Queer Questions

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Galaxy's Child follows Geordi through a rough meeting with Dr Brahms, a woman whose likeness he utilized in a holodeck program to bounce ideas off of to solve problems. Geordi developed strong feelings for the holodeck version and was caught off guard when the real woman did not meet his imagined version. Among the characteristics which the computer failed to accurately replicate was her marital status: married. However, when she begins to tell Geordi that his knowledge of her is blind in some areas, I assumed she was going to say that she was into women.

And I was kind of put off, to be honest, to discover that her big secret was a totally hetero, totally normal marriage. Actually, lately I've been thinking a lot about homosexuality as portrayed by Hollywood. One day, will society look back on all the heterosexual actors playing queer parts with the same disdain we view blackface? Probably not. But there must be plenty of gay actors who aren't landing parts while straight actors play take those roles. Then again, I don't actually know anything about the sexual proclivities of Ms Portman or Ms Kunis.

Now, Star Trek isn't as into hetero-normative monogamous sexuality as most tv shows. Sci-Fi in general is pretty cool when it comes to things like sexual mores. Star Trek just likes to take things to places where society is not always mature enough to handle. So interracial kisses, couples, marriage and copulating? Check. Heck, there were inter-species offspring in the first episode. Polyamorous relationships and marriages? Check. But Star Trek has been pathetic when it comes to queer relationships. Nimoy was cheering Roddenberry on when he wanted to include LBGT crew members. His exact quote was that such characters should "appear unobtrusively aboard the Enterprise — neither objects of pity nor melodramatic attention." Of course, the cast is full of queer heroes but no characters. Which is something I have to keep remembering when I watch the show. Yeah, Takei and Goldberg played important characters but the actors were the queer ones, not the characters.

There is some flirtation with homosexuality. Dr Crusher falls in love with an alien that lives inside of a host body. Initially, the body is that of a male but that body dies and is replaced by a female. Crusher says she cannot continue the relationship not because of the female body but because of the never ending change of host bodies. I actually thought it was the parasite/host relationship that bugged her but since she does not say that, I have nothing but my own feelings to attribute this to. Of course, there is also the great episode The Outcast.

So why no really gay characters? Stupidity, fear and intimidation I guess. I often wonder if someone can actually be into science fiction and also be homophobic but I am afraid I might be a victim of No True Scotsmanism.

WWPD

In the episode Pen Pals in Star Trek TNG, Wesley is having a difficult time leading a small geological survey team and asks for help from Commander Riker. It is his first experience being in charge of a team and all of those under his authority are older and more experienced than him. He cannot determine if and when he should yield to the wisdom of others or trust in his own wisdom. In particular, Wesley believes a certain scan should be conducted but the person he asks says that it would be a waste of time. Wesley is concerned not only that he cannot lead but that he may make a mistake and eventually one of his mistakes will cost a life.* This survey is something of a test and a practice lesson for Wesley to prepare him both for the academy and for his much-anticipated role as the smartest, bestest, most specialist leader of all leaders in the universe.**

Riker's advice:
"In your position it's important to ask yourself one question: what would Picard do?"

This is much more useful advice, I think, than trying to figure out what Jesus would do since Jesus never had to deal with things like farm subsidies, animal abuse, challenging ammoral laws institutionalized by a democratic vote, paying off student loans. In fact, I can't think of very much a 1st century Jewish Palestinian peasant and a 21st century atheist American scholar have in common. But me and a 24th century scholar with an interest in archaeology, semantics, horse riding and fencing, committed to truth and exploration . . . I can think of a lot we have in common. And while we may not share a cup of Earl Grey, his tact and decision making skills are something everyone can aspire to.


*Wesley does have the scan completed and the information gained from it is vital in saving the inhabitants of a nearby planet.
** Yeah, sometimes the magic of the Mary Sue gets on my nerves.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Child

Women's Rights in the 24th Century


In this episode, Counselor Troi becomes impregnated by an unknown being. The fetus develops rapidly, completing full gestation in two days. The rate of growth seems to increase since the child ages 4 years in the following day. The child later is revealed to be a problem because he emits a radiation that causes a plague virus to grow (the virus is needed to make a cure).

