Star Trek Open Thread

[Trigger warning for reference to self-harm.]

An open thread to discuss Stak Trek from a feminist perspective has been requested, so here 'tis! (My apologies to the Shaker who requested it; I deleted the email and promptly forgot who sent it.) Coincidentally, Kenny Blogginz and I were just discussing Star Trek (or, as we call it as part of our usual ritual of deliberately getting pop culture names wrong, Star Truck), so here's some hot feminist criticism to get things rolling...

KBlogz: What did you think of Star Truck? I thought it was pretty much super rad.

Liss: I thought it was FUCKIN' AW3OME!!! That is to say, naturally, there are not enough chicks—it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test—and they could easily have made Captain Pike a woman, which would have been supercool, not fucked with the iconic male characters, and also underlined that it's an egalitarian society, so that was disappointing, especially for James-James Abrams. But Zach Quinto rocked my fuckin' socks off. Love that guy.

KBlogz: I'm just mad that they cut the Quinto/Nimoy make-out scene. THAT would have been progressive.

Liss: I wonder how the Concerned Families of America feel about Spock-on-Spock love.

KBlogz: LMAO! I was listening to NPR one day, and James-James was on, talking about Star Truck. He was talking about how he always tries to include strong female characters in his productions. He definitely made Uhura even more badass, though it is unfortunate that all the Lady Cadets still had to wear mini skirts :(

Like you said, it sucks that one of the main characters couldn't have been a woman, but I'm pretty sure all the Trekkies would have committed mass suicide. Liss, I visit the replica prop forum often, and people were freaking the fuck OUT because the phasers were slightly different. I can't even imagine the fallout, the sheer emotional apocalypse that would ensue if Bones/Kirk/Spock weren't all white dudes. James-James would have so much blood on his hands!

Discuss.