To be more particular, Star Trek is useful for elucidating current issues. In one of the more heavy-handed episodes of The Original Series, fighting members of a planet come onboard. One is portrayed as passionate yet willing to bully others through incendiary rhetoric. The other is portrayed as a kind of Javert character (they are both played by strong actors). The issue? One member of the race is dark on the one side, light on the other and vice versa.
The message is--well, just try to duck it! (you can't). But the end where the two arrive at their planet to find it utterly destroy...yet are still willing to keep fighting...carries a depth of pathos that is relatively unusual for Star Trek (though not for the 3rd season).
The point is: sci-fi allows such issues to be explored in a way that political commentary--so busy focusing on the rhetoric and "us versus them" competition--sometimes misses.
In my Voyager fan-fic, I have a coterie of self-righteous complainers, led by Crewmembers Piyus and Malyce. They aren't consistent in their complaints since they use the rhetoric of so-called diversity to complain about, well, everything: people who are too diverse; people who aren't diverse enough; people who don't behave how they ought; people who get supposedly special privileges; people who don't give them what they want/expect. The complainers disguise bullying with proclamations of sensitivity.
Here's an excerpt I wrote (with its own element of heavy-handedness). Ben, one member of a couple that Piyus and Malyce and their clique have taken to bullying, recently got married (Ben is his human name):
Crewmember Piyus approached Ben in the Mess Hall.
“I understand you got married. Congratulations, I guess. But you know, there’s so much ignorance about other crewmembers’ rituals and customs, you really should have invited more people.”
“It was a private ceremony,” Ben said.
“But people can never learn about others unless they have more opportunities—”
“I don’t consider my marriage an educational opportunity.”
Crewmember Malyce, who was listening in, said contemptuously, “So much for Starfleet openness.”
Ben set down his fork.
"I think that Starfleet’s education can be useful. I was taken from Gemine when I was under six years old. I didn’t know anything about my planet or its customs—I had nothing more than a few vague memories and some lullabies. Starfleet helped me learn more.”
He met Malyce's eyes steadily. “But I agree that Starfleet training isn’t quite the same as indoctrination. It can’t force understanding. It’s a resource. To benefit from it, a person already needs generosity of spirit, a desire to accept rather than belittle. It’s easy to use IDIC language to bully others rather than to let them be.”
“Here, here,” another crewmember, Quin, said while Malyce grumbled about IDIC being "Vulcan parochialism" and Piyus looked abashed.
Malyce and Piyus, I found, were bad guys I loved to hate--and spoof. I also realized how shallow so-called progressive arguments can be. I mean, I knew that anyway...
Here are Piyus and Malyce again, complaining to Captain Janeway. Note how what really bothers Malyce is that he doesn't have the type of relationship he wants. I think a lot of supposedly inclusive arguments come down to this fundamental human flaw (call it "original sin" or "the natural man"): I don't have the life that I should have had; I will be destructive until I get it.
Crewmember Piyus began, “We realize that Starfleet is committed to distinctiveness. We all are. It is unfortunate when distinctiveness is used to justify damaging behavior.”
“Such as?” Captain Janeway said levelly.
“There is the issue with the clone—”
“Clone? You mean Crewmember Allec.”
"There is the Anthro and Teuran.”
“Also Voyager crewmembers. I suggest you use their names.”
“Teurans have been keeping Anthros in captivity for generations.”
“That matter had not been resolved when Voyager left the Alpha Quadrant. I can assure you that proper protocols are being followed. I've received no complaints from the actual crewmembers. What else?” Captain Janeway said before Piyus could argue that nobody other than Piyus and her cohorts were capable of even voicing complaints.
If she only knew.
Not that it would matter if she did. In Piyus and Malyce's minds, a failure to agree with them obviously represented undue subservience to Starfleet. Consequently, only their complaints mattered.
Piyus said, “The Gemine are—dating, I guess they call it. There’s even talk of marriage.”
“I understand that this is entirely acceptable behavior for their species. It is how they mate and reproduce.”
Malyce broke in, “And if this was the Alpha Quadrant, of course we would all go about our own business. But on a ship as small as Voyager, denigrating behaviors that promote power imbalances, gender absolutism, and advocacy of the status quo should be avoided.”
“And their relationship promotes all these things because—?”
Malyce was practically seething. Captain Janeway eyed him like he was a bristling bug.
He said, “It is offensive how Starfleet encourages duo-couple power expression. Out of phobia and stigma towards experimentation, Starfleet encourages unnatural and exploitative bonds. All for the sake of so-called individualism.”
“That sounds like an excuse to force others to behave as you wish. That isn’t going to happen, Crewmember Malyce. Others do not exist for your gratification.”
Malyce sat back with an offended air. “I am not the only one who finds current so-called pairings on this ship toxic. Others have told me how unhappy they are—”
He was likely referring to his coterie of five or six crewmembers. They huddled in corners and egged each other on. Captain Janeway turned her gaze on Piyus, who was clinging to “I'm so sad when others are unhappy--and I'm sure I'm part of the problem” self-congratulation.
Piyus said, “Captain, we want Voyager to remain a community as much as you—not break apart like the Varro. Shouldn’t a community have common values and ethics?”
“Common morality, you mean? Let's not split hairs. The common morality with this crew is respect for other customs and rituals. I will grant that not all customs and rituals are easily understood. I will also grant that Federation protocol often takes precedence over those customs—we don’t allow Klingon crewmembers to duel each other when they come on-board Federation ships, for instance. Outside of those protocols, Starfleet is not going to violate basic individual—individual—rights because of your personal feelings of offense. You are dismissed.”
I think Janeway would make these arguments. Throughout the series, she promotes Federation protocols (think Western civilization) but she also works to promote the individual, including Seven, the Doctor, Neelix, Chakotay's cultural beliefs, and so on.
Unfortunately, I also think Voyager would suffer these types of complainers--it is one of the dangers of the closed environment. Consider that Shackleton was reluctant to award all members of the Antarctica expedition. There was that one guy who just wouldn't shut up... (The other crew-members persuaded Shackleton to change his mind.)
But the temptation to dump that one guy on a planet/ice flow must be great!--especially when the relentless complaints are negative and unproductive as opposed to useful and constructive. Does the mindset add or detract?
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