Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New World

     I have enjoyed watching the Star Trek series' in class over the past two weeks! The main thing that stuck out to me in Star Trek: Discovery was that they included women as captain and commanders! This representation is so important in film and TV, and I really admire how they portrayed these important crew members as women of color. Both Captain Georgious and Commander Michael are portrayed a strong, smart, and powerful women who are fully capable of leading the U.S.S. Enterprise. Michael is part human and part Vulcan, so she always provides the most logical point of view, but her human emotions tend to get in the way of her rational thinking sometimes. Michael has a personal vendetta against Klingons because they killed her parents. When she sees the Klingons, she has more of an emotional response than a logical response which goes against her Vulcan nature. The entire episode is about Michael overcoming her emotions in order to work more efficiently as a captain and I think this emotional journey is very interesting to watch, especially since she is part Vulcan. The audience witnesses her internal struggle between being logical and feeling vulnerable and emotional about avenging her parents' death. Watching this emotional struggle makes Michael a better leader, and I believe this transformation is very important for young, impressionable girls to see. Young girls need to see more women in leadership positions, so they are more inspired and believe that they can become a leader of something larger than themselves one day. 

    I thought it was very interesting that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was set five years before the original Star Trek series. It was so interesting seeing another interpretation of Spock, and how cohesive they have made the character throughout every series and film, even with different actors. I also enjoyed seeing the true introduction of Uhura and how she began working on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Learning more about the backgrounds of these characters gave me more much insight into why they think and act the way they do. The most interesting aspect of this episode was definitely watching Captain Pike overcome his fear of knowing his death and it keeping him from doing the job that he loves. It made me wonder if we had the option of knowing when and how we die, would we want to know? I mist certainly would not want to know because, like Pike, it would consume my life entirely and would be the only thing I would ever be able to think of. I think it would consume most of our lives because at such a young age I think many of us have a fear of death. When Captain Pike said that most humans think they can cheat death until the one moment before it happens also made me contemplate my views on the subject. I am very scared of death and what happens after, but at the same time Pike is right. Although I know we will all die one day, it still doesn't feel like it will ever actually happen. It is extremely difficult to fully accept death and oblivion, but the more you accept it the more freedom you receive. Captain Pike is the perfect example. Before he accepted death, he lived in fear and allowed that fear to hold him back from accomplishing many thing on the U.S.S. Enterprise. It wasn't until he accepted his fate that he finally could live free of fear of the future, and completely live in the present and accomplish the many things he wished to do. Additionally, the comparison to the alien planet and the human world as we know it was deeply interesting. Seeing the riots, social unrest, and division of the planet allowed self reflection on our country as a whole. Seeing these acts from the outside looking in provides a perspective that we haven't been able to see. The division is deeply upsetting, and will lead to our demise. I also enjoyed seeing the interpretation of the human world in this timeline. It had been destroyed due to social unrest, and I viewed this a warning to our society of what potentially could become a truth in our society if we keep moving in the direction we are going. I thought that this episode provided insight to important philosophical issues and political views, and combined them together in way that forces the audience to think about themselves and their society. 

Star Trek: Discovery

  • "We come in peace"
  • Women are captains!
    • Captain Georgios and captain Michael
    • Captain Michael is part Vulcan -> has Vulcan logic
  • U.S.S. Shenzou mission: observe any damage in certain part of space
  • Klingons call the Federation their enemy
    • going into battle
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
  • Timeline: 5 years before original Star Trek series
  • Captain Pike knows how he will die; aliens revealed it to him
  • Captain Michael is Spock's sister
  • Enterprise ig going back out to space to fine Number One
  • Disguise as aliens that are making warp bomb
    • Going down to see what is going on
  • Save Number 1
  • Get captured by humanoids
  • Compares alien planet to Earth; political and social conflict

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