Starlog: II. Data Entry Two. One

My opinion is that most Star Trek episodes at least hint at social conflicts, whether they address conflicts between races or delve into the issue of women working in jobs that might be seen as being for men only. I live in Canada, but these conflicts are also present in my country, maybe at a lesser degree than at the time that the earlier Star Trek series were broadcast. The two episodes that I watched to consider for my reply to the questionasked for this data entry were Charlie X (Original series, Season 1, episode 2) and Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (Original Series, Season 3, episode 15). 

 

I was trying to observe not so much the main theme of the episode, but how women were portrayed as part of the crew. In the Charlie X episode besides Lieutenant Uhuru, who plays a fairly prominent role throughout the first three seasons, the character of Yeoman Janice Rand has an important part in the plot. In Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, Nurse Chapel is featured. Women are seen along with men in the corridors and other areas of the ship, going about their duties. While this may not seem to be an important as the focus of the episodes, it suggests an environment where women are accepted as part of the crew who contribute to the operation of the ship.

Donald Judd at Christie's

Once upon a time (back sometime in 2006), I did a blog entry about a Donald Judd exhibit at Christie's. I recently received a comment on that post and discovered that most, maybe all, of the links weren't relevant any longer. While editing the original entry, I seem to have deleted both the post and my update.

So I'm trying again. Christie's now has a page listing all the works it has auctioned by Judd. To find these works, just enter Donald Judd in the search box in the upper right hand corner. For some reason, the first page shown will not likely show any results for this artist. So, just click on the Sold Lots link and you will see images of many works by Judd. What I really like is that once I clicked on any of the images, I could then enlarge them and examine the work more closely.

Warning: There are not really more than 700 works by Judd. The search results get a bit confused after a few pages, but this can lead you to examine works by many other artists, which is part of the fun.

I also found the Judd Foundation webpage, which has a greater range of works by the artist. There are also lots of links to explore, some about Judd and some not.

So now I'm a Lieutenant Commander

And this is my latest insignia.

Starlog: Data Entry Six.Two

At around 2:54 in the video “Exploring Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” for 6.2, Scott Mantz says “You know, I'd like to think we're getting closer and closer to having IDIC here on Earth.” While it may sometimes seem as if his is a very optimistic view, given what seems like an increase in disrespect for others who don't look like us (whoever 'us' may be), there also seems to be a more positive approach to acceptance of the 'other'. This acceptance may not be as well publicized as the more negative view, but I see it in the support for refugees and immigrants in my small rural community. As people come to Canada and make their home here, as my ancestors did 230+ years ago, they will become part of the texture of the country. It may not be an easy process, and it is difficult to say what exactly it will look like. I would guess, and hope, that the difference might be that in the process we learn from each other and come to see that, in our 'Infinite Combinations', we are are all quite similar.

Starlog: Data Entry Six.One

Television, like movies earlier, and the internet later, reflects and influences how we are seen and how we see ourselves. All three venues exist in the present, and are somewhat intertwined in influencing how we see ourselves,and others. As for whether or not it is important to see myself on television, I would have to say that since I am old - a term I prefer to 'senior citizen', I am sensitive to how women who are older are portrayed in any media. I don't need to see 'myself' as much as I would like to see a variety of portrayals of older women, so that they do not fit just one stereotype for my age group.

Television is an interesting, and perhaps important, subject for scholarly study because it can reflect the opinions and reactions of the watchers. Unfortunately, it can also magnify or diminish those factors as well. I may watch a TV show and agree with most of what is presented. I could also think that it is mostly offensive or badly scripted. I'm not sure that what we watch shapes the world we live in, but it can reinforce certain beliefs that we hold. Depending on the show, it can also cause viewers to reconsider those beliefs. Scholarly study can trace trends in presentation and content of all types of shows – comedies, dramas, and documentaries, and more. Hopefully, those studies can be communicated to viewers so that they can be more aware of how their views and beliefs can be manipulated.

Badge for Unit 5

I am now a Lieutenant Commander, or at least that is what the insignia is for. Still having fun watching episodes of the various series, and have enrolled in the next class.

Starlog: Data Entry Five.Two

Starlog 5-2

My reply is based on my opinion about the questions posed for this class. I think that the urge to explore our solar system, like the impulse to explore other continents, and other solar systems, is both a good and a bad impulse. The need to explore – to find out what exists outside our experiences – is something that humans have exhibited from the first time that our ancestors left the sites of our origins in Africa and ventured throughout the continents. If they hadn't done that, then we would not likely be here discussing this subject.

It might be helpful if “the government resolve[d] Earthly issues before exploring space” but as humans we don't seem capable of attempting that on a large scale. Perhaps the idea of exploring other worlds, or travelling into space, fulfills some basic need that we have to see what is beyond our earthbound experience. Perhaps we can learn to use that need to explore new ideas to deal with some of the problems, like climate change, that currently we seem to be incapable of facing.

Starlog: Data Entry Five.One

Starlog 5-1

Of course, the global issue that comes immediately to mind is that of climate change. It is sometimes difficult to see an optimistic vision of the planet's future, and that of its occupants, given the reluctance of some politicians and industries to acknowledge that climate change is even happening. Given that Star Trek often deals with the interaction between cultures, and that another important issue today is the movement of refugees throughout the world, the plot I would like to see explored it how those two issues might interact. In the show I would envision, the people who are moving to a new country, or planet, might bring with them a way of dealing with their environment that is more interested in maintaining their surroundings than in destroying them. I think that if I was writing the plot, I would draw upon the experiences within my own family during the past century – that of using the natural resources surrounding us in a responsible and sustainable way, while acknowledging the more recent practice of 'using and discarding' and setting the two approaches in opposition to each other.

