On May 14, 2022, an opinion writer on the Fox News website caused a stir. Usually, Fox News is where conservative-leaning folks go to get their news, which is generally about politics and current events. But on that particular day, writer David Marcus wrote about something he said that he is a fan of — “Star Trek.”
In his article, Marcus opined that “Star Trek: Discovery” engaged in “electioneering” when the show included the Democratic gubernatorial candidate from Georgia, Stacey Abrams, in the final episode of Season 4.
“Ultimately, the problem here is that this kind of political signaling is alienating for those fans who are not part of the Democrat[ic] Party political tribe,” Marcus wrote. “As a fan myself, it hasn’t made me turn off the shows, but it’s jarring and also breaks the narrative spell of fantasy and science fiction, which is why people tune-in in the first place.”
Marcus charged that recently “Star Trek” has engaged in attracting a “woke” audience and is interested in “scoring cheap, predictable, and partisan political points.” He also disapproved of the use of the footage from the January 6 Insurrection as part of the first episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”
Cruz and Rapp on ‘Discovery’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPSj1g7A1_A
“Artists can, always have, and should use their work to hold a mirror up to their culture and society, even to advocate for broad agenda items,” said Marcus in his article. “What they shouldn’t do is beam the equivalent of a 30-second Democrat[ic] Party political ad into the middle of a space adventure.”
This article caused a stir among Trek fans, which Heavy covered at the time. Many fans, writers, and others who are involved with “Star Trek” pushed back, and afterward, the issue seemed not to be something people were talking about.
That is, until June 4, 2022, at the AwesomeCon event in Washington, D.C. Thousands of fans gathered to celebrate their favorite geeky franchises and characters. Among those fandoms represented were Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, Anime, independent comics creators, and hundreds of others.
A few big names headlined the event, including Anthony Daniels (C-3PO from the Star Wars films), Simu Liu (Marvel’s “Shang Chi”), and “Star Trek: Discovery” stars Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz. They also signed autographs and spoke on the main stage.
Rapp and Cruz spoke about various topics, many of which were not related to their “Star Trek” roles. The audience gathered at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center was able to ask questions directly to Cruz and Rapp.
Anthony Rapp on ‘RENT’
Cruz spoke about his time on Broadway and as a part of the cult-classic show, “My So-Called Life.” He also explained why he moved back to the East Coast and why people should consider going to a therapist regularly. Fans also applauded him for his recent award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
Rapp answered many questions about his time on the Broadway smash hit “RENT.” He shared a story of how the cast got together to mourn and celebrate the life of the show’s creator just after his tragic death.
Audience member Denise Norris stepped up to the microphone and asked Cruz and Rapp about the recent comments and controversy.
“Every day, I read some op-ed that says, ‘Oh my god, ‘Star Trek’ has become woke,” said Norris. “Star Trek has always been woke in one way or the other.”
“My question for the two of you is: We’re doing queer representation… we’re finding that frontier,” Norris said. “So where’s our next frontier in ‘Star Trek?’ As a community of creators and enjoyers… art for consumption. Where do we go next? Where’s that franchise going to take our community we live in, in that vision?”
Wilson Cruz on ‘My So-Called Life’
Rapp answered first, saying that “Star Trek” had a lot of avenues that still have not gotten any screentime.
“I think there’s still a lot of sort of trans and gender, queer stuff that hasn’t really been fully explored,” said Rapp. “So there’s that. Beyond that, I’m not exactly sure.”
“I think there’s always more like ‘Star Trek’ has done a beautiful job of using culture and language and ideas like that to explore, you know, to use alien races or alien cultures as ways to explore our own political mirror,” Rapp said. “So, I think that’s always really exciting. So I’m not exactly sure beyond that at the moment, honestly.”
Cruz agreed with Rapp and went on to share a few additional thoughts.
“I think you’re right. I think it’s hard to say,” said Cruz. “But I do think that you know, ‘Star Trek’ is always a reflection of the times in which it’s being made. And I don’t think any of us here can deny that.”
Etic Pesola Etic PesolaDenise Norris asks Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz a tough question.
“We have a problem with connection,” said Cruz. “We are disconnected from each other, given the two years that we’ve been through, given the politics and how divisive so many issues can be right now.”
