A Brief Guide to Star Trek

America, Roddenberry felt it was important to tell stories in
Star Trek
that showed in the future such issues had been resolved within humanity, even if sometimes Kirk had to show the various peoples of other races a more enlightened way of relating to each other.
    The most blatant example was ‘Let That Be Your Last Battlefield’, a third season episode that sees the
Enterprise
involved with the last two representatives of a warring race. Lokai of Cheron is half black on one side of his face, half white on the other. Bele of Cheron is his mirror image, and his pursuer. Originally conceived by Gene Coon as a story about two beings – one angelic, one satanic – in conflict, the story was revised to be not just a comment on surface appearances being deceiving, but the futility of hatred motivated purely by physical (or social, religious or ethnic) difference.
    Star Trek
’s belief in ‘infinite diversity in infinite combinations’ – the Vulcan philosophy of tolerance outlined by Spock in the episode ‘Is There in Truth No Beauty’ – extended to nonhumanoid life forms. In ‘The Devil in the Dark’, the
Enterprise
comes to the aid of a mining colony planet where miners are being killed off by a mysterious beast. Kirk and Spock discover the ‘beast’ is a sentient, silicon-based life form called a Horta. Spock mind-melds with the rock-like creature, discovering its intelligence. Communicating with the pair, the Horta carves the words ‘No Kill I’ into the rock, either as a plea for mercy or a statement of intent. The
Enterprise
pair learns that the creatureis a mother, who has been attacking the miners in order to defend its eggs (not recognised by the miners as such). In a neat solution, the natural rock-carving ability of the Horta is harnessed to aid the mining activities of the colonists while the creature and its progeny are protected. The point expressed by the episode is that life can come in the most unexpected forms, and limited perceptions can blind people (like the miners) from recognising it. It’s quintessential
Star Trek
, and one of the series’ best episodes.

    Patrick Stewart, captain of the
Enterprise
on
The Next Generation
, was one of the speakers at Gene Roddenberry’s memorial ser -vice in 1991. Despite the solemnity of the occasion, he addressed an issue that continued into the spin-off
Star Trek
TV series: the show’s sometimes controversial depiction of women. ‘[
Star Trek
] wasn’t always consistent, especially where it concerned women’, noted Stewart. ‘Infuriatingly,
Star Trek
remains simultaneously liberated and sexist. Maybe even in that, Gene remains, sadly, a visionary.’
    Stewart’s phrase ‘liberated and sexist’ is the perfect, seemingly contradictory way to describe
Star Trek
’s attitude to and depiction of women. Much of it seems to be rooted in Roddenberry’s own private life and his womanising ways: he idolised and loved women, believing them capable of as much, if not more, than men. This resulted in a series of strong, independent, clever female characters throughout
Star Trek
, but also the infamous short skirts and revealing outfits of the series that replaced the more sensible trouser suits seen in the original pilot. While Kirk may be seen as a stand-in for Roddenberry, seemingly with a woman on every planet, those women themselves are often depicted as irresistibly alluring (even if such allure is sometimes chemically assisted). Both Kirk and Spock have sacrificed the possibility of relationships to their careers: Kirk in his obsessive connection with his ship (best displayed in the early episode ‘The Naked Time’) and Spock in his devotion to logic and duty (he gives up his long-promised Vulcan bride in ‘Amok Time’).
    Women in
The Original Series
often find themselves in thrall to powerful men, whether it be Marla McGivers with Khan (‘Space Seed’) or Carolyn Palamas and faux-god Apollo (‘Who Mourns for Adonais?’). The spectre of rape, or at least forced physical contact, seems to haunt some of these relationships. In ‘Shore Leave’, the men’s fantasies revolve around whimsy (McCoy sees Alice and the White Rabbit, Kirk encounters Finnegan, a joker from his past, and old flame Ruth), while Tonia Barrows’ fantasy involves a violent seduction at the hands of Don Juan. Similarly, Carolyn Palamas is ravaged by a violent storm of Apollo’s making when she rejects his advances. Both encounters leave the women traumatised