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I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

There’s now been nearly a full season of fan complaints that the 24th century is just too damn peaceful, and the Ferengi were a miserable failure at building a worthy adversary. So, before wrapping the season, the writers decided to mine a tangential race from the original series, the Romulans, and tease us with their ominous return as the next major enemy of the Federation.

There is a portion of the grand experiment of Next Generation that ends here. It was Roddenberry’s vision that this would be a more peaceful place to be than the universe of its predecessor in a number of ways. The Federation’s alliance with the Klingon Empire and the presence of Worf on the flagship was a part of that. This theme was part of what grabbed my attention from the beginning. But here, peace is finally decided to be narratively detrimental. Having a military target is considered necessary to the health of the show. This was the opinion of the majority of the fans, and the writers adopt it here, with this narrative decision. I didn’t agree then, and I don’t agree now. The best episodes of this season did not require a major enemy. The most beloved future episodes that I remember (“The Inner Light”, “The Measure of a Man”) had no requirement for military targets. That’s not to say that the show is made unwatchable by this event. At the time, the foreboding of this episode certainly gave me excited chills. But I was also sad. Even then I realized, something of a grand dream died. This assumption is still made today among writers… that peace, or basic psychological health, or all manner of desired characteristics are narratively “boring”. There’s a pervasive and anemic definition of useful dramatic conflict that profoundly diminishes the stories we could tell. To me, this speaks to our own stunted imagination rather than to the dramatic reality of pursuing health and right relationship.

For what this episode is – a somewhat desperate attempt to hang on to viewers over season break – it’s crafty and compelling. The story about the Romulans is actually secondary, as far as time spent telling it, and the primary tale is a touching one of three Earthlings adjusting to being thrown hundreds of years into the future.² Picard’s interactions with one of them – a man obsessed with gaining wealth through the stock market – further elaborates on the values of the future: they have eliminated hunger, and no longer focus on the accumulation of wealth. When the man is told that material needs no longer exist, his disappointed reply is “Then what’s the challenge?”³

It’s just sad that so many seem to feel the same way about peacefulness.

1) From http://www.dailydrew.com/2010/11/neutral-zone.html
2) Tangential to the post here, but worth noting that the writers resort here to the sexism-is-funny trope: Dr. Crusher has to endure an affectionate pat on the butt from one of the adjusting passengers. He gets a free pass because hey, he just doesn’t know better, right? (Which feels very similar to “boys will be boys” to me.) Grrr.
3) Yes, the social commentary is a bit heavy-handed. But questioning something my family considered unquestionable – the importance of the accumulation of wealth – made me feel at home in this universe.

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

At this point in time, actors Michael Dorn (Worf) and Denise Crosby (Tasha) had been especially unhappy with their lack of characterization. It’s possible that the Worf-centered episode just a couple of weeks back helped assuage Dorn’s frustrations. But Crosby ended up jumping ship¹, and this episode includes her character’s death. It’s a senseless death, at the hands of a cruel entity that only wishes to enjoy others’ suffering.

My memory of this episode was overwhelmingly of Tasha’s death. I thought the character had amazing potential, and I related to her traumatic past and her desire to escape it. I knew I wouldn’t be nearly as sad this time around (as I’ve not been impressed with the actress’s depth or scope in the role). But I was taken aback by the intensity of the sadism portrayed in the rest of the episode. The entity is portrayed, at least at first, as pure disembodied evil; ey’s² actually described as portions of several other creatures, those portions sloughed off and unwanted. The entity first kills to alleviate eir boredom… until that is no longer enough of a diversion, so ey begins attempts to torture the crew. Much of ey’s activity centers on trying to make crew members’ feel responsible for one another’s suffering, but the crewmembers do not succumb to the manipulation.

Picard explicitly states that preserving life is important to them, and that they believe everything in the universe has a right to exist. He tells the entity Armus that ey is, in fact, not evil, just consumed by eir own pain, and feeding on eir own lies. He describes as evil the possibility of them submitting to the entity, giving up their dignity and freedom instead of defying Armus. Now, I’m capable of writing at great length about this exchange, and about the nature of evil. But I don’t want to go quite that far. At 13, the topic of the nature of evil went over my head. I do, however, think that this theological point will undergird the approach of the writers as a whole, so I want to at least name these elements:

1) Picard does not other the entity entirely. He does not believe that Armus is merely made of the substance of evil. The root of evil, in his worldview, is not foreign to or outside of human nature. Those that do evil are not subhuman or animals. The cruelty is rooted in very human emotions and feelings. Armus emself is not categorically lacking the capacity for good, but is deeply flawed and choosing to take actions that are profoundly evil. This is not something always focused on in mainstream entertainment, and I value being exposed to this complexity.