“I think ‘Star Trek,’ especially our show, does a really beautiful job of reminding people how much we need each other, and how much we need to see past specific issues and to remember each other’s humanity,” said Cruz. “I think we forget that when we meet someone or we don’t understand someone or someone’s life is foreign to us. That at the end, we’re just talking to another human being who lives and breathes and bleeds and dies and is born and creates and marries and loves just like everybody else. And one last thing….”
Cruz paused before making this statement:
“I want to say I’m so tired of this negative connotation for the word ‘woke,’” Cruz said. “You want to stay asleep? You want to close your eyes, and you know [and] have a nice slumber that allows you to imagine a world where everyone is the same, and you know, everyone loves the same way and identifies the same way? That is boring s–t! And it’s not real.”
“So you are asleep, and I prefer to be wide awake,” said Cruz. “I prefer to see people for exactly who they are and appreciate them. And maybe I don’t understand, or maybe I don’t identify exactly with your experience, but I respect you as a human being for having it. And all I require from you is that you give me that same respect in return.”
“And if that’s being ‘woke,’ then I’m woke,” said Cruz. The audience applauded.
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being a life long star trek fan, i watched season 1 of discovery and loved it. season 2 was just as good, season 3 really started to get hard to watch with all the wokeness. In season 4 the show became unwatchable, it was just so woke it hurt my eyes, so i stopped watching. star trek has always be politically correct but this last season of discovery jumped the shark with it’s wokeness, hope they course correct before it is too late
I agree. Season 3 is where Discovery really started to lose me, with season 4 even angering me. And season 1 of Picard wasn’t really that memorable, while season 2 was just awful. Strange New Worlds seems to be the closest they’ve gotten to recapturing the feel of classic Star Trek.
Oh Goody, where to start?! I belong to a minority group because I have a disability for a start. When anyone looks at all the hard work done by Civil Rights, Disabled groups and the LGBTQ society over the years and then how the Woke society has been pushed via Democrat leaning groups it is very easy to see and understand (in terms of the working class majority) why and how this has happened. The left have always struggled to hold onto power when one looks at the history books in most democratic countries. In fact the few countries where the left has held onto power are Authoritarian and where democracy is frowned upon, such as Russia and China. That should already start the warning bells especially now that the cover up by the Elite media of the Hunter Biden laptop has run out of steam. Being payed by companies associated with Russia and China and keeping it hidden should raise concern to anyone when these countries treat their population with such things as detention centres for people who disagree with the government line. All the masses want is a level of equality, the same level of equality, not being more equal otherwise it destroys all the hard work done before. In many ways it is worse than the levels of discrimination that people like myself experience throughout life and in the workplace because, at least , something can be done to rectify the problem at hand. Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided cannot function by itself!” That is the goal of those who are pushing the Woke agenda. They are Frankfurt Marxists (look it up on the internet on the Encyclopedia Britannica (a non political fact based knowledge book) to see that Social Justice and CRT is the main instrument that they use to gain and keep hold of power. Pushing levels of sex education in Kindergarten which includes all areas, not just gay! If anyone bothers to read the text of the Florida law that is being implemented. If anyone doesn’t agree with it they are sick in the head if they think that this is a topic for discussion for minors! The Orville highlights how bad Star Trek Discovery and Picard are when you look at things such as audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes and also the far greater Utopian society that it portrays with far better script writing and including people of all races (alien as well as human) have different opinions whether they are the same race or not who solve the various subplots as a collective instead of a Mary Sue who seems to be the only one with a brain. If you have never watched the show before and you struggle to remember who is white, black, green, orange, etc but enjoyed watching it then it has done it’s job, something that the current Star Trek fails to do. Strange New Worlds is better than the previous attempts but is still trying to include subtle jibes towards a political group and a franchise should be inclusive to all not the Elite minority!
Whoever is in charge of this AI-generated messageboard bot should be aware that it’s not doing a very good job of being *checks notes* a “minority group” member with a “disability” unless by disability they mean, being badly written by a misinformed individual.
This wall of text wouldn’t convince even the most gullible Fox New or OAN viewer.
Oh look. Someone who actually DIDN’T read what Joseph said and is just dismissing his valid statements as “AI-generated”, just like the media does when the people disagree with them. You’re totally not a political sheep. No way.
