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I know not everybody contemplates the messages found in their preferred media, but it's hard to imagine someone who thinks like that finding anything to like about Star Trek.
It does seem that more than a few of this kind of people are quite tonedef. One example is a lot of them liking Rage Against the Machine but objecting when Tom Morello makes a political statement, as if their entire song catalog wasn't political and literally raging against everything those conservatives and/or fascists hold dear.
And also objecting to Tom Morello making a political statement as if he wasn't an honors graduate in Political Science from Harvard University.
I loved it when Paul Ryan said he was a fan of RATM and Tom Morello said that Paul Ryan is the machine they're raging against.
The machine gets annoyed when you rage against it in explicit and unambiguous terms. But don’t let that stop you.
All they hear in Killing In The Name is "wearing the badge, they're the chosen white" and then they call it a day.
That one video of Trump supporters singing it was emphasizing the "and you do what they told ya". It plays into their belief that trans people are only supported because the mainstream media told you to. This is the start and end of their thoughts on the song.
but it’s hard to imagine someone who thinks like that finding anything to like about Star Trek.
For those folk, my guess is they cherry pick all the flaws and celebrate them, like the:
- hyper masculinity of the Klingons
- female suppression of the Ferengi
- meritocracy of deception of the Romulans
- female enslavement of the Orions
- authoritarian control of the Founders
- the brutality to the weak of the Cardassians
- biological forced sexual intercourse of the Vulcans
- stubborn and rude arguments of the Telorites
- racism of the Andorians
They take all the flaws introduced to each race and celebrate those as evidence of an ideal. These folks don't realize that each race has a flaw in them to show their imperfection.
I think it's much simpler than that. They watch it for the pew pew space battles and ignore the messaging.
Anyone who watches Star Trek for the space battles must REAAAALLLY be into delayed gratification.
For the most part they have a reasonably generous pacing of violence throughout many (if not most) episodes. The ones that don't probably get panned by these people as 'one of the boring ones'
VOY was probably the one with the most pew-pew per season and it was the most watched series on Netflix, back before Paramount+.
Violence yes, starship combat not so much (in the TV shows anyway). I love watching the battles from the movies but yeah, that shit's expensive yo!
pew pew space battles and ignore the messaging.
Hey, we don't have to get personal here :(
They must have very complex feelings about the moclans if they also watch Star Trek adjacent shows.
I grew up in (and eventually left) a conservative Christian church, so I don't have a good idea of how aware normal people are when it comes to the fears and obsessions of that community. From stories like these I think that there's hardly any awareness at all -- which is totally fine! Those beliefs are erroneous and damaging! But two things worth understanding if you want to know why these complaints of theirs are so common (and wrong of course):
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Evangelicals believe that if the existence of same-sex attraction is kept secret then no one would ever be gay, and
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Evangelicals believe that sexy media leads to horniness, which leads to jerking-off, which is a sin -- whereas horrifying bloody violence does not.
Evangelicals believe that sexy media leads to horniness, which leads to jerking-off, which is a sin – whereas horrifying bloody violence does not.
Speak for yourself
🔪 😜
I read the words, but my brain is just screamin "REPRESSED. DEEPLY REPRESSED. AND BITTER."
I would pity them, but they've destroyed too many otherwise innocent lives.
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I tend to agree, but there are two issues working agaonst Star Trek.
- Successful media appeals to broad audiences by having something to appeal to every demographic. (E.g. Don't like politics? Stay for the lasers.)
- Good sci-fi (arguably stories in general) gives the best representation of both sides of a conflict, and lets them compete on their merits. So it's possible to resonate with one side, then miss the critique (e.g. due to modest writing or selective hearing).
So while Star Trek tends to show progressive values winning in the end, many people can enjoy other aspects (e.g. military stories, relationships, and action) while ignoring the upshot.
I like Steve Shives's video on why he thought conservatives like Star Trek.
Steve Shives’s video on why he thought conservatives like Star Trek.
There are a surprising number of conservatives for who the entire message of the show has just gone over their heads.