When the captain becomes aware of her pregnancy, he calls a meeting of the heads of staff, Warf, Data, Dr Polaski (Dr Crusher is not on board), Geordi etc to determine what is to be done. About her pregnancy, her pregnancy. A conversation begins about the danger the potential fetus may threaten, if terminating the pregnancy would harm Troi, when they should terminate, what loss to science an abortion would be. Troi, meanwhile, has been forgotten. No one asks her what she wants for her body, her child. Even in a world of acceptable abortion, she is not given a choice. But she takes the choice for herself and decides to carry the fetus to term and raise the child. That is the right to choose, not only to choose abortion but also to choose to carry a fetus to term.

Orientation in Space

I've watched about 8 or 9 episodes during my Next Generation marathon and have only just realized something curious indeed. Whenever the Enterprise encounters another vessel, no matter the species or size or type of vessel or if one or both had been cloaked previously, they are always oriented the exact same way as the enterprise. Is this easier for television? Was this something no one considered? Is there some universally agreed upon direction that is up? Some type of automatic system that senses the orientation of other ships and adjusts even when other sensors cannot detect the ship?

Gender Neutrality in the 24th Century

To Boldly Go*

I have embarked on epic marathon of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It seems that our Tivo has recorded 42 episodes of Star Trek over the weekend which is beginning to threaten our ability to record other shows. I actually have only 38 episodes to watch since I saw a few of them recently during my New Years marathon. For every episode, I like to watch the title sequence, even if I already heard it 8 times that day. One of my favorite things about The Next Generation is the subtle change in the sequence, from "no man" to "no one."

I often wonder if people who make fun of trekkies ever know what they are making fun of. Is it the cheesiness or some of the plots or the magic of warp drive? Well, probably not the latter. But I love that science fiction has pressed progress in gender, race, and sex equality. It is a small change but now the opening title, the journey to go boldly into the unknown, includes women. I am sure people will say that "man" is used in the sense of "mankind" but there is no ambiguity in "no one". Star Trek lore also claims that the change was not only for the sake of gender neutrality but also species neutrality.

*Yeah, the split infinitive ("to boldly go" instead of "to go boldly" or "boldly to go") bugs me and my grammar loving, Latin-studying background. Part of me also thinks that he rule against split infinitives is rather an archaic one that is no longer problematic in English.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode: Rightful Heir

Worf, troubled by his lack of faith, journies to Boreth, the spiritual center of the Klingon Empire where the messiah-figure Kahless promised to return. After many days of prayer, Worf has a vision of Kahless that manifests into bodily form. Aboard the Enterprise, the DNA of the returned Kahless is tested against a sample of the original Kahless's blood stained on a knife, which is a match. However, Worf finds this returned Kahless lacking: he does not know what warnog tastes like, he cannot remember details from his life, and he is an inexperienced warrior. The returned Kahless is in fact a clone brought to life, using the blood of the original Kahless. His memory is constructed out of the stories of the original Kahless. Those who brought him back argue that there is nothing to indicate that Kahless would not be back through the cloning process but Worf is troubled. He is unsure if the cloned Kahless means that the real one will not return. However, Worf forces the Klingon council to accept Kahless as the spiritual leader of the people, with the title of emporer, while keeping the political power in the hands of the council. Kahless suggests to Worf that maybe it is not important for Kahless to return because he left his words, which are important.

When Gowron first challenges Kahless's authenticity, he asks ""Have you ever fought an idea, Picard? It has no weapon to destroy, no body to kill."

It is a strange conflict. If Jesus were cloned from blood on his crown of thorns(in France), the bloodstained cloth Jesus was wrapped in after death (in Spain), or one of the many Veils of Veronica, who would accept that Jesus? What if he preformed no miracles? What if he tried to determine which version of his life story is true? Or what if he could not? Doesn't it matter if Jesus if never coming back? Would anyone be a Christian if he would never return?

Data discusses a leap of faith he made when told that he was only an android and chose to believe that he could be more. Which is among the many magical things about Data. I like Data, don't get me wrong. Actually, I love Data and had a pretty big crush on him when I was younger. But I have never believed that he was a robot the same way that I frequently believe that Dorn is a Klingon and not a man in a lot of make-up. I am always aware that he is a man acting like a robot that is trying to be human.