You call Joseph “misinformed” when he pointed out what the Florida bill ACTUALLY is about, while the media is purposely lying about what it does? Who’s the misinformed one here? Because it’s not Joseph.
And the fact that you’re saying he’s “not doing a very good job of being a minority group with a disability” just shows your ignorance. There is no “good” or “bad” job of being a minority group with a disability. Isn’t that the whole point of the LGBT movement? That everyone has their own “truth” and their own experiences? Who are you to dismiss someone’s else’s “truth” and experiences simply because they don’t align with your preconceived standards of what a minority with a disability should be like? Minorities are not a monlith. Neither are disabled people. Stop telling people what they should think.
Exactly. Cruz says he’s so tired of the negative connotation of the word ‘woke’, well I’m tired of people misunderstanding what we even mean when we negatively call something woke. When we do that, we’re talking about how it puts political agenda BEFORE storytelling. For example, in Picard season 2, they made a completely pointless side plot that detracted from the already short main plot where Ramos got injured, so he had to go to a clinic that treats illegal immigrants, all so they could put “ICE bad” and “illegal immigration good” in the story. There was absolutely no reason whatsoever for that to be in story other than politics, so it ruins the overall plot. THAT is what we mean when we say something is woke. We don’t call EVERYTHING that has a minority in an important role woke, because that’s not what it’s about. It’s about POLITICAL AGENDA being prioritized over the story. The story should ALWAYS come first. We all know Star Trek has always had political messaging from day one. It had the first mixed race kiss on television after all. But the political messaging was never prioritized over the story until Discovery came along. There was always nuance to it, whereas now, there’s no nuance, and it’s shoved down your throat for consumption. I actually liked the first couple seasons of Discovery for the most part(despite it breaking lore in places like the replicators) but seasons 3 and 4 really started pushing the political agenda a lot more(especially with that annoying lunatic Stacy Abrams being brought in as the President of Earth of all things) and Picard season 2 was even worse with the illegal immigration stuff. If they just stop prioritizing politics over story, and have more nuance, they’ll bring back so many of the fans they’ve pushed away.
Discovery wokeness is why it sucked. LBGTQ represent at best 6% of the population so 94% of the fan base has no interest in 2 guys kissing almost every damn episode. Thank God viewership ratings control the messaging and its why Strange New Worlds is kicking ass, no woke BS.
Guys, Star Trek hasn’t changed. The times have, and the shows have adjusted course with the times to stay in that spot. It has consistently pushed the progressive envelope for 6 decades, starting in the sixties with a multiracial crew. And then, just as now, there were folks complaining about its political agenda while sitting there eating the popcorn.
You guys are no different from those who couldn’t deal with a kiss between Kirk and Uhura. You’re the same people in a different time.
People who spend their lives wallowing in hatred and intolerance complain that Discovery isn’t doing enough of that, and they wax nostalgic about a nonexistent past where they “remember” Star Trek fully embracing and promoting hatred and intolerance. It’s really hard to take their whining seriously.
Sooooo tired of hearing about gays and trans people. Get over yourself already. Never seen such an insecure group that has to be in everything, has to be liked by everyone, and if you disagree with them they seek to destroy you. Star Trek is dead to me!!! Been a fan since I was a child, but I have never, and will never watch Discovery or any of those crappy JJ Abrams movies. Oh, and BTW, what do you think libtards would have done if Donald Trump made a guest appearance? They would have lost their minds and Star Trek would be canceled. Marching that Krispy Kreme, racist Stacey Abrams out for all to see clearly proves that Star Trek is gone. Stop trying to defend it because you just come across as stupid.
Declares themselves “woke” and then shrugs off the criticisms that come with it by assuming the most juvenile stereotype of the “far right”. Star Trek is about ethics and adventure in an optimistic future. It was an intellectual sci-fi show with clever writing that explored the ugly grey of making difficult decisions. It was ACTUALLY progressive, unlike these pseudo-progressive virtue signalling cultists that have to change the definitions of words in order to sustain their toxic paradigms.
What we have here is another example of a non-creator hijacking a series for the purpose of “telling their truth” (read: forcing their subjective opinion that they ironically adopted without critically thinking). Everything they make is garbage and everything they take becomes a sinking ship. Has anyone ever sounded so disconnected with the people while thinking they were the epitome of the zeitgeist?