‘Star Trek’ and shifting gender roles
“Star Trek: Discovery” streams into its second season. Available exclusively on the digital platform CBS All Access, it has been expanded to 14 episodes.
This season returns some familiar elements, including the U.S.S. Enterprise and flashbacks to a young Spock (Ethan Peck), who has a special relationship with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), science specialist of the U.S.S. Discovery.
We also meet Enterprise’s Capt. Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Discovery’s Commander Saru (Doug Jones).
As a pretty confirmed agnostic in the Church of Gene Roddenberry, I am not schooled in all things “Star Trek.” But that also offers a fresh perspective. At the risk of treading on ground as treacherous as an exploding asteroid belt, “Star Trek” appears to have become a women’s show.
Burnham dominates not only the action, but the backstory. Pike just sort of shows up, wearing William Shatner’s old shirt. The shift is underscored by the chatty effervescence of Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman).
I am certain others could expand on the feminization of “Star Trek” over the years, as the pneumatic Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) gave way to no-nonsense Capt. Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Along the way, the older male “Trek” archetypes became kind of goofy, paving the way for “Galaxy Quest” and “The Orville.”
Seen in the context of 1966, Capt. James T. Kirk was macho, confident and optimistic. Kirk not only resembled the late president John F. Kennedy, his voiceover also promised “to boldly go where no one has gone before,” echoing the president’s 1961 promise to put a man on the moon.
Did shifting gender perspective reduce Kirk to camp, the way James Bond became “Austin Powers”? Or has five decades of watching William Shatner done the trick?
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Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin .tvguy@gmail.com.