. She uses this power to seduce crewmembers to their death, draining them of salt that she needs to survive. Although Doctor Crater claims she also craves companionship, after killing him she is ultimately revealed as an alien monster, and is unceremoniously killed. One of the other major differences I noticed between “The Cage” and “The Man Trap” is that the crew of the Enterprise is much more diverse on James Kirk’s ship. One can speculate that after getting a series order, Gene Roddenberry moved ahead with his utopian vision of the future, where all nationalities are represented in Starfleet. I believe this is one of the major reasons for Star Trek’s continued appeal.

Moving from 1960’s Trek to the early 2000’s turn-of-the-Millennium Star Trek Enterprise was an eye opener. While Star Trek has always been quite progressive with it’s politics, featuring a diverse cast, with some strong female roles. I think that in many ways, while Enterprise continued to provide some great female characters like T’Pol, portaying them as highly intelligent and capable of taking on a senior management role on the Enterprise, in some ways it had gone backwards in it’s treatment of female characters. This was none more evident than the shower scene with T’Pol and Trip where they were rubbing soap on each other to clean of the alien goo. It felt a bit forced, a bit soft-porn and completely inappropriate as the camera lingered way too long on T’Pol’s naked mid-riff. I feel that this clumsy attempt to show Trip’s attraction to her, and the clumsy sexualisation of her was misguided and completely inappropriate. While the original series always featured an attractive woman (human or alien!) with eyes for Captain Kirk, and often needing to be rescued, the female leads were always treated well in my opinion. I think that the Next Generation, Voyager and Deep Space Nine went even further and really treated women with dignity and respect, so this scene in Enterprise really came as a shock to me and showed that perhaps, despite 35 years of progress, sometimes enlightened attitudes can slip backwards. This is something we need to be constantly vigilant about.

In terms of which episode addressed contemporary societal issues the best at time of transmission, I am going to choose “The Cage” which asked what it meant to be human, important during the 1960′s with the Cold War hanging over our heads and the horror of the Vietnam War in full swing.

In terms of taking best advantage of it’s television format, it has to be “The Man Trap” which offered a rollicking adventure yarn that appeals to all family members. There’s monsters, attractive people and a frenetic pace that has something for mum, dad and the kids. I feel that the other two episodes, while fun in their own way, did not capture the zeitgeist of the time like James T. Kirk and his crew did week-in, week-out.

MY NEW RANK. I’ve received a promotion to Ensign!

Entry 1: Stardate 23 April 2019

So what is this Starlog I hear you ask? Well one of the things I really enjoy doing is taking part in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) about subjects that interest me. And Science Fiction is one of my big passions, so I was very excited when EdX announced they were doing a Star Trek course in conjunction with the Smithsonian. I’m really looking forward to learning more about Star Trek and the impact it has had on pop-culture and the wider world.

While I’m more of a Doctor Who fan, I’ve always enjoyed Star Trek. Mostly, I remember watching the original series as a child, and dipping in and out of Next Generation as a young adult. Lately, I have been enjoying the J.J Abrams movies and Discovery.

So I’ve signed up to undertake this mission to boldly go where I’ve never been before, and look forward to gaining some perspective about what Star Trek and its utopian outlook has meant to the world, and engaging with fellow sci-fi fans!

As I go through the course, I’m going to be answering course questions, and sharing anything I think is interesting so be sure to check back often, as this post will be regularly updated. If you’re interested in taking the course yourself, so yourself a favour and head to EdX and sign up to join me.

Question 1: To what extent did the business model of network television enable Star Trek: The Original Series to appeal to such a wide range of audiences? In ways did that same model constrain it?

The network television model was designed to appeal to family audiences, o shows had to be written to suit a wide variety of ages. For Star Trek, this gave it a wide cross section of the population to entertain, and educate with it’s utopian ideals. While this presented the show with a large audience to target, it also presented challenges in that the show had to be accessible to all, and to a degree dumbed dow so that the entire audience could understand and enjoy the show. It is likely that this limited the exploration of some ideas, and in some cases may have stopped more subversive ideas being explored at all.

Watch List - The Original Series

“The Cage.” Star Trek: The Original Series “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Star Trek: The Original Series “Errand of Mercy.” Star Trek: The Original Series “The Man Trap.” Star Trek: The Original Series

Reading List