Chain of Command, Pt II is one of the best episodes of the series. We get payoff on our construction of Jellico and the Cardassians in that we see the almost self-destructive need for control that runs through both.
And I'm done with my defense of Jellico. Obviously, the narrative is against him, but I don't think that's reason enough to scuttle him. I'm a "death of the author" guy. A story can make a character that's a laudable person even while it's trying to undermine them morally. "Paradise Lost" is the example that's easiest to call up.
But Jellico brings nothing to the table. If you're a person who is pleased by the exercise of power on behalf of your ingroup, you might admire his hard line on the Cardassians, but Picard is just as capable of doing that and he didn't put all of his skill points into "raging as--jerkhole."
Am I too down on US culture here? Can I flog my own culture over Guantanamo Bay, then flog them slightly harder because they didn't listen to Star Trek? Except, instead of flogging, it's whipping the brickwork of the wall around their estate with a wet noodle.
More clearly: is Star Trek any good if it makes people excited over starship aesthetics, camp plots, and the finer points of the history of the Star Trek Universe instead of making them outraged over their country's immoral behavior?
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source https://anchor.fm/tbntb/episodes/Chain-of-Command--Pt-II-egc0jf
5 comments:
"is Star Trek any good if it [doesn't make people] outraged over their country's immoral behavior?"
If this is a rhetorical question about whether sci-fi should be socially and politically challenging, yes, obviously it should be.
If it's a practical question about whether being challenging is useful if you don't see immediate results, well... If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If you plan for ten years, plant trees. If you plan for a hundred years, teach children.
Yeah, fair point. I'm just frustrated at how little effect talking about Star Trek is, but maybe I should be more frustrated at the concept of how I might have expected it to be a productive pursuit in the first place.
What were your expectations and goals? I mean, you sometimes mention social issues in the podcast, but it's rare that you really dig into them.
The goal is to have fun, just Derek and me. I try to learn what I can so that when I dip into other projects I can bring some real experience with me.
Truthfully, between Derek's waning interest and me hitting a cap on what I can take away from this, I'm not sure if we're even going to finish DS9.
That's fair.
I admit I'm a little curious to know if watching all these seasons has changed yours & Derek's take on Enterprise, but it's not like two hundred thousand lives hang on you making it that far.
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