TREKCORE > SPECIALS > TEN FORWARD > A Galaxy of Learning

Date Published: June 8, 2007
Author: John Tenuto

Educators with diverse styles of teaching often reach the most students. After ten years of teaching sociology, one of the styles my wife and I have utilized that is most effective is applying popular culture. The media is ubiquitous, yet sometimes students watch movies and television shows without being critical, thinking not of the social content within these entertainments. This, among other reasons, makes utilizing popular culture in the classroom extremely beneficial. Students relate to the films and television shows. Students know the characters. A teacher can make effective use of this and present examples to students that are meaningful. They are also surprised to see how much social science is expressed in their favorite films or shows. Simply, using popular culture helps make the ephemeral more relatable. Reel worlds help students appreciate the real world. Classic sociological theories or complex notions can be presented to the student in a way that makes the social sciences fun and creates critical thinking and application learning.

This past school year, one of the classes I taught was The Sociology of Star Trek. The class utilized Star Trek as the popular culture reference for real world themes. Good science fiction is merely sociology differently designed. Both discuss social themes, one with metaphor, the other with science.

Here are five episodes or movies, one from each of the Star Trek versions, which worked especially effectively with students because of their sociological narratives. These may not be the best episodes of Star Trek, in fact, some of these would probably not be featured on lists of fan favorites. Yet, they are the best for teaching sociology. While not mutually exclusive, watching for sociological themes, compared with watching for other reasons such as character or narrative, may result with differing lists of the best.

The Five Best Sociology Themes Episodes or Movies:

STAR TREK

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Written by David Loughery
Story by William Shatner and Harve Bennett and David Loughery
Shown 6/9/1989

No, you read correctly. Star Trek V, underappreciated and problematic, is actually a great sociological teaching narrative. The opening scenes on Nimbus III compared with Earth’s Yosemite National Park start the movie’s environmental subtext. The film issues a challenge: do we want our world to be like Nimbus III or Yosemite? The stark contrast between the two environments is handy for educators. The fact that Nimbus III was filmed at what used to be a lake before social interference adds to lectures and class conversations.

The film’s discussion of regrets is also a nice theme for class. The sociological imagination is an awareness of how social and historical realities shape individual experiences. Everything is connected. Change A and Z may be influenced. The character of James Kirk helps remind the audience that we are who we are because of both correct and regrettable choices.

Star Trek is also great for comparing the real to the reel with the sociology of families. As family experiences change over the last 40 years, so has Star Trek’s presentation of family. The often negative view of marriage and family presented in the 1960s versions of Star Trek was a reflection of the challenges traditional family was experiencing in the real world. Marriage on Star Trek was to be avoided (I, Mudd) or only engaged when amnesia or illness (For The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky or The Paradise Syndrome) affect rational thinking. No main character was married, or at least we were never told of their marriages. The 1980s return American society to a more traditional view of marriage. This is seen with the families aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise D of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek V also shows that while not biological related, the crew of the Enterprise does value family. Kirk sees Spock and McCoy as family, his narrative boon gained by his adventures in Star Trek V.

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Insurrection
Written by Michael Piller
Story by Rick Berman and Michael Piller
Shown 12/11/1998

Usually considered a weak Star Trek film, Insurrection is the best of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films for dealing with social issues.

The Ba’ku people reside on a planet in the Briar Patch. They, in essence, reside on some valuable property which could benefit billions of people. The Ba’ku have rejected technology and tried to minimize their dealings with offlanders. Yet, some who are desperate in the Federation form a partnership with the shady Son’a in an attempt to dupe the Ba’ku out of their land. Picard and crew must save the day, standing up for a people who cannot really fight back on the level necessary to defeat the Son’a.

While there are narrative problems, Insurrection provides much to talk about with students of sociology. The Ba’ku are in essence the Amish in space. The Ba’ku see technology much like the Amish. Their experiences are also similar, with both the reel Ba’ku and the real Amish trying to fend for themselves when modernized peoples from the outside keep encroaching on their values. How can a traditional people endure in a modernized world?

Jonathan Frakes and Matthew F. Leonetti present subtle differences between the Ba’ku and the Federation. The Ba’ku move slowly, their speech is calmer. They refer to each other by name and know each other. The Federation types are busily dealing with each other in very formal ways. The opening moments of the film show that much of the conversation of the citizens of the Federation involves achieved statuses, formal relationships, rigid experiences, and an emphasis on technology. Listen to Data’s words, and those of the Federation working in the duck blind on the Ba’ku planet. It is formal, technological. It reminds me of how during my first five years teaching, the Y2K era, nearly every meeting I attended dealt with technology. Students were not mentioned. Teaching was not mentioned. The opening moments of Insurrection help warn the audience about keeping technology as useful tools helping our experiences, not technology being the reason for our experiences.

