# Things that bug you about Star Trek **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109 "2017-03-13T19:08:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/41 "2017-03-14T00:10:26Z")
I forget the episode title, but it was the one when they had Scotty up for murdering a woman. Turned out it was an alien that fed off fear and used to be Jack the Ripper. It was actually a pretty good episode except for Spock helpfully observing that the alien force targets women because females have less control over their emotions. Oh really, Mr Seven Year Dick? Seems to me you should keep your pig-ignorant trap shut when it comes talking in sexist stereotypes. Ooh, I guess I just lost control of my emotions, just like you said. You shouldn’t mind me, since I’m a fluttery woman, and can’t control myself, you fucking asshole you. Whoops, there I go again, you Vulcan bastard. I can’t control myself. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/42 "2017-03-14T00:24:48Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I forget the episode title, but it was the one when they had Scotty up for murdering a woman. Turned out it was an alien that fed off fear and used to be Jack the Ripper. ‘Wolf in the Fold’. ‘You’ll all die horribly! In _searing pain!_’ ‘Die, die, die, everybody die. Kill, kill, kill you all.’ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/43 "2017-03-14T00:31:16Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > They never really got the holosuite right from a usability angle. They got the general usage right, adventure, games, and sex, but preparing to use a holo-program always was a bit of nuisance. Take Picard’s 1920’s gangster adventures. He always wore era appropriate cosplay, which is fine if that’s your thing, but the program shouldn’t react negatively if he didn’t. When anyone entered the suite in uniform the holographic NPCs would always make comments such as wondering why they’re wearing pajamas. The program should ignore 23rd-century tech, manners, clothes, and vocabulary for user expediency. IIRC, none of the 1800s Londoners raises a holographic eyebrow at Doctor Watson being a black guy wearing a what-the-hell-is-that-over-his-eyes visor – until Moriarty gets reprogrammed, at which point _he_ apparently realizes what eluded Lestrade and the rest; but the point is, _before_ that, it goes swimmingly. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/44 "2017-03-14T00:52:02Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Picard must have, because Quark’s holodeck on _DS9_ didn’t do that, as I recall. There was a recurring program with a 60s-era lounge singer, and he and the other holo-characters did not respond to the “real” people, including Klingons and Ferengi, as a 1960s person would respond to meeting a Ferengi or a Klingon, even in a Vegas lounge. 🙂 Vic Fontaine, the holographic singer, had developed sentience, like the Doctor on _Voyager_ or Moriarty on _TNG_. He was self-aware and knew of the space station outside of the holosuite, and that Sisko, Dax, Odo, etc., all had lives on the station. He could tell humans, Klingons, Bajorans, and Trill apart. At one point, he insisted that the holosuite be left on when no one was using it because he was aware when it was shut off and he experienced the passage of time while he was in a disembodied state. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/45 "2017-03-14T01:07:52Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In “Balance of Terror,” Kirk is about to perform a marriage “in accordance with our many beliefs.” In “Bread and Circuses,” McCoy says they “represent many beliefs.” In “Metamorphosis,” The Companion refers to “The Maker of All Things.” > > They couldn’t avoid religion altogether, but they at least \*\*tried \*\*to be ecumenical. I tend to agree with the Mission Log guys; the line about having one god came from the studio and not the writer. And you can have many different beliefs about one god. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/46 "2017-03-14T01:11:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Do you object because \*\*yeomen \*\*were bringing coffee to the bridge or because \*\*female \*\*yeomen were bringing coffee to the bridge? > > It’s my understanding that **yeomen in general** do pretty much anything that’s needed on board a ship. As **Just Asking Question** s said, because it’s demeaning. All the men are talking about something important and in prances a yeoman (yeoperson? 😉 ) bearing coffee. I forgive TOS a lot and try to look at it in relative terms, but for some kind of utopian visionary Roddenberry was pretty sexist. Maybe he meant utopian for men only. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/47 "2017-03-14T01:13:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IIRC, none of the 1800s Londoners raises a holographic eyebrow at Doctor Watson being a black guy wearing a what-the-hell-is-that-over-his-eyes visor – until Moriarty gets reprogrammed, at which point _he_ apparently realizes what eluded Lestrade and the rest; but the point is, _before_ that, it goes swimmingly. Actually, there’s a weird editing error (and arguably several plot errors) in that episode. There’s a brief shot of the holographic Moriarty (Daniel Davis) looking curiously at Data, La Forge and Pulaski _before_ La Forge calls for the “Arch” (i.e. access to the holodeck control panel) and one of him being quite surprised by Arch’s appearance, and this is well before La Forge gives the computer the command to create an opponent “capable of defeating Data”. I suppose one could fanwank that a bit - the character is Moriarty and his initial reaction is from recognizing Holmes within the context of a Sherlock Holmes fictional universe. It doesn’t explain why he seems quite taken aback by the appearance of the Arch, though, especially since other holodeck characters are going about their business as usual (we don’t see them during camera’s focus on the trio, but their movements are audible in the background). Immediately after, he describes Watson/La Forge as “that dark fellow”, a detail I’d forgotten until reviewing. And when Moriarty experimentally calls for the Arch himself, only one other holographic character (a woman Moriarty was chatting with) notices. The extras wander around blithely as usual. Holodeck rules are fickle at best. