finally went and say the new star trek movie (for free ‘cause of free tickets).

overall, i liked it (even as there were some rather troubling inconsistencies with the logic of the verse, but since i’m not a trekkie, i can’t really say more than that).

it was… ridiculous beyond belief to see bernadoodle bumberscratch, in the big dramatic reveal call himself ‘khan’. but very suited to a movie that does a lot to subtly re-enforce white supremacy, a shame too ‘cause once star trek was avant garde for racial diversity and inclusion.

beyond the (very much discussed) white washing of khan, there is the council/group of star fleet captains and first officers that meet. a group with a depressing lot of white d00ds, with a token alien, some women, and a few poc. awesome.

then there is the fact that… while poc are visible in the background, very few of them get any lines. There is Sulu. Who is good/great. There is Uhura who, yes, has lines, but they more or less turn her into a whiny girlfriend – she has one moment of being badass when she is talking to the Klingons, but she ultimately ‘fails’ and needs to be rescued by a white d00d. The Black person who takes over for Sulu when he is on the chair, gets two lines. And that is about it. Pretty much all the other PoC are just not around or, if visible in crowds, silent and not doing or saying much.

A shame to see a racially groundbreaking show turn into something where only two poc play a prominent role.

more subtle than this is the fact that the beginning invokes a mighty whitey trope. We see a ‘savage’ ‘primitive’ group, who worships a scroll (how 15th century!) that he and spock save from a volcano, while breaking the prime directive. which, of course, he only receives the lightest of hand slaps (well, okay, we have a few moments of hand wringing for whether or not a real punishment will be enforced, only to have the patron saint of white d00ds swoop in to save him (ie, another white d00d who just really ‘believes’ in him, despite breaking the no. 1 starfleet rule and just not giving a fuck). because glob does not want to see white men punished for anything ever. nor should they ever be framed as anything less than ethical. ever.

in terms of plot… wasn’t Khan supposed to be the big bad? Why was almost more time spent opposing the admiral? why did they need to dilute the plot (and pointlessly extend the movie) with this shit? blerg.

oh. and can anyone answer me why/how white people in space somehow need/require/acquire a tan? or are they applying light amounts of bronzing ‘cause they know that white people in space = a scary new level of pasty, blinding white? who can say?