K. M. Heath - The Voyages of Star Trek

The Voyages of Star Trek

A Mirror on American Society
through Time

K. M. Heath

A. S. Carlisle

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Heath, K. M., 1952 author. | Carlisle, A. S., 1953 author.

Title: The voyages of Star trek : a mirror on American society through time / K. M. Heath, A. S. Carlisle.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: This volume looks at how each Star Trek series reflected the cultural landscape of its time-from the original series that ran from 1966 to 1969 to the most recent iteration-and how it became a worldwide phenomenon, not only generating numerous spin-offs and multiple features but inspiring countless other pop culture shows, films, books, graphic novels, etc.Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020011301 (print) | LCCN 2020011302 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538136966 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538136973 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Star Trek television programsHistory and criticism. | Star Trek filmsHistory and criticism.

Classification: LCC PN1992.8.S74 H48 2020 (print) | LCC PN1992.8.S74 (ebook) | DDC 791.45/75dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011301

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011302

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

For Eddie,

I am a kite, and you, my kite string.

Why do we find Star Trek so engaging? Is it to escape into other worlds? Why do we attach ourselves to some franchises and not others? Why do some have staying power, while most fade into memory? In this book we explore the phenomenon of Star Trek from an anthropological point of view. Star Trek has a dedicated fanbase and as such can be studied like any other culture. We argue that Star Trek has survived across five decades in the face of rapid culture change because it adapts to the times while staying true to its core mission: humanitys hope for a better future.

The introduction covers the premise of the book: why Star Trek has remained popular for more than fifty years and the theories and tools an anthropologist can use to study culture. In addition, we include a brief history of Gene Roddenberry, along with his vision for Star Trek and the methods we used to collect and analyze the data. Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 explore how the various Star Trek TV series mirrored American culture of the time but also foreshadowed events yet to be. Chapters 2 and 7 focus on the two interim periods, when a television series was not in production. These two chapters focus on fandom, animation, and other activities that kept the culture of Star Trek alive and well. Chapter 9 probes the successes, failures, and challenges of the Star Trek movies. Chapter 10 discusses the fifty-plus years of the Star Trek franchise success as well as future Star Trek series, shorts, and movies. We also summarize two prime aspects of Star Trek: the storytelling and the cinematography. This book does not address Trekkies versus Trekkers, canon, or the Kelvin timeline, but it examines Star Treks interaction with American culture.

This book is for a wide audience. The study population includes the Star Trek television and film productions. Fans of Star Trek should find the subject fascinating. However, the book also covers more than fifty years of American history and culture that will appeal even to folks with minimal interest in Star Trek. We hope that reflective laypeople will find the correlation between the visual franchise of Star Trek and contemporary culture insightful. General readers with interest in film, history, American culture, and pop culture will learn how the human condition shapes the arts and how, in turn, the arts mirror and foreshadow the human condition. Although the book was not written for academics or students, it certainly contains material they will find engaging.

This book began in an undergraduate course in cultural methods in anthropology at Indiana State University. A methods course covers a wide array of material, but actually collecting field data is impossible for a regular classroom college course. To compensate, students were required to watch and record observations of randomly selected episodes of Star Trek. The experiment was a success and inspired the book. However, all the data used in this book were collected by the authors only.

We are deeply grateful to John McCullough, Jessica Frease, Marina Hall, and Steve Aldrich, who offered useful critiques on chapters. KMH is deeply indebted to Larry Gant, a best friend since high school, an accomplished academic, and the finest Trekkie I know, for valuable suggestions, constructive insights, and comments. KMH especially owes thanks to Rick Lotspeich for providing significant editorial comments on all chapters; Corey Michael Dalton and Matthew Lowe for lengthy discussions about Star Trek, topic presentation, and editorial advice and assistance throughout the project; Brylynn Ellis for proofreading and formatting assistance; Lillian (Lucy) Chew, Indiana State University, for providing final formatting and editorial assistance; and Ryan Rushing for all things Star Trek. We appreciate the opportunity to present our Star Trek work at three Pop Culture Association meetings. We gained valuable feedback regarding our presentations as well as insight to pop culture from the myriad of other presentations. Finally, this book would not have been possible without the vital assistance and guidance from the editorial board at Rowman & Littlefield. We wish to thank Niki Guinan, copyeditor, for her careful attention to details. We are very grateful.

Ann would like to thank her husband, Eric, and her son, James, for their unflagging love, patience, and support during both the research and writing phases of this project.

When you work with fossils... when you look at that bigger picture, yes, you realize that either you change and adapt, or... you go extinct.Louise Leakey

Star Trek has survived unprecedented culture change over the last fifty years: from a flower-painted Volkswagen van to glamping in a Mercedes-Benz luxury RV to self-driving electric cars; from windmills on a farm to windmill farms powering cities; from the rise of Evangelicals to the rise of Americas religious Nones. Fans became Trekkies and rocked at Woodstock, hip-hopped with Jay-Z, and were awestruck by Lady Gaga. They lived in split-level homes, moved into McMansions, and became advocates for tiny houses. With their televisions turned on, Trekkies watched the end of the Vietnam War, witnessed live the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, and beheld Bran ascend to the Iron Throne. Families clustered around their home television sets to witness President Nixon resign in disgrace, while entire communities packed public venues to watch multiple big screens as Barack Obama was sworn in as the forty-fourth president of the United States. How can any media creation sustain itself through such rapid culture change?