More Badges

One of these is for Lieutenant and one is for Lieutenant Junior Grade. And they are not as much fun as meeting one of my requirements for the course, which is watching as many StarTrek episodes as I can.

Starlog: Data Entry Four.Two

I really have no idea where AI is going, since the function seems to change over time. I would like to see it used for the more simple, useful things, rather than the invasive functions that can occur when the program is not supervised, as mentioned by Mark Teerlink at around 4:40 in the video for Tech Showcase: Artificial Intelligence. One thing that I like about AI, is that when I do Google searches for a particular subject, the algorithm, which I guess is really what AI is, is sometimes very good at guessing what it is I'm looking for, based on my past searches. An example would be knowing what rock group I'm looking for, or that I'm looking for a group of musicians, rather than a city in the U.S.

Starlog: Data Entry Four.One - Beam Me Up, or Down

My must-have would be the ability to be transported from one location to another. On a personal level, it would mean that I didn't have to travel many miles to visit places and people I would like to see. As for the Star Trek universe, it really couldn't exist without this technology, in my opinion. Most of the episodes are based on the ability to be instantly transported to another location. If instant 'beaming' wasn't part of the story lines, then the show would not exist as it does, so it's not a matter of being better or worse; it's a matter of telling an entirely different story.

Since I have access to every episode (or most episodes) of Star Trek, I looked at two just to see how this technology was used. In the original pilot episode, The Cage, a crew of six, including Spock, get beamed down to the planet which is the focus of the story, at around 10 minutes. In the latest episode that I watched, Star Trek Discovery, episode 1, the Captain and Number One (both females, by the way), get beamed from the planet that they seem to be isolated on, to the ship at around 5 minutes. It's fascinating how 'beaming', or transporting, has been such an enduring technology over the many iterations of Star Trek.

Starlog: Data Entry Three.Two

I have to confess that I don't have a favourite Star Trek character. At one time it might have been Spock, Captain Kirk, or any of the characters from the first series. When I was watching The Next Generation, it would have been Captain Picard, or maybe Data at times. I don't know that I've 'connected' with any of the characters, but now that I've been able to view episodes from most of the series, I find that I see them as more multi-dimensional – something I might not have recognized when I was watching the earlier series. I'm as interested in the minor characters as in the more prominent ones, which is likely because now that I'm taking this course, I've been examining the importance of the supporting roles.

#StarTrekCourse @SmithsonianX

Starlog: Data Entry Three.One

While I enjoy watching series where there is some adherence to canon, or the rules that a script may follow, I also appreciate it when the characters deviate from the preset requirements of their persona. If nothing else, it makes me as a viewer sit up and notice that the person is behaving like a human being, with some contradictions in their behaviour. The benefit, if you would call it that, of following the rules for a character in a series is that the viewer knows what to expect. The downside is that this leads to boredom.

The creative potential in not following canon is that the viewer, and more than likely the actor, is challenged to explore a character's potential for change. This can lead to explorations of new directions for the series, the characters, and the viewer. Star Trek has changed over the many years that it has existed, encompassing many new versions, and sets of characters, while more or less adhering to the mission to explore space and time with boldness.

Star Trek has generally followed both adherence to canon, and skipping away from canon when the script, and maintaining the interest of the viewer, requires it. Otherwise it would not have continued to exist from the original series to the current one, and we probably wouldn't have a MOOC on the series and its influence on popular culture. As Scott Mantz states in the video for Star Trek's Unique Universe Overview "Like space itself, canon is fluid, and subject to change". (1)


(1) @ 6:03 minutes.

Now I'm an Ensign

Not that I'm bragging, but at least I've finished the second Starlog entry.

Starlog: Data Entry Two

If the business model referred to in the question was meant to lead to “programming aimed at a broad audience”, having the appeal of “being family-friendly”, while causing the audience to be “watching through those all-important commercials that were paying the network's bills” , then it seems to have worked for the first Star Trek series, at least for a relatively short period of time. The series was reworked in that the original pilot was replaced by a second one that was deemed to be more audience-friendly, and less “cerebral”. (1)

This model may have been more conducive to audience appreciation, at least in the minds of network television executives, but it also limited the range of the narrative of the stories told, perhaps removing some of the empathy that could be directed by the viewer towards the characters. Incidentally, through doing some internet research, I discovered that the original pilot was inserted into the script of the 11^th and 12^th episodes (The Menagerie). In this two-part episode, the characters were re-connected and some of the cerebral and empathetic elements were re-introduced.

(1) For quoted references, as well as most other references to the series' early history in this paragraph, see the video Star Trek and the Business of Network Television – likely available only to participants of this course.

Chief Warrent Officer Badge

Since finishing any section of any course I take is an accomplishment for me, here is my CWO badge.

CMO

Starlog: Data Entry One

My first assignment on this voyage is to let you know who I am and why I'm taking this course. Well, the simple answer is that I'm taking way too many MOOCs and the subject of this one was too intriguing to pass up. I've been a Star Trek fan for many years, primarily of the original series, and then of Star Trek: the Next Generation. So now I can watch some of the old Star Trek episodes, as doing that is one of the suggested activities for the course.

As for who I am: I'm retired, living in Nova Scotia, Canada, and hoping that this course will be as much fun as I think it will be.