Formspring Question #96--Multiculturalism in the 24th Century Edition

You're obviously down on the characterizations in TNG. Who do you think is the worst character?

I am tempted to say Troi. She is an ill conceived character hardly any of the TNG writers knew what to do with her. Her ability to read people’s emotions without their consent is morally dubious. Any time the issue was addressed, it was quickly swept under the rug because there was no way to rationalize her actions ethically. Add to that she gave bad advice as a counselor, and you can only draw the conclusion she is useless. But everyone picks on Troi for those reasons, so I will be creative and choose another.

I am going to go with Worf. Worf is a problem at the conceptual level, too. His creation is the fulfillment of Gene Roddenberry’s less than enlightened vision of the future wherein perfect 23td century humans flew around in space ships while lecturing no good aliens on how they need to be more like the perfect 24th century humans. For the TNG crew, Worf served as the primary target right there on the bridge. The only time he was ever praised is when he abandoned the Klingon way of doing things, which he was unsure of in the first place due to coming of age ion Earth, and embracing a human philosophy.

But his characterization has a deeper problem that than being forced to admit human ways ares far better than any other culture. His portrayal is stereotypically racist.

All right, before any Trekkies decide to start throwing sharp objects at my head, I do not believe it is on purpose. It is more along the lines of the general progressive patronizing that tells Bill Clinton midnight basketball is the best way to stop black crime and causes Joe Biden to marvel that Barack obama is clean and articulate. Trek gets away with it for the same reason Clinton and Biden do--deserved or not, they have a reputation for being progressive in the past, so they get a free pass.

I will even grant the reputation is well earned, at least for every major black character after post-Uhura. I think that just having a black woman on board the ship is not worthy of the high praise Roddenberry has received for it, particularly considering the small role she played, her menial job, how often she was demeaned. Maybe I am being harsh. That could be a product of the ’60’s. Certainly the 24th century characters--La Force, Sisko, Tuvok--have lived in colorblind societies. So I am not claiming anything overt.

(I am ignoring the first season TNG episode in which the crew visited the war turn planet which was populated by Tarzan extras. All that was missing for them were grass skirts and bones through their noses. I do not know what the powrrs that be were thinking when they wrote that one.)

But worf; dumb, violent, quick to anger over small slights, little to no manners, abusive towards women, uses them solely for sex, had a kid out of wedlock, took no responsibility for the kid, sent him off to live with his grandparents, commits cold blooded murder for personal “dissing,” and gets used for menial labor repeatedly. In essence, every negative stereotype for blacks.

Ami I reading too much into this? Michael Dorn has made more appearances in trek than any other actor, not to mention playing Worf on two different shows and five movies counting The Undiscovered Country. He has obviously not felt troubled by it. I may be too quick to point out progressive hypocrisy when there is not any, but nevertheless, I cannot help but see these patterns in Worf’s character portrayal.