The Sociology of Star Trek

[At Confabulation, Robert Kennedy posted a Salon article by Jeff Greenwald comparing Barack Obama to Leonard Nimoy's Spock.]

I think that piece is spot on. I too was a first-generation Star Trek fan, and it is only in retrospect that I see clearly how much it shaped my world-view. I do wish Mr. Greenwald had given shout-outs in the essay to Gene Roddenberry -- who maintained a dogged insistence on his startlingly fresh multicultural vision in the face of network indifference and hostility -- and to Nichelle Nichols, whose performance as Lieutenant Uhura undoubtedly had a special significance for Obama as it did for so many African-Americans (and women), from astronaut Mae Jemison to Whoopi Goldberg (later a semi-regular on Star Trek: The Next Generation, of course). Mr. Goldberg does quote Henry Jenkins to the effect that Obama was formed by Star Trek and Martin Luther King, and it is fascinating to realize that there is an actual linkage between the two: King was a fan of the show and advised Nichols to stay with her as yet not-fully-developed role because of its immense impact ("Once that door is opened by someone, no one can close it again"). I have often thought how cool it would be to be Nichelle Nichols or George Takei and realize that no matter what else happened in my life, I had performed a true social good that could never be erased.

When Star Trek premiered, I was eight years old. The races were seldom mixed on television at all, and on the rare instances when they were, the template was white master, black servant. Along comes this show in which all races (and genders, too) freely mixed, cooperated, and were of equal intellectual and ethical stature. The subliminal impact of that on the nation's children, especially as the show developed its cult status in re-runs moving into the Seventies, was incalculably huge. We were being prepared for America's future -- Roddenberry must simply have been one of those people who sees very clearly ahead, but he also helped create what came next. We were being prepared for the possibility of a Barack Obama.