As an atheist, I know what it is to fight an idea. Data's supposed leap of faith has been rewarded by his continual growth, his ability to assimilate new information and algorythems, and advances in technology. His leap of faith was more like a hypothesis that has been regularly rewarded with evidence. Like a true hypothesis, it is an idea based on many facts, that has not met with evidence to disprove it, and thus forms a basis for understanding . . .you know, like evolution. Worf's leap to back the clone is similar in that he does not make an extraordinary claim. He demands that the truth about the clones origins be told to everyone so there is no deception. Furthermore, since the clone is based upon the teachings and legends of the original Kahless, he is singularly appropriate to be a spiritual, but politically impotent, leader. There is not much faith or leaping there.

Clone Jesus is an interesting new componant to Zombie Jesus.

Vaster Than Empires and More Slow

Le Guin included a story of this title, taken from "To His Coy Mistres," in The Wind's Twelve Quarters. It follows a crew of explorers who are exploring space to find new life and sentience. One among them has incredible powers of empathy that borders on ESP that allows (or rather forces) him to feel whatever emotions those around him feel. His crew responds to him with distrust and hostility, which he mirrors back on them. The planet they discover has sentience of its own. It is a single organic being which reacts in fear to crew. The empath decides to commune with the planet to alleviate the planet's fear. His communication becomes Communion. The planet's single sentience becomes a peace for his mind.

I have not done justice to the depth of this story. Suffice that Ursula K. Le Guin wrote it so it is a great story.

Star Trek: The Next Generation has an episode entitled Tin Man with a similar plot. Tam is a betazoid, like commander Deanna Troy, was born with full telepathic abilities. His powers cause him to suffer as he is constantly bombarded with the thoughts and emotions of all around him, including the entire Enterprise. He is assigned to make first contact with an unusual vessel which seems to be both an artificial spaceship and also an organic being. Tam is able to establish some contact with the ship, which is millenia old and the last of its kind. The ship was engineered or born purposefully as a sentient ship which nurtures its crew. Unfortunately, the crew died thousands of years previously and the ship has come to a star, that is about to go nova, to die. Tam goes aboard the ship and bonds to it, relieving his own loneliness and the ship's.

I am a little surprised that there is little reference to Le Guin's short story. There are some differences. Tam is able to find some respite with Data since he is sentient but not organic. And Data brings back a message from Tam that he has found joy at last. It is a more satisfying ending. Le Guin is not terribly big on ending's. I think that is why I like her works.

Prop 8 and Inescapable Gender

I meant to post this the day Prop 8 got the smack down. This is from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called The Outcast. It features a species of beings, the J'naii, that have no sex or gender, everyone is one sex. However, some people feel as if they belong to one gender. Soren asks Riker and Dr. Crusher about the sexual and social differences between males and females and which one has power over the other. Crusher states that both sexes/genders are equal but Worf contradicts her in the next scene. He labels a card game as a woman's game because too many cards are wild, the strength of his hand is never certain. However, Worf seems to overcome some of his prejudices (if not all) when he volunteers to help Riker rescue Soren. Maybe I am wrong and he is just willing to rescue Soren because she is a woman and that part makes sense to him. I wonder if the annihilation of sex was in part an attempt to make all equal without having the nagging problems of gender and sexism.



Jonathon Frakes stated that the episode needed to go further, since all the actors who played the J'naii were female. He wanted Soren played by a male so that their kiss could push boundaries the way the original series did when Uhura and Kirk kissed. Others have commented that having an all female caste to play the androgynous species made them look like fascist lesbians and man-haters. Not at all what I thought. I must have misread some of the actors, though, since there was on J'naii who I assumed was played by an actor with male reproductive organs.

While the episode did fail to make up for the lack of positive queer characters, I think it did hit some important parts. This episode was obviously about queer rights. Soren mentioned how she snuck around, meeting others who felt gendered as male, having relationships with them but always keeping it a secret. If her speech were taken out of context, it would make a very beautiful speech against homophobia. My one real criticism is that Soren is "fixed" by the psychotherapy. I could not be fixed by psychological manipulation into being a lesbian, asexual, or transgendered. Well, if someone gave me a penis and removed my mammary glans, I probably would be transgendered. I simply am hetero and female and a woman.

