I really don’t think I am. Star Trek has always wrapped social topics in a scifi setting. It just took me until now to recognize what social topic they’ve been advocating this time, and it isn’t “nonbinary people are people too”, or “Black women can be a main character”. It’s “Not being ashamed to expose your vulnerabilities is a sign of strength more powerful than the mightiest Klingon warrior”. And “Standing up and showing support to others being vulnerable” is a sign of strength too.
The way we are quick to dismiss those expressing their vulnerability as “being dramatic” is exactly the topic they’re addressing. They’re trying to make us ask WHY vulnerability makes us uncomfortable. Facing it dead on takes extreme courage.
David_Eight@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying. The people saying “pussification of men” and the ones saying “not being woke enough” are two completely different groups. Your post comes off as if you’re trying to conflate those to groups even though they’re on completely different sides of the spectrum.
Now I feel like you’re trying to paint me as being insensitive to people showing vulnerability which would be unfair and untrue. Just because I’m critical of how the new shows executed the message doesn’t mean I don’t agree with the message itself. I just think that message was was conveyed better in TNG era shows.
Kirk@startrek.website 4 hours ago
Ah I see, you definitely misinterpreted. I was indeed describing them as two different groups.
David_Eight@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
OK that’s fair.
Are you saying this “radical idea” spans all off the new shows or one specific show. I stopped watch the new shows at some point, it just wasn’t for me. I don’t know what you’re really talking about in this post cause I haven’t seen anything new or groundbreaking like you’re describing, its all been quite generic in my opinion.
Can you point or link to a specific scene or plot that shows what you mean?
Kirk@startrek.website 1 hour ago
Jay-Den and Darem’s recent scene together illustrates it well, I think. And the negative reaction to it from people online who say things like “woke” and “cringe” illustrates that many people are so uncomfortable and afraid of the concept of being vulnerable that they dismiss it out of hand.
But to be clear, I actually went out of my way not to describe this as “new or groundbreaking”. If anything the messaging I highlighted in my OP has been the consistent through line for the past decade in DSC, SWW, and SFC (and to a lesser extent Picard). I (and many others who thought the new series have been too timid with their politics) have been missing the forest for the trees.
We can laugh now at TOS preaching the “illogicality of racism” to be self-evident, but during the time of scientific racism and Jim Crow laws, stating that self-evidence was considered radical. TOS never had an episode about Uhura earning her right to be on the bridge. She was just there. Discovery never had a plot line about Adira coming out as non-binary, they just did.
“Vulnerability is strength” is the radical idea of our modern era where things like emotional insecurity and ability to tolerate loneliness are held up as examples of strength, and not the reality, which is that they are the beliefs of a fearful person.