A. Plan of the Investigation
This investigation will evaluate how different aspects of Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969) reflect the changing social standards of 1960s United States of America. In order to access these parallels, this investigation will focus on the social standards involving race and gender in both 1960s America and on the USS Enterprise in the show. The question that I will be investigating is "How did Star Trek: The Original Series reflect the changing social standards of 1960s United States of America. I will address this question through analyzing episodes from Star Trek: The Original Series, articles, and books concerning the subject.
B. Summary of Evidence
Creator and primary writer of the Star Trek: The Original Series is quoted as saying, " I have no belief that Star Trek depicts the actual future, it depicts us, now, things we need to understand about that" (Interview with Roddenberry). The "now" that Roddenberry references in this quote is the 1960s in the United States. The 1960s in the United States was the decade of the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Liberation Movement. The goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to create a "racially integrated society" with "people of all races included" (Chalberg 164). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned all racial and sexual discrimination in all areas, such as education and employment. People of different races were integrated into the same schools and allowed to work in the same workspaces as people of the Caucasian race. This reflects the crew of the USS Enterprise where characters such as Lieutenant Uhura, of African descent, and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, of Asian descent, hold positions of power and are extremely respected amongst their Starfl...
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...ging world around the creators of the show.
Works Cited
Crawford, Oliver, and Lee Cronin. "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." Star Trek. NBC. 10 Jan. 1969. Television.
Dolinsky, Meyer. "Plato's Stepchild." Star Trek. NBC. 22 Nov. 1968. Television.
Dudley, William. The 1960s: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1997. Print.
Harrison, Taylor. Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1996. Print.
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Wagner, Jon G., and Jan Lundeen. Deep Space and Sacred Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998. Print.
Freedom Rides, Vietnam, and Social activism among the youths of America have left the 60’s with a very profound effect on our society. Without question, the decade of the 1960’s was one of the most controversial in American History. Throughout this period of social unrest, anti-war attitudes were gaining prevalence in a peace-loving subculture, and individuals began to question certain aspects of governmental policy and authority. This was the decade of peace and war, optimism and despair, cultural turbulence and frustration.
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1966 was a turning point in American history. It was the height of the Space Race as well as the Vietnam War. In the entertainment industry, The Beatles had released the album Revolver, the show Star Trek premiered on television, and the play Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? was adapted to film. This film was controversial for several reasons, including its depiction of violence and drinking, as well as its theme of sexuality. For a movie to take on such bold scenes and topics requires other bold cinematic choices as well. These choices included casting glamorous actors and actresses in not so glamorous roles, filming in black and white as opposed to color, and using unique cinematic film shots in various scenes. The choices that the filmmakers
Despite the negative portrayal in mainstream 1960s media, justifications expressed by counterculture activists for further investigation, education and experimentation under government control of LSD were rational and valid arguments. Sex, drugs, protests, war, political upheaval, cultural chaos, and social rebellion; the many comforts TV dinner eating, republican voting, church going, suburbia conformists tried to escape through conservative ideals, town meetings, and The Andy Williams Family Hour. National consciousness in 1960s United States was alive, but existed differently in every mind it dwelled, and stirred uninterrupted in every life to which it was introduced. A dream of money, success, and a house with a white picket fence still existed within the pandemonium of the nation and many still relished in the idea of “Americanism.” Television was a base for a magnitude of world news and national information. Television situation comedies created ideal families and contenting distractions from unsettling national realities. Mainstream media, both fact and fiction, influenced the nation’s minds resulting in the effect of political change and further media influence over the government. The new decade, along with the effects of the Vietnam War and the strong influence of television, began to leak from the cracks of the nation a new counterculture of rebellious teenagers, unfamiliar narcotics, and a wave of promiscuity. Among the many issues and events molding our nation into a new decade, came the question of government and mind control. For some it was the next step into human evolution, a potential tool for mind control, a liberator of human kind, but for most LSD helped define 1960s counterculture, in which it was deeply rooted.
Dye, Thomas R., L. Tucker Gibson, Jr., and Clay Robison. Politics in America. Ninth ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: Longman, 2011. 337. Print.
The original series ran from 1966 through 1969, in an overlap between the civil rights movement’s height and second wave feminism’s. Bigotry abounded, with workplace inequality a big issue for both groups. Despite the Civil Rights Act’s declaration that employers couldn’t discriminate based on sex, race, color, national origin, or religion, equality
The 1960s was a decade overloaded with signifiant life changing events. From Martin Luther King Jr. to the Vietnam War, the reign of Muhammad Ali and the Beatles reaching to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the moon landing. The result of these history changing events: a new culture emerging at the beginning of the Vietnam war in the early 60s. A radical movement would start to take off called Popular Culture. First witnessed after the Industrial revolution when amusement and entertainment got more and more appealing to society, the 60s was an era when everything changed and nothing would be the same again.
The Social and Cultural Changes in the Sixties There was undoubtedly a significant social and cultural change in the
The 1960’s were a memorable time, even now. Riots over war, women's rights, racial rights, technological advancements, and it being the height of the space race all shaped the main purpose of the show (Pop Culture Forever). At the time of the filming and showing of Star Trek: The Original Series NASA was creating Apollo, which would be the first rocket to send men to the moon. “The show played to our obsession with space flight and what might be cut out there,” admits Daniel Bernardi, a professor at San Francisco State University (Pop Culture Icon). At the time and even now space...
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” Humans have been fascinated by space for generations. They are intrigued by its lovely mystery that contains a multitude of possibilities. Significant improvements in space discovery opened many opportunities for filmmakers to go to infinity and beyond. Outer space has been portrayed on the silver screen countless times, from Star Wars, the epic space opera series, to Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon), the iconic French silent film, to Gravity, the Academy Award-nominated contemporary thriller. After the moon landing in 1969, the motion picture industry began to produce more stories about space travel; thus, a wide variety of space films that appeal to different audiences was created. Moviegoers were eager to see both outlandish science fiction films and strictly historical biopics alike. A new era of film had begun and it revolutionized Hollywood as we know it.
Jones, W. T. Masters of Political Thought. Ed. Edward, McChesner, and Sait. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
Asslin, C. K. "My Tribute to the Women of Star Trek: Voyager." The Trek Nation -. Trek Today, 22 Feb.
Star Trek showed a future of people accepting others regardless of their differences. Even those that are LGBT would be treated and respected as equals. Even the sluts (male and female alike) were accepted (i.e. Kirk and Troy). Gene Roddenberry shared with the world how he saw humans evolve past most of our differences.
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