In any event, this post is for Eric and for Tawny and for anyone else who was ever told that their love was wrong or who had their love denied them.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode: The Enemy

I recorded this episode last week but only got around to watching it today. Geordi is stranded on a planet in an intense storm when he, Warf and Riker land to investigate a destroyed Romulan ship. They locate one badly injured Romulan but lose Georgi in the process. Geordi goes on to encounter another Romulan who takes him prisoner. They have a cliche, yet still touching, tete a tete that leads each to rescue the other despite their distrust and distate for the other.

Warf and the other Romulan have a less successful engagement. When Warf discovers the injured, barely conscious Romulan, the Romulan attempts to strangle Warf, stopped only by Warf's pragmatic punch. In sick bay, the Romulan deteriorates quickly due to damage from the planet's magnetic fields which has affected his ribsomes (caused by the Hollywood magic of filling in plot gaps). Only Warf has compatible ribosomes that the Romulan body will accept as a transplant.

Now, if you don't watch Star Trek you might need a little back story. Warf hates Romulans. The Klingons and Romulans have a tortured past including intrigue, conspiracies, and war. Warf has even more reason to hate the Romulans than the average Klingon since his parents were killed in a Romulan attack. Naturally, Worf declines to aid the Romulan. No surprise there. Dr. Crusher tells Worf that without his ribosomes, the Romulan will die. Worf does not relent. She tries again by forcing him to face the dieing Romulan, which backfires when said Romulan declares that he would rather die than have his body polluted by the Klingon. Finally, Captain Piccard practically begs Worf to save the Romulan, not because saving the one man is right but because refusing to save him would jeopardize the Federation and give the Romulans a motive to attack. Piccard can not bring himself to order Worf to comply and shortly after the Romulan dies.

And this moved me. It would be easy for the writers to make Worf the bigger man, the hero who overcomes prejudice to save the life of an enemy but they do not. Instead, Worf does the wrong thing, he lets his hurt and his anger rule him and determine the fate of the Romulan. Worf asserts his non-humanity, his nature as a Klingon through this refusal. He refused our standard of morals, which (rightly) outrages us.

Sci-Fi Sick Day

I've been sick for a couple of days now. I can never figure out if it is better to just get sick, get over, and acquire a new immunity or to become a germaphobe, keeping a steady stream of purell and deplete my immune system. Anyhow, since I am sick, I let myself be lazy today, with intermittent fever.

Before my nap, I read a few chapters of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I watched the 1984 Dune movie. I was impressed but I want to digest it before I write about it. Following that was 1.5 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dr. Who, Top Gear and wrapped up the night with Alex telling me about the advances in science in the recent issue of the Economist. Altogether a good day for science and science fiction.

The full Star Trek episode was Conundrum. All members of the Enterprise have their memories wiped clean and become pure subconscious. I was extremely alarmed by the supposed first office MacDuff, who I could not remember for the life of me. He was an alien who had infiltrated the starship to win a personal war - what a relief! I found it pleasing to watch Lt. Commander Worf being captain and later watching Piccard's ethics overcome his fear.

Dr. Who remains a mystery for me. It just does not grip me. There is all this magic, these messes that are never cleaned up. It is a lot like Quantum Leap (or I suppose it is really the other way around) but it is less tidy and full of things that could not happen. To be specific, I watched the episode with the intelligent, mobile plastic. I assume it was the start of a series since the doctor picked up a new chic to play with, unless he does this every episode. If I were to classify Dr. Who within a sub-genre, I would stick it in limp sci-fi. It is sci-fi the way an illusionist is a magician. What we call magicians now a day is actually an illusionist, someone who pretends to be a magician. You can only call him a magician if you really think he pulls a rabbit out of thin air. Hint: he doesn't. And the chemical structure of plastics can neither think nor bend through volition. Can I have just a tiny bit of believability? I'll grant the altruistic alien super hero with a special phone box, but an intelligent plastic? Come on.

Geez, I just found out you can actually buy little action figures from just about any episode. So you can buy these clever little plastic figures and play out your own bizarre bad-science stories where everyone in the universe has north English accents? Or did I misunderstand and these are collectors items? Which is worse?