2) I don’t believe Picard is negating Armus’ agency for creating the cruelty when he focuses on the responses of the crew. Instead, I believe his focus mirrors elements of liberation theology, nonviolence, and other theologies of praxis. Armus’ victims can’t control eir actions, or the ways ey can harm them, but they have choices they can make. They have control over their choices, and they can choose to – as I would name it – be true to their spirit, personhood and integrity. I believe that such actions contribute something tangible to the force of love in the universe… that they expand the presence of the holy.

While I wouldn’t have made any conscious connection at the time, elements of the entity’s sadism now remind me of my mother. Likewise, I don’t know that I learned anything in particular from it at the time about how to handle her (as I didn’t see the applicability). But now I see several similarities of technique. I can only hope this primed me, at least on some level, to sort these things out. I don’t know.

I do know that at the time, I was pleasantly confused and stretched by the unspoken message that human beings’ greatest strength is located in their spirit and their choices, not in their ability to avoid death. This simple movement away from “action film” theology and “might makes right” that permeates the secular world was a signpost for me, pointing out the way I wanted to go.

I do know that Tasha’s memorial service had an effect on me. Picard and Data’s exchange stayed with me through a ministry career, and many memorial services, as a sweet, sad, simple reminder of what’s on people’s mind as we gather to remember:

Data: Sir, the purpose of this gathering… confuses me.
Picard: Oh? How so?
Data: My thoughts are not for Tasha, but for myself. I keep thinking how empty it will be without her presence. Did I miss the point?
Picard: *long pause* No, you didn’t, Data. You got it.

1. It’s also worth noting that, according to Wil Wheaton’s book Memories of the Future, the entire cast and crew were pretty much convinced that they wouldn’t get picked up for a second year. So it’s possible Crosby made her decision to leave truly believing the show would soon be over.
2. Armus has no named gender, so I’m using the gender-neutral pronouns ey (like he or she), em (him or her), eir (his or hers).
3. From http://www.tvrage.com/Star_Trek-The_Next_Generation/episodes/162705

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

This is a case study in the most compelling elements of the Prime Directive: What is our responsibility to help a foreign culture find justice and health? What are the limits of our own wisdom in doing so? How do we guard against our own potential for ethnocentrism and abuse? When is it appropriate to stand by and do nothing? When must we act?

On one hand, Dr. Crusher sees an issue of exploitation and abuse with a medical foundation to it, and sees a way for her to help. She feels the race being abused has a right to a better life, and she can give them that, and ease the suffering of the transition.

On the other hand, Captain Picard sees that they have no previous relationship with this world, and so he feels the Prime Directive must guide him. While offering life-saving assistance to the freighter passengers was within the Enterprise’s mission, interfering further in the two non-Federation cultures is strictly forbidden. Under the PD, it is only the relationship between said culture and the Federation that shapes Picard’s actions; any ethical, moral or justice interpretations of the situation are irrelevant. Picard mentions the importance of not imposing earth values on others, and names a history of well-intentioned interference being disastrous. He insists they follow the rules that have been put in place to minimize the paternalism that they are capable of acting from.

Now, application of the Prime Directive is not without interpretive issues. And Picard’s interpretation happens to allow the exploitation to continue short-term. But he does not fix a problem that will be an obstacle to long-term continuation of the addiction cycle… and so there is a hope that the passage of time and the effects of the cycle itself may lead to it being broken.

The fandom gave Picard grief for his solution here, and he was considered weak by some for allowing his hands to be tied in a situation where some felt Dr. Crusher’s answer was the obvious one. Certainly, Kirk wouldn’t (and didn’t) give a shit about the Prime Directive when he decided he wanted to act. But Picard grappling with a code of ethics was much more compelling and inviting to me. I was actually reminded of this episode repeatedly, over later years, in two contexts. One was my exploration and creation of my own professional ethics as a pastoral counselor. Even in a counseling situation – where consent has been given – there are times to intervene, and times where it would be damaging to do so. Learning the difference is not so easy, and trying on various guidelines is usually a part of the learning process. The other context has been… well, any situation where more privileged groups are looking for the best way to be of service to less empowered groups. It can be very easy for an outsider to completely misunderstand the needs of a group, or misread entirely the best way to be of service to them.