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/48 "2017-03-14T01:57:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > \*\*Female engineers non-existent \*\*(except for that woman who nearly killed Scotty and caused him to start butchering women. 🙂 ) Having Rand bring coffee (even if classic Navy (male) yeomans did exactly that) comes across as a **putdown**. > > And then there was Rand’s first appearance, where Kirk made a sexist crack about “that pencil pusher that assigned me a female yeoman”, like she’s incompetent or something by virtue of her female-ness (or just Too Darn Sexy. **I was never sure what the point of that line was.** ). > > Even the most complex female crewmember, Uhura, was forced to say lines like “I’m scared, Captain.” **That was demeaning**. Wrong! There was the black female engineer in “The Alternative Factor” (Lt McMasters, IIRC), even if she was in a blue uniform. As noted elsewhere, Rand was mothering him. It would piss me off, too. Putdown, shmutdown. You’re ordered to serve coffee, you serve coffee. You don’t like it, TFB. Buck up, or resign from the service. Like like “I’m frightened!” were demeaning because Uhura, like all of the other secondary characters, deserved better writing. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/49 "2017-03-14T02:03:17Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > I tend to agree with the Mission Log guys; the line about having one god came from the studio and not the writer. > > And you can have many different beliefs about one god. 😃 Oh, there’s no doubt about either. That line was stupid, and would be stupid even today. Plenty of Terran religions have more than one god, or a god who assumes many different forms. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/50 "2017-03-14T02:07:35Z")
It takes Captain America, not Captain Kirk, to utter [a line like that](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ZhOMGvhcU). ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/51 "2017-03-14T02:09:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > For a future interplanetary federation, a lot of things seem to be centered around [del]Earth[/del] [del]Western[/del] [del]American[/del] 20th Century American culture. Earth never seemed to have any separate identity or government separate from the United Federation of Planets, which you’d expect even if humans are the dominant species in the Federation. You have things like the entire Federation banning genetic engineering based on events in _human_ history (the Eugenics Wars). IME the movies (& to a lesser extent TNG) to a better job at portraying the Federation’s multispecies character. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And, y’know, that clause has a “Standards and Practices says we have to” feel to it. Agreed, Kirk would never have been allowed to utter that line without the last part. > [@Lumpy](#): > > I’ve often imagined an alternate version of the original show in which Kirk’s background was that before he attended Starfleet Academy he was originally from a 23rd century analog of the Amish who preserved a mid-20th century (“pre-computer”) lifestyle. This would have been a useful exposition device… That’s basically how Picard’s family was portrayed, except they seemed to be living in La Belle Époque instead of the mid-20th century. > [@Infovore](#): > > …1. The women’s uniforms. Those aren’t even dresses–they’re slightly long shirts. If your dress is so short that you can’t sit down properly without it riding up, it shouldn’t be a military uniform. This is especially true for crew members, like Uhura, who are expected to crawl around under their consoles when things need fixing. And don’t give me any \ about how it was sexy. How “sexy” it is is not an attribute of a proper military uniform, either… Let’s not forget TNG’s attempt to answer the sexism argument with the[skant](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Starfleet_uniform_(2350s-2370s)#Skant). On of the many things I dislike about the reboot films is that they not only brought back the miniskirts from TOS they even made the uniforms skimpier & more ridiculous by removing the [sleeves](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Starfleet_uniform_(alternate_reality)#Type_A_skirt). Some of the [dress](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Starfleet_uniform_(alternate_reality)#Medical_attire) uniforms look like something out of **Starship Troopers** ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/52 "2017-03-14T02:12:30Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Picard must have, because Quark’s holodeck on _DS9_ didn’t do that, as I recall. There was a recurring program with a 60s-era lounge singer, and he and the other holo-characters did not respond to the “real” people, including Klingons and Ferengi, as a 1960s person would respond to meeting a Ferengi or a Klingon, even in a Vegas lounge. 🙂 I recall Sisko being a bit disgruntled about the (pardon the pun) whitewashing of how a 1960s Vegas lounge would react to a black person. (Then again, Vic is clearly based on the “Rat Pack” guys, who were rather enlightened in that regard out of respect for Sammy Davis, Jr.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/53 "2017-03-14T02:46:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Wolf in the Fold’. > > ‘You’ll all die horribly! In _searing pain!_’ > > ‘Die, die, die, everybody die. Kill, kill, kill you all.’ He sure sounds gloomy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/54 "2017-03-14T02:49:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It takes Captain America, not Captain Kirk, to utter [a line like that](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ZhOMGvhcU). Yes, well, Captain America is a product of a less enlightened era, when they boiled all their food. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/55 "2017-03-14T02:50:32Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Yes, well, Captain America is a product of a less enlightened era, when they boiled all their food. 1960s Britain? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/56 "2017-03-14T02:55:28Z")
