{"id":24,"date":"2020-02-08T00:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T00:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shardsofblue.com\/blog\/?p=24"},"modified":"2020-06-27T01:50:44","modified_gmt":"2020-06-27T01:50:44","slug":"star-trek-picard-has-a-timely-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shardsofblue.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/08\/star-trek-picard-has-a-timely-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Trek: Picard Has a Timely Message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Spoiler Alert<\/p>

This post contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard<\/em> season one.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some thoughts about Star Trek: Picard<\/em>, now we\u2019re 3 episodes deep. Past iterations of Star Trek have taken as their baseline an assumption that humanity has evolved past its present troubles. We\u2019re kinder, wiser, and more ideal as a whole. The Federation embodies that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"make
Picard says it best: “Make it so.”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Trek therefore most often used aliens as the mirror of real-world issues. This served a dual purpose of allowing a narrative distance to couch the blows as we grapple with tough issues, while also holding up an ideal possible future for humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Famous<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not to say every situation had an ideal resolution. But Trek always made you feel that humanity and its coalition was collectively striving for it, and if it wasn\u2019t quite possible, it was only just out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Picard<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Star Trek: Picard<\/em> departs from this, showing humans to be as flawed as ever and revealing cracks in the Federation\u2019s piety. Our heroes must buck the system and work outside it, stepping up because the system has failed to live up to its promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Crew<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s clear the Federation is still a good organization with good people in it. But it also has flaws, because people are flawed. Humanity isn\u2019t as evolved as it thought it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fleet<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u202aThe message has changed. It\u2019s not so much a story about how Someday in the Beautiful Future we will have everything all figured out. It\u2019s a story about how good people need to do what\u2019s right even when the system fails, even when it\u2019s corrupted and works against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Commodore<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kirk bucked the system many times. Picard wrestled with conflicting moral goods. DS9 explored war and a darker side to Starfleet. In Voyager we saw officers drop their values in crisis. But Picard is the first to drop Starfleet as its organizing premise altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u202aI\u2019m not sure how I feel about this motley crew. I like Starfleet, genuinely. But it\u2019s reasonable that this is the story being told now, in this moment. Trek reflects us; it always has. And for many right now, this doesn\u2019t feel like a moment of hope, but of struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Picard<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Right now, this Star Trek reflects a need for renegade heroes, disillusioned with their government, standing up and fighting for what they believe in. Not fighting to overthrow Starfleet, but to do right despite its inaction, indifference, and infiltration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Picard<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u202aAnd I think that focus on doing right and making a difference in spite of the system is still hopeful. It\u2019s a different message from Trek\u2019s previous iterations, but whether or not the shift was a conscious decision by the show runners, it\u2019s a timely one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Picard<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some thoughts about #StarTrekPicard<\/a>, now we\u2019re 3 ep.s deep. Past iterations of #StarTrek<\/a> have taken as their baseline an assumption that humanity has evolved past its present troubles. We\u2019re kinder, wiser, and more ideal as a whole. The Federation embodies that. 1\/10 [SPOILERS] pic.twitter.com\/jTBNEeXzOv<\/a><\/p>— Rox (@shardsofblue) February 8, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>