They are perennial questions: what is the best response to discovering exploitation? How can we shape our role to be the most nurturing and empowering it can be? How do we build right relationship across vast differences in values and beliefs?

1. From Wikipedia. The two actors shown in this screencap also played Khan’s son (Judson Earney Scott, left) and Kirk’s son (Merritt Buttrick, right) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This was one of Buttrick’s last roles before his death from AIDS-related complications in 1989.

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

The episode opens with an experiment: the bridge crew gets access to what Geordi sees through his Visor, thanks to a technological gizmo that he and Data concoct. They marvel at the beauty and extraordinariness of the images, and at Geordi’s ability to sort the information (which is compared to a hearing person’s ability to sort through voices in a crowded room). While Geordi’s blindness is a difference that the bridge crew often engages, it’s also a difference that brings additional resources to them without demanding much of any adaptation on their part. There is little to no discomfort or stretching required from those around Geordi.

Worf, however, asks his colleagues to move significantly outside their comfort zone in this story. We learn here that he has not lived among Klingons since he was very young, and has been almost entirely immersed in human culture. Whatever sense of tension he felt before between his Klingon self and his human environment, it is intensified by this, our first introduction to Klingon culture. We learn there are Klingons that object to the new alliance with the Federation (much lauded in Starfleet), and some of these free Klingons encourage Worf to rediscover the wildness he has tamed to live peaceably with humans.

Apparently, Klingon culture is a complete unknown to most of the crew. After Worf partakes in a brief death ritual with the renegades for a fallen comrade, Data explains its significance to an aghast Picard and Riker. Picard even comments that he didn’t recognize Worf anymore; only a small move into Klingon “space” makes him unrecognizable to shipmates. The rest of the crew is quick to question his loyalties, as they also misunderstand Klingon culture (for example, leaping to the assumption that a stray child will be taken as a hostage, which would not be considered honorable or appropriate to the Klingons, even during desperate moments).

Eventually, Worf finds that the renegades’ philosophy is too extreme for him. Once he begins to integrate these new experiences of what it means to be Klingon into the values he’s carried with him already, he tells them they are looking for battles in the wrong place, and describes the internal struggle to embody honor, duty and loyalty. By the end of the episode they have given their lives in a battle they’ve created rather than assimilate to the peace of the new alliance.

There are later episodes where Worf’s friends are more supportive and embracing of his Klingon culture. But it is the raw honesty and complex tension of this episode that is compelling to me right now. It is a sympathetic, respectful portrayal of Klingon culture given by the storytellers, but Worf’s friends, whom we as viewers respect, don’t yet understand. I debated writing this post as well, since at the time, I noticed none of this. I was on the verge of boredom, as Klingon culture didn’t appeal to 13-year old me much. But, I still absorbed the story, and was absorbed by it. And I wonder how watching Worf in that place of tension between two starkly contrasted cultures really affected me. I’d like to think it made me feel less alone, on some deeper level, when I eventually reached toward being in this world, but not of it.

Note on the episode: I don’t know how intentional they were in this thematic tie-in, but in this episode focusing on difference, they finally mention the hostile-but-tangential race that becomes the primary enemy of the series: The Romulans.

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

What stands out for me are two very important actions from Captain Picard:

A) In one instance, a distraught young man has stolen a shuttlecraft to run away from his problems on board the ship. Picard makes contact with him just as a major malfunction happens on the shuttle. Picard remains calm and talks the boy through his life-threatening emergency, even while managing a stressful situation of his own. But more than that, he also speaks very kindly and compassionately about the young man, forgiving him for a rash decision and treating it as an opportunity for growth.

B) When Wesley fails to win a spot at the Academy^{2 3}, and expresses the disappointment he expects everyone to have of him, Picard encourages Wesley to “measure [his] success and failure from within”, and comforts him. He ends the conversation by inviting Wesley to continue their shared mission together.

Despite his famous dislike for and discomfort with young children, Picard repeatedly shows himself to be a nurturing man, capable of great parenting skills. Indeed, he approaches his leadership role as being partly about good parenting: in this case, forgiving mistakes, treating failures as a chance to learn, and encouraging and providing for growth opportunities for the people in his charge. He was honestly my first role model for learning nurturance and right relationship. I’m reminded of how much power there can be in the stories we tell ourselves, and I’m grateful I had these.

