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For the less cynical of people (I wouldn't technically include myself in this group), the New Year is synonymous with a fresh start. It inspires resolutions for better health, better habits, better relationships, and better lives, in short, hope for better. For me, no TV show epitomizes this hope quite like Star Trek: The Next Generation. Admittedly, I've only seen the first season (I'm not really a Trekkie, though, after watching this season, I'm seriously considering becoming one. I've even created a Star Trek board on Pinterest.), but it alone draws us deeply into a world that is advanced, actually exist, though one can hope), but because the creators of this show have a beautiful dream for a beautiful existence, and dreams reflect people's values and goals. There is hope for a world in which people, despite their mistakes, hope for and strive for the things that are right and good. To me, that hope is what makes this retro show the ideal series with which to start the new year. Stick around and I'll explain a few reasons why the values and achievements of this brave new world inspire hope for a better future. |
Diversity:
The franchise's depiction of diversity is perhaps what it is most famous for (other than it's futuristic technology). Among this series' senior officers we find three incredibly competent women, (Dr. Beverly Crusher, Counselor Deanna Troi, and Lieutenant Natasha Yar, who in contrast to stereotypes, is the security officer), one android (Lieutenant Commander Data), one child (teenage genius Wesley Crusher), one Klingon (Lieutenant Commander Worf), and one disabled, black man (Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge). They are all high ranking officers with influence on the ship, who garner respect from each other, as well as Riker and Picard. I can't tell you how much that excites me. This is what life should look like; people should be doing the jobs that they excel at and earning respect based on their competence. While our world doesn't look like this yet, depicting this equality on a popular TV show can't help but start to get people used to the idea.
The Show's Attention to Mental Health:
In this fictional universe, considerations of mental/emotional health, rather than stigmatized, are integrated into everyday operations. This is exemplified by the presence of senior
officer, Counselor Deanna Troi, a psychologist with telepathic abilities, whose job is to understand the emotional states of both her crew and the people they meet. While the senior officers do not always respond well, Troi spends much of her time aboard the Enterprise asking people if they're alright, suggesting ways for them to take care of themselves, and generally being a calming and supportive presence. As someone with mental health challenges that I seldom mention, I love the idea of a society that openly acknowledges the importance of mental and emotional health because I believe it could both encourage everyone to take care of themselves and empower people to get help I am encouraged by the fact that prominent producers/writers/etc. valued de-stigmatizing mental/emotional health and realize that speaking about these issues on what was popular TV show was a step in the right direction.
Star Fleet Medicine:
Star Fleet's medicine is ridiculously advanced compared to ours. In one episode, the Enterprise's crew encounters people from the distant past who were cryonically frozen immediately after death from what were at the time fatal diseases, including brain embolisms and liver damage. Dr. Beverly Crusher, the starship's compassionate and competent doctor, heals them quickly and easily before awaking them. How incredible it is that diseases that are death sentences now are easy to remedy in the future that this show depicts. What an amazing dream that the creators have, to be able to save and improve lives. In a world that sometimes seems full of mass murders, terrorist attacks, and incurable diseases, it's encouraging to know that people still yearn for a world where people are saved.
Reverence for Life:
Woven through my last three points, and through every episode of this season, is a deep reverence for life. We find it when Data insists on beaming the three cryonically frozen humans aboard the Enterprise because, though they are dead, they might be able to be saved anyway. We find it each time a character instructs the others to set their phasers to “stun” instead of “kill.” We find it when Troi finds compassion for a broken, abandoned life form, even as it tortures her. And this is, perhaps, the thing that encourages me the most. Life is valuable. Without diving into my Christian beliefs, I have to say that people are the most valuable “things” that we will encounter in our existences. A TV show that depicts this makes me believe that others believe this, too. That others also see progress, not simply as technological advancement, but as the protection of that which is most precious. With this priority in place, it gives me hope that humans will learn to progress in a manner that helps people, instead of hurts them.
The Bottom Line:
In short, I encourage you to watch this show because it's hopeful and positive. A few of it's perspectives (mostly about religion) I find frustrating, but most of them are life-affirming and progressive.
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