This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Ultimate Computer” See this for a plot summary.
This is generally about automation of jobs that humans do. In general I believe that technology CAN be used for good in the workplace. It is probably involved in addressing some safety issues; probably is involved with addressing some environmental concerns. As far as technology that is used by the bosses to replace workers, I have mixed and mostly negative feelings about that. I mean, some of those jobs have been replaced by new jobs maintaining the new technology and such jobs probably pay fairly well (I don’t know about wages on the assembly line building this stuff). But in general, jobs replacing those terminated by technology tend to pay very little. They don’t have to be like that, but I don’t have much to say about why they haven’t been unionized- I’m very unfamiliar with organizing issues and it seems like it’s very difficult to organize unions ANYWHERE in the US today. So, I have mixed feelings about automation in the workplace.
There is another kind of automation that I want to discuss as well. That is in the military (well, the US military and I think a handful of other countries as well). My thoughts on the military in general are mixed, and right now I’m not going to go into a discussion about that, I’m just going to focus on this aspect of the military. I’m thinking of the Predator drones, armed or unarmed, and probably some other machines. If they start replacing aircraft that require a pilot inside the plane, it could make it easier for our government to launch unpopular wars, as the number of US service men and women in danger will go down. That will probably mean that a lot of people who might otherwise oppose the war partly because more and more Americans are dying, won’t oppose it. So, I’m worried about that as well.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Bread and Circuses” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is basically about the Roman Empire and sort of about converts to Christianity. I’m not very familiar with Rome or the early years of Christianity, so I don’t have much to say. This episode is certainly anti-slavery, and anti-totalitarian.
I give it two stars out of five.
“Assignment: Earth” See this for a plot summary.
First there’s some political stuff to at least mention. In general it focuses on the idea that 20th century humankind was not as advanced politically and socially as they were technologically, and how that could lead to disaster- for example a nuclear war that destroys the planet.
I also like the Gary Seven part of this episode. Long before I watched this episode, I read a ST book which focused on him. I might try to find that book.
I give this episode three stars out of five.
Showing posts with label nuclear energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuclear energy. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Star Trek: Enterprise Reviews R
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Borderland,” “Cold Station 12,” “The Augments” See the links for a plot summary.
This three-parter contains one very large political theme and a couple smaller ones. The big one is the question of genetic engineering. My thoughts on this are here while discussing the episode “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”
At one point one of the augments and Archer have the following exchange:
Malik: We were defending our right to exist.
Archer: You’ve already killed over 25 people. Your existence has a pretty high price.
Malik: It could get higher.
Obviously they are pretty much unable to co-exist with normal people, and StarFleet was right to prevent any more augments from being born.
The other issues:
1. We learn that at one point Earth space ships were nuclear-powered, something which I have negative feelings about (even in the context of ST, I believe they should have postponed further space travel until they found something better than nuclear power). Could cause serious environmental problems on Earth.
2. There’s also an element of slavery. First, when the slaves can no longer be controlled by the neurolytic restraints, they rebel, which is pretty cool.
It raises the question for me, shouldn’t StarFleet do something about the Orion slave trade? It doesn’t count as an internal issue for the Orions because they enslave outside of their race most of the time. And even if it were internal, I’m very open-minded about StarFleet intervening anyway. I have difficulty imaging that happening in the past with black slaves in America, since I don’t think there was a world power comparable to the Federation of ST. I mean, the British ended slavery in almost all of the Empire in 1833 but I’m not sure if they would have been an ideal candidate for this. Would black slaves in America have welcomed liberation in that way? I imagine they would have. And of course they did welcome liberation during and at the end of the Civil War, and of course many former slaves fought for the Union in that war.
On a non-political note, it was brilliant of them to have Brent Spiner play Soong, an ancestor of the man who created Data (The Next Generation).
I give this three-parter five stars out of five.
“The Forge,” “Awakening,” and “Kir’Shara” See the links for a plot summary.
This three-parter has one main theme- religious persecution, and there are several minor things that come up here and there:
I’m against religious persecution, although there would of course be some exceptions- for example if children are being abused in some way. My thoughts on religion can be found here, here (while discussing the episode "Who Watches The Watchers?"), here (while discussing the episode "Destiny"), here (while discussing the episode "In The Hands Of The Prophets").
1. At one point Archer seems to compare the different interpretations of Surock’s writing with what has happened with the Bible. The basic message I believe was that the Bible (and similar books) shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
2. The leader of the Syrrannites says that the High Command defiled the monastery of P’Jem by placing an intelligence operation there. It really is very inappropriate to use religious places for what might be called intelligence or military efforts.
3. We’re reminded that Vulcans who can do mind melds are treated poorly, and this is undoubtedly a statement against homophobia. See this when I discuss the episode “Stigma.”