1. From http://sharetv.org/shows/star_trek_the_next_generation/episodes/358893
2. As an aside, I was vividly reminded of Wesley’s psychological exam from this episode years later, when I took my psych testing for ordination. Thankfully, I wasn’t required to drag anyone through the spewing futuristic wreckage of an explosion. But I totally would have been able to calculate the proper matter:antimatter ratio on any word problem they gave me.
3. Hey, while we’re on the subject of asides, this is the longest conversation Worf’s been given to date, providing Wesley with a pep talk before his psych exam. I enjoyed his “only fools have no fear” line then and now.

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

This is another really solid episode, with a few things I want to mention. First, Deanna provides the captain with useful information during the investigation about who’s being deceptive and who’s trustworthy; that’s noteworthy because I don’t remember Deanna being useful all that often.² Second, Riker is becoming a textbook of some of the basic violations that feminism critiques. While every other scientist on the planet gets introduced as their own person, the only female scientist is introduced through a heavy stream of admiring and “charming” looks from Riker. I couldn’t have picked that out at the time, but I do wonder how much this primed me to understand the concept of the pervasive male gaze later in my life.

Third, it’s the first time we see the Federation fuck up with a new life form and admit it. They are an inorganic species – not carbon-based, like all other life the Federation has found³ – and this challenges the very definition of life that Starfleet uses. So the beings go unnoticed during the planet’s evaluations for the terraforming process, and many of the life forms have already been killed before the Federation members finally notice the communications that have been aimed at them. At one point, as they examine all the clues they had missed, one scientist says “We were told by the best minds that there was no life. We weren’t looking, so we did not see.” This would become a critical theme in my life: the damage that is done when our basic assumptions and basic working definitions exclude some beings, or even make them invisible.

Picard articulates that, to the Federation, “all life is beautiful.” It’s a value to admire, that influenced me. But the Federation’s actions are not easy to forgive, and the newly found life form ends its communications by naming humans too arrogant and untrustworthy to interact with yet. I appreciate this response to violence and broken relationship, as the response feels authentic to me.

1. From http://www.theviewscreen.com/home-soil/
2. Their attempt to include psychology and psychological health as an aspect of this crew’s life is commendable. But I think their intentions were so far past what they had actually integrated into their storytelling, that Deanna’s role suffers immeasurably. They just couldn’t figure out what to do with her. And since she is half of the eventual female complement of the main cast, the presence and integration of women suffers too.
3. Other than the inorganic life form Kirk and company found in that one original episode that was a lot like this one. But this is otherwise such an awesomely done episode, I can forgive the blip in continuity.

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

I’ve gone back and forth on whether to write about this episode. I don’t remember it having much immediate impact on me as a kid, outside being a suspenseful plot about kids in danger. I know there’s several elements that appeal to me as an adult. I don’t think all of them apply to my purposes here (my response now doesn’t necessarily reflect the story’s impact then; it’s hard to tease all that out). But I do want to talk about a couple of elements that I hope and believe planted some seeds in me.

Wesley is the only teenager abducted, along with six other younger children. Once down on the planet, he consistently, clearly and firmly objects to their abduction. He begins to train the other children in passive resistance (and calls it such, my first exposure to any nonviolent tool for change). He eventually organizes a hunger strike amongst the children. I was amazed and awed by his tactics as a kid.

Coupled with this was a portrayal of the abductors as very kind and ostensibly loving in much of their behavior, even nurturing the children in various arts they loved. But we never forget the chilling truth that the children have been taken forcibly from their families. It was a complex characterization of coercion and consent issues in relationship that I suspect left an impression on me.

It would be several years before my impulses toward nonviolence came to fruition, and more years still until I start exploring coercion and consent deeply. I have a feeling, though, that I can thank moments like this for aiming me in that direction.

1. From http://www.emagill.com/trek/tng1-17.html

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

This episode has a lot of things going for it. Riker’s tour through the ship near the beginning of the episode fleshes out the stories we don’t see of life on the Enterprise, rounding out the feel that it’s a living community. The mystery of what’s happening to the ship is compelling and suspenseful in its pacing. We are introduced – only briefly – to an alien race without gender, but even that little taste enthralled me at the time. And, on a personal note, we first hear the ‘correct’ voice of the Enterprise-D’s computer: that of Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who would speak as the ship’s computer for the remainder of the series.

A big chunk of the episode, though, is Riker showing off some deep misogyny in his romantic choices. I knew the first time I saw the episode that I didn’t like what was going on, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. For that feeling, I give myself a lot of credit. Riker spends a great deal of time profoundly infatuated with a made-to-order woman on the holodeck.