1940’s America. SAM WILSON: You must miss the good old days, huh? STEVE ROGERS: Well, things aren’t so bad. Food’s a lot better, we used to boil everything. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/57 "2017-03-14T03:16:42Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > 1. The way they had to relay messages from one crew member to another, even in situations where time was of the essence. > KIRK: Quick, beam them up before the monster eats them! > SCOTTY: (also on bridge, calls down on comm): Transporter room, beam them up! > TRANSPORTER ROOM: Beaming them up, sir! > Why couldn’t Kirk have just called down there himself? _Voice of Computer: Negative, there is no replacement Beryllium Sphere on board. Gwen DeMarco: [to crew] No, there is no replacement Beryllium Sphere on board. Tommy Webber: You know, that is really getting annoying! Gwen DeMarco: [shouts] Look! I have one job on this lousy ship, it’s stupid, but I’m gonna do it! Okay? Tommy Webber: Sure, no problem._ The absolute dumbest thing about _Star Trek_ (beyond the fact that the ship’s computer is clearly capable of running all functions on the ship autonomously and the level of automation technology is such that “away teams” could be entirely composed of disposable robots) is that after developing some revolutionary scientific solution to resolve the plot complication of the week that should completely transform some aspect of their technology or society, they conveniently forget about it, often even if it would be useful in a later episode to resolve some new plot complication, or they make up absurd reasons why their otherwise technomagical capability cannot resolve this week’s particular plot problem. Basically, the world of _Star Trek_ seems to be largely populated by drama queens with subnormal intellects and really short memories. It’s no wonder they got rid of Wesley Crusher; continually being shown up by some insufferable, snot-nosed kid who thinks that just because he actually knows how a “subspace communicator” actually works means he can tamper with a ship’s “warp core” and improve the efficiency beyond what the [questionably] best minds of the Daystern Institute can come up is just intolerable, especially if you can emote in dramatic Shakespearean fashion. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/58 "2017-03-14T03:18:23Z")
They starships seem to be awfully prone to breaking down. Especially _Voyager_. They should have named that one _Rickety Raft_. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/59 "2017-03-14T03:33:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I personally object because in 1966 Star Trek, women seemed to be presented as being barely good enough to bring coffee. Female helms…persons were rare. Female engineers non-existent (except for that woman who nearly killed Scotty and caused him to start butchering women. 🙂 ) Having Rand bring coffee (even if classic Navy (male) yeomans did exactly that) comes across as a putdown. > > And then there was Rand’s first appearance, where Kirk made a sexist crack about “that pencil pusher that assigned me a female yeoman”, like she’s incompetent or something by virtue of her female-ness (or just Too Darn Sexy. I was never sure what the point of that line was.). > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I’m pretty sure he was complaining about her mothering him. I always thought that what Kirk was complaining about was the snickering that would ensue from him having an extraordinarily pneumatic young woman assigned to essentially be his personal servant. ETA: or am I thinking of Captain Pike and Yeoman Colt? > [@Infovore](#): > > 1. The women’s uniforms. Those aren’t even dresses–they’re slightly long shirts. If your dress is so short that you can’t sit down properly without it riding up, it shouldn’t be a military uniform. This is especially true for crew members, like Uhura, who are expected to crawl around under their consoles when things need fixing. And don’t give me any \ about how it was sexy. How “sexy” it is is not an attribute of a proper military uniform, either. Hey, this was the 1960s, when the miniskirt changed female fashion standards for all time. 😛 Star Trek wasn’t unique in that respect, although it’s striking that they switched to this AFTER the pilot had women wear the same sensible uniforms as the men. > [@](#): > > 1. The way they had to relay messages from one crew member to another, even in situations where time was of the essence. > KIRK: Quick, beam them up before the monster eats them! > SCOTTY: (also on bridge, calls down on comm): Transporter room, beam them up! > TRANSPORTER ROOM: Beaming them up, sir! > Why couldn’t Kirk have just called down there himself? Parodied in _Galaxy Quest_, when Signorney Weaver complains that her character seemed to have no function except to relay orders verbally to the ship’s computer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109/60 "2017-03-14T03:48:56Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > 1. The women’s uniforms. Those aren’t even dresses–they’re slightly long shirts. If your dress is so short that you can’t sit down properly without it riding up, it shouldn’t be a military uniform. This is especially true for crew members, like Uhura, who are expected to crawl around under their consoles when things need fixing. And don’t give me any \ about how it was sexy. How “sexy” it is is not an attribute of a proper military uniform, either. None of the uniforms were proper military uniforms. NASA told them the spacesuits of the future would look like long underwear, so they ran with that and added color and style. Nichelle Nichols says the women’s uniforms were “liberating.” I’m not going to argue with her because _ **HEY!** _ she’s freakin’ Nichelle Nichols!\* :o \*Check out her nude pictorial in _ **EBONY** _. It’s on line, and yes, they are spectacular! 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/782109.md?page=4)