The Politics Of “Star Trek”
I’m thrilled that the imminent “Star Trek” movie has gone back to the show’s 1960s roots. Journalist Mark Simpson comments: ‘What’s remarkable about the “Star Trek franchise” is how closely each series corresponds to Republican or Democrat presidencies. The original series (1966-69), with its radical optimism and Cold War ethos, maps the Lyndon Johnson Democrat presidency and the “Great Society†(1963-69). The rather more corporate and hygienic Next Generation (1987-94) covers the Reagan-Bush Republican era (1981-93), while the deeply dull but industrious Deep Space Nine (1993-99) and the feminist vehicle Voyager (1995-2001), featuring a female captain (Hillary?), falls into the Clinton Democrat years (1993-2001).