First, the fact that a satisfying leisure activity for him is customizing and enjoying the company of a fabricated woman on the holodeck is pretty disturbing to me. He begins by dictating to the computer exactly what he wants her to look like, rejecting some bodies on sight (one wasn’t ‘sultry’ enough) until he likes what he sees. He then starts with his opening line, and is delighted at the response he gets.

Riker: What’s a knockout like you doing in a computer-generated gin joint like this?
Minuet: Waiting for you.

With stars in his eyes, he marvels that “She already knows what I want her to say before I’m aware myself”² and “I could develop feelings for her.” The appeal isn’t that she’s enjoyable to be with, or even that she is wise enough to know him deeply. It’s that she already knows how he wants her to seem and communicate… making it clear that catering to his needs and desires is far more alluring to him than her actually being a person.

I didn’t come away then with a good impression of Riker, and I don’t now. There’s some dark humor in knowing that the woman is not only programmed by Riker to be attractive to him, but is also being programmed by the Bynars to keep him enchanted and distracted. And he falls for her hook, line and sinker. Even Picard, for a much shorter time, is seduced – though his time is spent marveling at the technological skill needed to create the image of a charming woman out of thin air.

But it’s Riker that is coming to consider a solicitous computer program to be the perfect woman. Ugh.

1. Photo from http://www.avclub.com/articles/11001001too-short-a-seasonwhen-the-bough-breaks,40903/
2. Emphasis mine. Just, fucking, ew.

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

The writers put some real effort into commenting on gender on a broad scale, having the Enterprise interact with a culture where women are considered more intelligent and capable, and men are relegated to second-class status. There is a real feeling amongst the women leading the planet that men just shouldn’t worry their pretty little heads, and they use the phrase “against the natural order” to describe a more egalitarian concept of gender. When silencing some men who are demanding more equal rights, the leader uses language around “keeping the peace” and “dealing with revolutionaries.” When Riker dons native garb to hang out with Mistress Beata, Troi and Yar both comment on how demeaning the dress for men is. I was very intrigued at the time, and I’m grateful now. It was another encouragement to look around, to question and to think critically. It got me thinking about not only what I was told about gender, but also how the language used by authorities is shaped by their agendas.

Nowadays, I’m a little annoyed that none of the “stronger” race of women are cast any larger in build than, say, Cameron Diaz. The narrowness of body type shown in the series amazes me more and more, the longer I watch. We have another backwards world of aliens, and it’s a little trying that there have been so few races that the Federation considers to be equals so far. I also really can’t figure out how the Prime Directive has absolutely nothing to say about Riker sexing up foreign dignitaries.

1. From http://de.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Planet_Angel_One

I’m examining the impact Star Trek: The Next Generation had on my formation. The introduction to this series can be seen here.

“Datalore” is what I think of as old school science fiction done well. It has broadly evil and noble characters, each with indicative lighting styles to inform us, the audience, of their intentions. It has a melodramatic yet straightforward mystery that unfolds mostly through betrayal of relationship between characters. And it has a baldly ambitious villain, with intentions hidden from almost everyone (and who tends toward speeches about his greatness and his dastardly plans). All of this is done with a deft hand though: good pacing, good acting, and a quality script. The only thing missing is theramin music.

Also typical for sci-fi, it has layers of social commentary built in to the story. Data’s colleagues struggle with embarrassment and feelings of intrusion in asking questions about his differentness as an android, trying to understand Lore and how he should be treated. Even Picard, who is the first to ease the discomfort by talking about similarities they all share, still fumbles with what pronouns are most appropriate for Lore. These are everyday experiences for many members of groups seen as different and misunderstood in our culture. But, even though Data’s differences are focused on here, there is still another character less seen and with less power than he. The character chosen by the writers to see Lore’s deception before anyone else does is Wesley… who, as I mentioned earlier, is easiest to dismiss, so he’s a logical choice. Unfortunately, the situation did nothing to endear him to his detractors. The treatment he receives is a classic, crazymaking denial of reality (including the now famous rounds of “Shut up Wesley!” from multiple authority figures), which reinforces my feelings that he’s arguably the “queerest” and most marginalized person in the crew.

I’m sure finding out that Data has a mentally unstable family member only made me feel closer to him. And themes of differentness and visibility/invisibility were and are compelling. But mostly, this is another episode of general bonding to a quality show, at any and every age I’ve been.

1. God bless wikipedia.