When the present is dark, look to science fiction futures

Star Trek is boldly going where we should follow

Image supplied by: Photo by Curtis Heinzl
Ori believes science fiction is the hopeful reminder humanity needs.

The world can be a dark place sometimes.

Having constant access to worldwide news streams and information makes it easy to get lost in the complex emotions that can arise from the many ongoing global crises. When we look at the state of the world, we often forget the most important emotion: hope.

The world has changed a lot in recent years. Societies have struggled to keep themselves afloat as political leaders proved time and time again that simply holding positions of power does not equal knowing how to properly wield this power.

For those graduating high school and planning to move on to post-secondary amid a pandemic, many saw the future as a bleak one. I eventually began to ask myself, “Why? What was the point of going through with these studies?”

However, when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered back in May, it gave science fiction fans the hopeful reminder we so desperately needed: to keep “boldly going where no one has gone before.”

Strange New Worlds features many concepts and characters familiar to those with knowledge of Star Trek.

The series takes place in the 23rd century, following the voyages of the starship Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, played by Anson Mount.

Captain Pike is grappling with the knowledge of his future: he’s fated to suffer a terrible accident which will leave him paralyzed and scarred beyond recognition. 

Up until the debut of this show and Captain Pike’s introduction in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, the Star Trek franchise was not in a good state.

Previous modern adaptions, including Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, can only be described as generic sci-fi shows at best, and great disappointments at worst.

Strange New Worlds took Star Trek back to its core values. It presented a hopeful, optimistic view of humanity where people work together to better humanity, no longer hindered by racial or political barriers. 

When the real world is continually plagued with injustices toward people of differing races and sexual identities, its depiction of humanity is an important reminder of what can be achieved if we all work together.

It would be an understatement to say that life was difficult for most of the world during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, when the pandemic relaxed and Strange New Worlds made its debut, those of us questioning the future felt reassured.

The show wastes no time showing how Captain Pike’s knowledge of his destiny affects him as a leader and as a person. Throughout the series premiere, Pike must return to command the USS Enterprise, despite everything holding him back. 

Seeing how his knowledge changed him to be an even better leader was inspiring.

The episode follows the Enterprise making first contact with a new alien planet whose two warring factions are on the brink of mutual destruction. Pike shows these aliens their grim future should war continue by revealing Earth’s history of war and death, followed by the idealized human society of the 23rd century.

The episode reminds us that if we work together, we can overcome our problems. It reminds us that with hope, we can create the best possible future for our society.

Like many other works of fiction, Star Trek acts as a tool to measure our society. It creates a goal for humanity to work towards for the benefit of ourselves and our world. 

Pike’s inspiring speech at the climax of the episode emotionally resonated with many viewers. He draws parallels to our real-world society, exploring what could happen if we let our wars escalate, which is in jarring contrast from the near-perfect future society for which Star Trek is famous.

The speech reveals that, although we have a long way to go, and we may at times have more in common with the warring inhabitants of the planet Kiley than we would probably care to admit, there’s still hope we can grow into something that resembles Starfleet.

In just a short, ten-episode season, Anson Mount’s portrayal of Captain Pike is already up there with some of Star Trek’s finest Captains, such as William Shatner’s James T. Kirk and Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard.

Captain Pike represents everything humanity should strive to be. Hopeful, optimistic, and not afraid to take risks for the betterment of the world—all while having amazing hair, of course.

When the real leaders of our world don’t give us the hope we need of a positive future, fiction can show us what kind of people we should be.  

This episode, and the entire season, was not only a reminder of hope, but a call to action. We need to work together, keep studying, keep learning, and try to make our world the hopeful place that Star Trek, and countless other science fiction stories have shown us it can and should be.  

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds helped me answer my “why.” Maybe other stories can do the same for you.

 

Ori Cogan is a first-year sciences student.

Tags

future, future generation, Hope, Humanity, science fiction, Star Trek

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