Not in the usual way, though. In the ‘you have all gotten the show wrong’ way. I apologize in advance.
(Trying to get this to embed.)
10 thoughts on “Self-Tweet Thread of the Day, I Rant About Star Trek edition.”
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Not in the usual way, though. In the ‘you have all gotten the show wrong’ way. I apologize in advance.
(Trying to get this to embed.)
Comments are closed.
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I see it now
I’ve been watching Star Trek for decades, and I’m still trying to figure out what Starfleet is. I haven’t even gotten to the society that produced it. It seems like a military, but it isn’t, really. They have admirals and captains and military ranks, but no Marines. Kirk and Picard could have solved their problems much quicker and easier if they had a company of Marines on board, but nope. No Marines. Not even a color guard. And they have civilians on the ship too. (At least on TNG. The original Enterprise seemed a little less civilian-friendly.) What’s the difference between a civilian and a member of Starfleet if they’re wandering around the same ship? I can tell you that no military ever would take a teenage kid and say, “Hey, sit on the bridge because you’re smart.” In fact, I’m pretty sure that Westley Crusher would have been dropped off at the nearest starbase. If I was captain, it would have happened several lightyears before we got to the base. Without dropping out of warp.
The Enterprise in TNG is the “flagship” but it’s supposed to be exploring. The thing is, it doesn’t really do any exploring. Just about everywhere it goes, its mission involves doing stuff with people already familiar with the Federation. I would be very keen on getting some instruction on what Starfleet is, exactly. I’m not making fun of Star Trek, either. This is something I’ve always been legitimately curious about. Is it a military? Is it a police force? Is it a diplomatic organization? What the heck is it?
One of the running jokes about TNG is the Enterprise is basically a militarized cruise ship.
One Pocket book called it a paramilitary organization based off of the US Coast Guard. Which… is interesting, really.
… except the Coasties are a military – law enforcement hybrid, not a civilian outfit.
The whole thing feels more merchant marine than coastie .. the merchant marine having ranks and uniforms and missions and some Navy funding, but being civilian in nature.
For Star Trek TOS, I suspect the absence of marines was due to the times … and the tone Gene R was trying to hit. That’s why engineering techs (redshirts) got drafted for away teams.
As for the federation… well.. you’re familiar with Pennsic, right? Bunch of disparate kingdoms and cults-of-personality and fandoms coming together, some from very far away indeed…? That’s the federation.. all the time..
Mew
Yes, the Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency that operates under the Department of Transportation. That’s why you don’t need a congressional appointment to attend the Coast Guard Academy. In wartime, the Coast Guard operates under the DOD.
I think having Marines in Star Trek would have opened up a whole avenue of stories. Tension between the Marines and the people designated to ferry them around would have made for some good drama.
So I am not alone in my confusion about the true nature of Starfleet. I suppose that is comforting. On the plus side, I just watched Westley Crusher leave with the Traveler. A banner day for the Federation, and for the galaxy as a whole.
But how can we miss him if he never really goes away?
Westley makes it very easy for me to appreciate his absence. It’s enough for me to have him not speak or appear on the screen.