PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 1 This week I found inspiration in an unlikely place. I am a huge (and proud) Star Trek nerd and decided to go on a mini marathon of TNG on Netflix to clear my mind. While I have considered several episodes throughout the franchise to be ethically questionable, there was one episode that seemed highly fitting to analyze as it relates to this course. Season seven’s Journey’s End (Moore et al., 1994). I have included some supplemental clips from the episode (poorly filmed albeit) to assist in this analysis. Star Trek has been considered revolutionary in the world of sci-fi. Not only through its exploration of space beyond the confines of the Milky Way, but the addressing of various sociocultural and political issues. These include inequities and challenges around race/ethnicity, 2SLGBTQ+, and disability. This episode’s plot involved Captain Jean Luc Picard (portrayed by Sir Patrick Stewart) receiving orders from Starfleet Command to vacate of a planet called Dorvan 5 to enact a condition of a recent treaty signed between the Federation and Cardassia. On this planet reside a group of Indigenous (“North American Indians”, as referred to in the episode) who had moved 20 years earlier from their previous planet to preserve their cultural identity. Initially, Picard challenges this order, referring to the historical parallels “centuries ago”—mind you the series takes place in the equivalent of 24 th century—of forced colonization and eradication of Indigenous peoples on Earth. However, he begins to carry out the orders, with the first order of business being organizing a meeting with the residents. Speaking with the Tribal Council of Dorvan 5 at an event hosted on the starship Enterprise 1 , he paints himself as a white saviour, stating that he “understands them” and uses the argument of this benefiting the “greater good” as an excuse to remove the residents from the 1 Video clip 1 PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 2 planet. This greater good benefiting the colonizers, in this scenario Starfleet and Cardassia. Anthwara (portrayed by Ned Romero), the leader of the Tribal Council, asks Picard about his family’s history, citing that it is “good to understand one’s adversaries in negotiations”. Picard responds with “I hope by the time this is over, you’ll no longer see me as your adversary”. Can we detect a hint of colonizer mentality? Citing that he wants Anthwara to view him as an equal to them, even though the power lies in Picard’s hands. He is exhibiting this power to harm them by removing them from their land. As it has been historically true to this day in the context of white-indigenous relations. In another meeting with them, this time on the planet’s surface, Anthwara brings forth some disturbing truths 2 . That one of Picard’s ancestors was responsible for the deaths and injuries of thousands of Indigenous peoples ten years following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. They also respond by stating that the true reason Picard was chosen for this assignment was to erase the stains of blood on his hands. Classically, Picard goes on the defensive and uses a fallacious argument we often observe when discussing race related issues “I’m not responsible for my ancestor’s doings”. I think that in the context of colonialism we can identify a unique set of “cognitive distortions” like what we generally observe in psychology (Beck, 1967; Grohol, 2009). Specific examples I was able to pick out of the episode include: - Emotional reasoning: Picard’s anger-based emotions makes him in the right to be defensive at the ‘allegations’ made against him by Anthwara. - Labelling : Starfleet describes the Dorvan 5 residents as “nomadic”. This portrays them merely as a species that moves to and from places, discounting the importance of the land they occupy and the significance of their culture. They had only moved once and this was to protect their cultural identity, so this could barely classify them 2 Video clip 2 PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 3 as “nomads”. It comes across as a tactic of dehumanization to potentially make it easier for them to carry out the orders. - Fallacy of change : Picard expects the Dorvan 5 residents to change their ways to suit his needs—the satisfaction of completing his mission and internal motives, and those of the Federation and Cardassia. - Fallacy of fairness : Picard uses his own morals to dictate what is right and wrong and ‘fair’ to everyone involved. In this case, what is needed to satisfy “the greater good” even if there is a great imbalance of power and benefit to one or more parties. These examples tie into the concept of white fragility , or privilege fragility, in that Picard is unaware of the harms he commits as a white person of power and privilege. And when confronted with these truths, he falls into a state of denial. Charlene had mentioned that one can be proud of one’s culture, but we need to be aware of the role culture plays. Justin had added that there is a fine line between pride and supremacy. And one of those factors is the lack of ownership for the harms you (your culture and ancestors) have had at the expense of others. Throughout the series, Picard shows a great sense of pride in his French ancestry. However, he does not acknowledge the French’s role in colonization, nor his privileges gained from the past actions of his people. In this episode when he is confronted with a new ancestral identity, he quickly becomes wary, as it does not match with his current ideals or self-identity as a French man. Towards the end of the episode, Wesley Crusher (played by Wil Wheaton), a young Starfleet cadet, overhears plans to forcibly remove the Dorvan’s from the planet. Being outraged by this, he “rats out” his crew and warns the residents, causing an uproar 3 . Picard is furious and threatens to discipline him. Wesley stands by his decision against the act of colonization and 3 Video clip 3 PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 4 willingly resigns from Starfleet as a show of his allyship—with what power he does have as a subordinate. Eventually it clicks to Picard that this mission is wrong. He manages to develop a compromise to the treaty condition by “allowing” the residents to stay on their planet, with the designation of a neutral territory under Cardassian occupied space. Cardassia agrees to leave the residents be but makes it clear to them that if war were to erupt, that they would be directly in the crossfire. We discussed this in class as it was mentioned in The Color of Fear (Wah, 1994), the tendency of white people using fallacious arguments stemmed from innate cognitive distortions to justify their role in racism. A quote from Victor Lewis (I think) in the documentary highlights this issue very well, stating that Black folks are “unpalatable” to white people because they refuse to erase their Black identity to conform to “being American”. In this episode I did note a comparison, in that Starfleet expects the Dorvan 5 residents to accept these treaty conditions and willingly vacate their land. Essentially erasing their individuality. They accepted this land, the planet, as sacred and crucial to their community’s identity which is something Starfleet cannot understand. Even an element of cultural identity as simple as, like in your example Chad, a name. You said that as a child you hated your last name, later stating it was not a huge deal. But names are a crucial part of human identity in all contexts. They hold deep meaning to many folks and have roots embedded in one’s culture. When we think about what has happened throughout the history of Indigenous peoples, they have had their Indigenous names stripped from them and replaced with Catholic/Anglo names when colonizers destroyed their lands and families. This (like Picard views his mission and non-existent role in his ancestors’ actions) is a form of harm. Land also serves as an example, in that the physical land on Dorvan 5 serves a greater purpose to PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 5 its residents than what Starfleet assumes it does. By simply relocating to another planet, it strips them of the essence of their culture, and repeats history for the Dorvans. Drawing this to another in-class discussion about the harms of (social) media, the Star Trek franchise is a player in one of the most influential knowledge sharing platforms out there, television and film. I understand that this is the ethos of Hollywood, but I feel as though the reinforcement of these stereotypes to be harmful still. It is also even more harmful when there has been no consultation from the Indigenous communities nor employment of Indigenous peoples in the television and film industry (i.e.: casting BIPOC actors for these characters, developing historical research teams to ensure accuracy of plotlines). It can be argued the same in terms of data sharing, the topic of conversation Tarek brought up. In this context, the data is the utilization of information and portrayal of the characters and plot. With that, the backbone of this development: where the showrunners got their information, whether it is accurate, who provided or searched for this research—among many other factors. In an already white-washed industry, the reinforcement of misinformation and lack of meaningful and respectful representation of BIPOC folks perpetuates colonial harms. I came across a journal article on this topic that also shares several of my existing thoughts. Kanzler (2007) addresses several points as it relates to Star Trek’s portrayal of Indigenous peoples throughout their series. Series creator Gene Roddenberry has been vocal regarding his intents for the series, citing diversity and combatting intolerance as core goals. However, the “Western-ideal” concepts are still evident, as the images of Indigenous peoples still match what Western society deems as “Indigenous/Indian”. It would be one thing if there were consultation with the Indigenous community to portray this representation in a respectful PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 6 manner. However way too often the Hollywood industry fails to acknowledge this necessary action and continuously perpetuates harmful images of Indigenous peoples and their culture. In this specific episode, the showrunners try to turn the tables and illustrate the residents of Dorvan 5 as colonizers themselves. Painting the storyline as a group of “nomads” settling to a new planet to develop their ideal world. However, this is missing a key component of colonization, population migration/relocation. It was never made clear whether this planet was previously occupied and/or whether the residents had forcibly removed those previous inhabitants. Through mere assumption, it would seem not as it was not mentioned at any point. So how can they label these residents as colonizers when they had not participated in this oppressive and violent practice? On the flipside of attempting to portray the residents as colonizers, showrunners used the “ideal Indian” image to reinforce negative colonial behaviours. By recycling the common plot line seen in media way too often, that these peoples “need help” from a “superior” group. This romanticizes the “performative saviour” white-Indigenous relationship in that the white people (i.e.: Starfleet/the Federation) swoop in to save the inferior Indigenous peoples (i.e.: residents of Dorvan 5). It makes for an intriguing storyline in Hollywood, but strips power from Indigenous peoples. The residents are also used as a symbol of white culture (Kanzler, 2007) by highlighting the mysticism of their ways of doing and knowing (ex: spirit/vision quests, ceremonies) as “abnormal” in their Westernized society. While the Federation and its citizens are proud of their acceptance of diversity and multiculturalism, they still perpetuate the colonial ideals which contribute to the transgressions towards Indigenous peoples. And reinforce a “damage-centred” culture of heroism and white saviourship. PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 7 Through the exploration of “strange new worlds”, making first contact with “alien races” and encouraging these people/entities to join them— the Federation is merely a sugar-coated form of colonialism in a (seemingly) faultless deep space utopia. While I adore the franchise, this episode is one of the many contributors of modern-day acts of colonization. The excuse that it was made in the 1990’s is no excuse, as this practice continues throughout the entertainment industry. This is just another powerful and influential Eurocentric system that requires a deep cleanse of its dirty colonial laundry. PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 8 References Beck, T, Aaron. (1967). Depression Causes and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. Grohol, J. M. (2009, July 2). 15 Common Cognitive Distortions. Psych Central . Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20090707124344/http://psychcentral.com/lib/2009/15- common-cognitive-distortions/ Kanzler, K. (2007). “A Cuchi Moya!” — Star Trek’s Native Americans. American Studies Journal , 49( 2007 ). https://doi.org/10.18422/49-06 Moore, R. D., Napoli, A., & Roddenberry, G. (1994, March 28). Journey's End. Star Trek: The Next Generation . Television episode, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; Paramount. Wah, M. Lee. (1994, April 30). The Color of Fear. Documentary, Ukiah, California. Professor Feedback This was epic! I'd love to see you flesh this out into a complete paper at some point. Maybe even turn it into a blog post. Great insights and novel application. PSYC 4001H_Journal 5_Star Trek_LeBlancShannon 9