Trickster108

Saturday, November 06, 2010

MAKE IT SO

Okay…I’ve been watching the complete “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the other night (election night), needing a diversion from election returns for a bit, I slid in the DVD, got the first episode on the disc and pushed “Engage”.

I had forgotten about this show, entitled, “The Outcast”. It’s about a race of androgynous aliens who need Captain Picard and the rest of the Enterprise crew to solve a space conundrum. In the pursuit of solving this mystery, Commander Riker and one of the aliens, named Soren, are thrown together into what develops into a most unusual yet prescient situation.

The denizens of Genia (interesting, given that this show revolves around gender issues) have evidently, according to Soren, evolved past a gender binary and are now essentially androgynous. It turns out that Soren is a “throwback” to days when gender WAS binary and she identifies as female. Of course, she and Riker develop a mutual attraction and therein lies the problem and the plot. Not only have the Genians evolved past gender binary, but it’s now taboo to exhibit pre-androgyny behavior.

The parallels to contemporary Earth are purposefully and artfully developed. In fact, it’s actually the inversion of the gender status as we know it. And the writer (Jeri Taylor) and director (Robert Scheerer) make sure that many of the nuances of gender oppression mirror those to which we are accustomed.

Before learning of Soren’s gender identity, one of the first issues they confront is the personal pronoun issue. Riker refers to Soren’s teacher as “he” and “she” corrects him. (I’ve used the pronoun “she” because Soren identifies as female) He says he was unsure of what would actually be the correct pronoun because he knows using the word “it” would be rude and offensive. She tells him Genia does have non-gendered pronouns.

Riker finds a world without gender differences curious; Soren finds a world WITH gender differences equally incomprehensible. She states Genia’s moirés thusly: “The idea of gender is offensive to my people. Long ago we had two sexes; we have evolved to a higher form. Gender is primitive, less evolved.” Riker remarks that sometimes primitive is good. Riker asks who leads when they dance…she replies the taller of the two. Soren asks what guides human attractions…what kind of woman Riker would prefer? He says it varies amongst humans, but, for him, they have to laugh at his jokes…she, of course, laughs.

At some point, we have the “coming out” scene. Soren expresses her attraction (we saw it coming) to Riker, but with the caveat that gender expression is not only discouraged, but that there is a “no tolerance” policy. She tells him there have been so called throwbacks before and that she is one, that she identifies as female. Soren describes a childhood incident wherein one of her classmates displayed male behavior. He was taunted and bullied unmercifully. One day he appeared to have been beaten and the response was to subject him to what they called “psychotectic treatment”. Soren had known she was different from a very young age; thereafter she realized that her gender identity must remain hidden and that she must not disclose her innermost feelings. Soren’s secret had to be Riker’s secret.

Feelings of gender identity and/or a belief that one was gendered were considered to be more than just taboo on Genia…they were forbidden. Those who dared to express anything other than androgyny were ridiculed and shunned and subjected to curative regimens. So they kept their true selves hidden and led secret and guarded lives.

The climax, of course, was Soren getting busted. Riker covered for her, but finally having been discovered, she just could not go back down the path of denial. She made a heartfelt and dramatic appeal for individuality, diversity and the right for self validation; to no avail. She was summarily taken off for the customary psychotectic treatment, something I imagine to be in between reparative therapy and the Ludivico Treatment from Clockwork Orange.

Upon her return, she stated unequivocally that she was “glad to be cured”. How could she have been so wrong, so anti social, so embarrassing to Genian civilization. How humiliating! How wrong! Indeed…how wrong!!

Of note is the fact that this television show aired in 1992. Given the obvious fact that Jeri Taylor was purposefully making a social statement, it’s tragic how far we still have to go in creating a tolerant and accepting community. Bullying, bellicose bigots and Bible–toting dogmatists make sure the concepts of harassment and marginalization are alive and well. Loud mouthed and hateful miscreants are at the ready to whisper behind our backs, and then openly ridicule and shun whenever they deem it necessary to pass judgment, which is just about always. Or else they want to beat us up. And then there’s that chorus telling us we can be…and should be… cured. What a load of crap.

If only and we could take a tip from the 24th century and had just a scintilla of the wisdom of that era.

Make it so, Jean Luc, make it so…

2 Comments:

Blogger jimmy said...

I agree 100% with your assessment of the nature/meaning of that episode.
I also find it sadly ironic to wish a trip to a more evolved 24th century on the evening of an election when so many people went in reverse of evolution, thus voting for the cursed "Tea-Party" lunatics.

2:03 PM  
Blogger trickster108 said...

Good point...I've been watching this "dumbing down of America" phenomenon...it really IS de-evolution. I mean...when you despise a political candidate because he or she is smart? C'mon...

3:04 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home