The film also presents a powerful ethical dilemma. Should six hundred people be disrupted to benefit billions? In this way, the Ba’ku remind the audience of Native Americans. Insurrection deals with the tragedy of forced relocation and population transfer, yet does not treat the issue simply. Arguments about utilitarianism and social policy are compelling in the film. The film is sociology.

STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE

Far Beyond the Stars
Written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler
Story by Marc Scott Zicree
Shown 2/11/1998

Unusual. Far Beyond the Stars shows us a 1950s view of the future, with actors from DS9 playing all the roles. The episode is a direct commentary on how prejudice and discrimination limits the individual and the society. Science fiction writer Benny Russell’s story about a future space station commanded by a black man is blamed for a publisher’s decree that he will not present that month’s science fiction. The performance by Avery Brooks as a man broken by racism is affecting and remarkable. The narrative is impossible to forget. The episode teaches us that equality is attainable. It is about the idea. This is a perfect example of the Thomas Theorem in sociology which states that “If something is believed to be real, it is real in its consequences.” Racism is based on ideas and beliefs. Its consequences are harmful to the society. Yet, equality is based on ideas and beliefs. Its consequences are beneficial to the society. It isn’t rocket science or science fiction. Good or bad, social experiences begin with ideas. Benny Russell knows this, yet his society does not. At least not yet. This is Star Trek after all, and its greatest social theme is that society will get better.

STAR TREK: VOYAGER

Nemesis
Written by Kenneth Biller
Shown 9/27/1997

Effective, this episode teaches about the power of socialization. Chakotay learns how and why to fight for the Vori against the evil Kradin after a shuttle accident leaves him on their planet. Or, so he believes. The amazing thing about this episode is that the audience feels the same as Chakotay. We eventually appreciate the Vori perspective and see the Kradin as the villains of the narrative. However, the surprise ending and the theme that prejudice is easy are especially valuable for sociological conversations with college students. A very good episode of Voyager and one of its most effecting sociological themed narratives.

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE

Cogenitor
Written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga
Shown 4/30/2003

The UPN promotion for this episode was very misleading. Presented as a comedic romp in commercials, Cogenitor is actually an amazing episode dealing with discrimination and prejudice. The Cogenitor is a third gendered alien needed in Vissian marriages, yet not provided the respect of citizenship. The Cogenitor is assumed to be ignorant and merely a useful creature for Vissian purposes. When Charles “Trip” Tucker meets the Cogenitor, he sees potential there because of his outsider status. He is not socialized to expect second class behavior, and therefore does not see it in the Cogenitor. In fact, Trip secretly teaches the Cogenitor to read and appreciate her or his potential. No longer satisfied with her or his limited experiences, the Cogenitor asks for asylum and risks upsetting Vissian culture. The ending is emotionally powerful and shows the real cost of prejudice. It is also a warning about interfering with other cultural perspectives.

Enterprise has many such episodes that deal with social themes. In fact, it is the only Star Trek version to dedicate an entire season to a current event. The Xindi narratives were a direct parallel to the events of September 11, 2001. DS9’s narratives were often about war, yet not any war in particular, although the quality of writing for DS9 provides allegories about World War II and terrorism. Enterprise dealt with a specific war, offering the subversive notion that friendship may be the answer. The episode Stigma dealt with AIDS. Affliction and Divergence dealt with genetic engineering.

Berman and Braga’s Cogenitor is a marvellous teleplay that discusses the harm to the individual and to the society when continued prejudice and discrimination are realities. Archer must struggle between his human values and his respect for other cultures. Trip’s actions are correct and incorrect at the same time. He does what most of us would like to do, help a person see their potential when those around them do not.

Honorable Mentions: Other Excellent Sociological Episodes:

Star Trek
A Taste of Armageddon
A Private Little War
The Ultimate Computer
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Outcast
Darmok

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Episodes dealing with war, especially In the Pale Moonlight
Melora
Duet
Bar Association

Star Trek: Voyager
Distant Origin
Someone To Watch Over Me
Critical Care
Author, Author

Star Trek: Enterprise
Stigma
The Xindi arc of Season 3

What are your favorite sociology episodes of Star Trek?

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