Kirk’s thing, beyond any inappropriate behavior, is that while he’s no monk, and has even had some semi-serious and serious relationships with women, his real love is his ship and he cares more about it than he does his own life or even his naval career if it comes down to it. Not sure if that’s supposed to be admirable/optimistic, the opposite, or simply a common stereotype.
Star Trek TOS is optimistic because it posits a future where humans have conquered many of the problems plaguing the United States during the 1960s. And while it’s certainly acceptable to critique the show and point to where it fell short of its optimistic message, doing so without considering the context of the time period in which the show was produced is unfair. In the 2nd season episode “The Ultimate Computer,” we’re introduced to Dr. Daystrom who is the foremost expert on computers in the Federation. Kirk mentions that Daystrom’s work forms the basis of the computer system used on the Enterprise. Daystrom is a black man. I know that’s not a big deal to us now but it was a big deal in the 1960s. For most Americans computers were practically science fiction with very few of us having any real experience with them. And to have a black man be one of the leading experts on computers in the future? We’re talking about an era where many southern television stations refused to show I, Spy on account of Culp and Cosby’s characters being equal.
I just watched that one the other night.
While the 23rd century might not discriminate on the basis of race, they sure do on height. Daystrom couldn’t even fit on a sickbay bed! They had him practically folded up. I’d never noticed that before.
Far as i can tell…only a Mirror Universe one.