4. I think this is my first exposure to the political system on Vulcan. It’s not made clear, but I got the idea that the High Command was the government; I used to think it was the leadership of the military; and what kind of civilian government leadership is known as the High Command? It also turns out that the head of the High Command (HC) organized a large-scale invasion force without the other members knowing. All members of the HC were men. Vulcan still uses the death penalty for some crimes. And lastly, there is apparently a loyalty oath that at least some Vulcans must take. Unless I’m missing something from The Original Series, I would have to say that the Vulcan government isn’t very democratic and considering most of what I wrote in this paragraph, I wonder what they're doing in the Federation? (on the other hand, it IS suggested at one point that the head of the HC was elected).
5. The leader of the HC seems to have gone after the Syrrannites because, as pacifists, they might stir up opposition to his invasion of Andoria.
6. There is one part where a Vulcan is tortured mentally instead of physically, which Vulcans can usually resist. After that the interrogator who used torture suggests that very often people being tortured will say whatever they think their interrogator wants to hear, even if it’s not true (which makes torture ineffective in addition to being immoral).
I’m not a big fan of Vulcan episodes, so I can only give this one two stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Borderland,” “Cold Station 12,” “The Augments” See the links for a plot summary.
This three-parter contains one very large political theme and a couple smaller ones. The big one is the question of genetic engineering. My thoughts on this are here while discussing the episode “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?”
At one point one of the augments and Archer have the following exchange:
Malik: We were defending our right to exist.
Archer: You’ve already killed over 25 people. Your existence has a pretty high price.
Malik: It could get higher.
Obviously they are pretty much unable to co-exist with normal people, and StarFleet was right to prevent any more augments from being born.
The other issues:
1. We learn that at one point Earth space ships were nuclear-powered, something which I have negative feelings about (even in the context of ST, I believe they should have postponed further space travel until they found something better than nuclear power). Could cause serious environmental problems on Earth.
2. There’s also an element of slavery. First, when the slaves can no longer be controlled by the neurolytic restraints, they rebel, which is pretty cool.
It raises the question for me, shouldn’t StarFleet do something about the Orion slave trade? It doesn’t count as an internal issue for the Orions because they enslave outside of their race most of the time. And even if it were internal, I’m very open-minded about StarFleet intervening anyway. I have difficulty imaging that happening in the past with black slaves in America, since I don’t think there was a world power comparable to the Federation of ST. I mean, the British ended slavery in almost all of the Empire in 1833 but I’m not sure if they would have been an ideal candidate for this. Would black slaves in America have welcomed liberation in that way? I imagine they would have. And of course they did welcome liberation during and at the end of the Civil War, and of course many former slaves fought for the Union in that war.
On a non-political note, it was brilliant of them to have Brent Spiner play Soong, an ancestor of the man who created Data (The Next Generation).
I give this three-parter five stars out of five.
“The Forge,” “Awakening,” and “Kir’Shara” See the links for a plot summary.
This three-parter has one main theme- religious persecution, and there are several minor things that come up here and there:
I’m against religious persecution, although there would of course be some exceptions- for example if children are being abused in some way. My thoughts on religion can be found here, here (while discussing the episode "Who Watches The Watchers?"), here (while discussing the episode "Destiny"), here (while discussing the episode "In The Hands Of The Prophets").
1. At one point Archer seems to compare the different interpretations of Surock’s writing with what has happened with the Bible. The basic message I believe was that the Bible (and similar books) shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
2. The leader of the Syrrannites says that the High Command defiled the monastery of P’Jem by placing an intelligence operation there. It really is very inappropriate to use religious places for what might be called intelligence or military efforts.
3. We’re reminded that Vulcans who can do mind melds are treated poorly, and this is undoubtedly a statement against homophobia. See this when I discuss the episode “Stigma.”
4. I think this is my first exposure to the political system on Vulcan. It’s not made clear, but I got the idea that the High Command was the government; I used to think it was the leadership of the military; and what kind of civilian government leadership is known as the High Command? It also turns out that the head of the High Command (HC) organized a large-scale invasion force without the other members knowing. All members of the HC were men. Vulcan still uses the death penalty for some crimes. And lastly, there is apparently a loyalty oath that at least some Vulcans must take. Unless I’m missing something from The Original Series, I would have to say that the Vulcan government isn’t very democratic and considering most of what I wrote in this paragraph, I wonder what they're doing in the Federation? (on the other hand, it IS suggested at one point that the head of the HC was elected).
5. The leader of the HC seems to have gone after the Syrrannites because, as pacifists, they might stir up opposition to his invasion of Andoria.
6. There is one part where a Vulcan is tortured mentally instead of physically, which Vulcans can usually resist. After that the interrogator who used torture suggests that very often people being tortured will say whatever they think their interrogator wants to hear, even if it’s not true (which makes torture ineffective in addition to being immoral).
