bailey//rockruff⚪
i still think discovery is pretty good for what it's trying to be - a bold new direction for star trek - and it's certainly gotten a lot better in the more recent episodes. that said, it's still not quite as good as other star trek series due to one large flaw: it doesn't adequately get across that human civilization is at an important turning point where things are much different than they are in the reality from which we're watching the show.
it mirrors current society too much.
bailey//rockruff⚪
the constant militarism gets to me. they may be in a time of war, but the way they react to a lot of this shit just feels very far from what star trek used to be.
and the character interactions feel very typical of current day society, rather than those of a futuristic one.
bailey//rockruff⚪
there's less of a focus on the utopia that is the federation, less of a focus on the deep moral issues, and a large focus on "us versus them" and boring human interactions we see in any piece of media out there today.
bailey//rockruff⚪
but it's still a decent series, and i feel like it's going to get better over time, judging from what i've seen so far.
i just wish the show didn't feel so much like it was created by people who are stuck in our current reality, rather than feeling aptly like a peek into a possible future.
they don't seem to understand that phasers and starships don't make the future, social progress and societal norms changing/evolving do.
bailey//rockruff⚪
while the science officer is gay and nobody bats an eye at the relationship or even mentions how "progressive" it is, that does make this feel like a progressive society sexually, but the hetero romance feels like the same old bs as in any other tv show, and there's very little else in the series to indicate societal progress beyond the technology they have
bailey//rockruff⚪
basically, unlike any other star trek that i've seen, discovery likes to push the idea that societal progress is possible without any inherent change to the way society is running right now. it implies that we can still achieve enormous technological advances without moving beyond militarism, capitalism, rather than through moving toward unity and peaceful and morally sound diplomatic resolution.
bailey//rockruff⚪
even in DS9 they end up going back in time to 2024, where a legit revolution had to take place to get society to figure out "oh shit, maybe things need to change asap"
people died, many of them good. but they succeeded in pulling off a believable turning point that changed the course of history and set up society for the changes that would eventually come to be
bailey//rockruff⚪
kitty partner mentioned that there were some fascist undertones in discovery and honestly that seems about right to me. aside from that, we do like the show. could be better but it still somewhat feels like star trek, so i'll take what i can get.
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