ENTERTAINMENT IS MORE COMPELLING THAN THE NEWS
Is Star Trek Neo-Liberal Propaganda?
The Borg and the demonisation of collective action
What a child imagines as pure entertainment often carries a social and political message. Popular television shows often provide an easy guide for recognising the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys rarely have German or Russian accents.
When a show is as relatable and entertaining as Star Trek it delivers a one-two punch. We identify with the charming good guy which provides cover for the social-political nature of the story where the charming good guy has inadvertently stumbled into an existential conflict.
Does Star Trek attempt the socio-political indoctrination of the audience under the guise of entertainment?
I’ve been a Star Trek fan since I was a child.
There were many great science fiction television series when I was growing up, cementing my interest in the genre. Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Lost in Space, and The Time Tunnel are just a few.
For a young lad in suburbia, the allure of adventures in distant worlds was hard to resist. Yet, as I’ve grown, such narratives have faded into the background as it has become clearer that science fiction, more…