I’m not a big fan of Vulcan episodes, so I can only give this one two stars out of five.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews KK
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
There are several episodes in VOY that involve the question of whether or not holograms are alive, and/or feature conflict between holograms and organic beings. I’m going to ignore that part of VOY, it’s a bit too philosophical, and comparing the maltreatment of holograms to the maltreatment of, for example, Black people, seems stupid. Although I kind of make an exception for The Doctor (it’s impossible to be a fan of ST and not do that) I lean towards saying that holograms are not life forms, but I don’t feel like going into it.
“Friendship One” See this for a plot summary.
I’m having some trouble deciding what the political aspect of this episode is. It could be about using certain energy sources without the right controls, or using them at all (in this episode it involves anti-matter, but you could interpret this episode as being anti-nuclear power). I don’t know anything about matter and anti-matter, but it seems like in the ST universe it’s a safe enough source of energy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the problem was that the knowledge they recieved from the probe was radically ahead of where they were technologically and they skipped a few steps- steps which might have resulted in them avoiding the accident.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Natural Law” See this for a plot summary.
This episode has a lot to say about technologically advanced societies not treating indigenous people (at least those who live in a traditional way) with respect for their culture. It also illustrates how many from the advanced society will think that invading an indigenous society and radically changing it is good for the indigenous people.
For some reason I’m having trouble describing this episode better than I have, so I’ll just leave it at that. I give it three stars out of five.
“Homestead” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Renaissance Man” See this for a plot summary.
A non-politiccal episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Endgame” parts 1 and 2. See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two-parter, but one that deserves some comment since it’s the series finale. Looking at the series finales for each of the 1990s series, I think this one is the best of the three.
I give it five stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
There are several episodes in VOY that involve the question of whether or not holograms are alive, and/or feature conflict between holograms and organic beings. I’m going to ignore that part of VOY, it’s a bit too philosophical, and comparing the maltreatment of holograms to the maltreatment of, for example, Black people, seems stupid. Although I kind of make an exception for The Doctor (it’s impossible to be a fan of ST and not do that) I lean towards saying that holograms are not life forms, but I don’t feel like going into it.
“Friendship One” See this for a plot summary.
I’m having some trouble deciding what the political aspect of this episode is. It could be about using certain energy sources without the right controls, or using them at all (in this episode it involves anti-matter, but you could interpret this episode as being anti-nuclear power). I don’t know anything about matter and anti-matter, but it seems like in the ST universe it’s a safe enough source of energy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the problem was that the knowledge they recieved from the probe was radically ahead of where they were technologically and they skipped a few steps- steps which might have resulted in them avoiding the accident.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Natural Law” See this for a plot summary.
This episode has a lot to say about technologically advanced societies not treating indigenous people (at least those who live in a traditional way) with respect for their culture. It also illustrates how many from the advanced society will think that invading an indigenous society and radically changing it is good for the indigenous people.
For some reason I’m having trouble describing this episode better than I have, so I’ll just leave it at that. I give it three stars out of five.
“Homestead” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Renaissance Man” See this for a plot summary.
A non-politiccal episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Endgame” parts 1 and 2. See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two-parter, but one that deserves some comment since it’s the series finale. Looking at the series finales for each of the 1990s series, I think this one is the best of the three.
I give it five stars out of five.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Star Trek: Voyager Reviews A
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Caretaker,” Parts I and II- See this and this for a plot summary.
Aside from it getting a great series started, this two-parter is not my favorite. In general I don’t like the Ocampa, I don’t like the Kazan, and I don’t like Neelix. I’m not crazy about the Caretaker either.
What I do like is Janeway and Chakotay working together (see this, where I explain my feelings about the Maquis while discussing the two-parter “The Maquis”).
I give it three stars out of five.
“Parallax” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but a good one, I give it three stars out five.
“Time And Again” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is basically about nuclear energy and the dangers of using it (in the episode it’s polaric, not nuclear energy). Although it turns out that the Starfleet characters caused the accident that destroyed the planet, it’s made pretty clear that using polaric energy is very dangerous.
I give it four stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Caretaker,” Parts I and II- See this and this for a plot summary.
Aside from it getting a great series started, this two-parter is not my favorite. In general I don’t like the Ocampa, I don’t like the Kazan, and I don’t like Neelix. I’m not crazy about the Caretaker either.
What I do like is Janeway and Chakotay working together (see this, where I explain my feelings about the Maquis while discussing the two-parter “The Maquis”).
I give it three stars out of five.
“Parallax” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but a good one, I give it three stars out five.
“Time And Again” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is basically about nuclear energy and the dangers of using it (in the episode it’s polaric, not nuclear energy). Although it turns out that the Starfleet characters caused the accident that destroyed the planet, it’s made pretty clear that using polaric energy is very dangerous.
I give it four stars out of five.
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