Blog Post 3: Cold War Pop Culture

American popular culture one of the most effective tools used for criticism of american politics, especially during the Cold War. As Sarantakes describes in his article, Star Trek: The Original Series is perhaps the most famous TV show that addressed american foreign policy through a critical lens. “A Private Little War” aired in 1968, and questioned the morality of the ongoing Vietnam War, something that was extremely controversial during the period. The story takes place on a primitive planet where the Federation (representing the USA) is forced to arm a group of natives when the Klingon Empire (representing the USSR) arms another group first. Despite the planet and its inhabitants having no “intrinsic worth” to the Federation, they have to prevent the addition of the planet to the Klingon sphere of influence in order to stop their spread, an interstellar attempt at containment.

Writer Dan Ingalls also critiqued the military itself through the episode, “blaming the troops for the destruction in Vietnam even when they were simply carrying out a mission devised by their civilian leaders.” Kirk laments the fact that he doesn’t have the moral high ground over his Klingon counterpart, and is essentially doing the exact same thing as him: arming the natives and spurring war between the two, just like the US Military did in Vietnam.

Science Fiction and Fantasy have the ability to be allegorical in a way many other genres do not. Not only can you have fictional or fantastical elements stand in for real world problems, you can do so in a way that prevents censure when a more direct critique would be suppressed. An example would be Battlestar Galactica (2004), where in the second season, the villainous robotic Cylons occupied a human colony called New Caprica. Their oppressive rule and fight against a human resistance was seen as a critique of American Foreign policy during the Iraq War. The Cylons weren’t trying to destroy the humans, just rule over them using a puppet government. Battlestar Galactica helped show Americans that from the Iraqi point of view, American soldiers were seen as the villains, and collaborators with them were almost as bad.

Democracy Promotion and Star Trek

In Sarantakes’s article, one allegory to the Cold War is the tension between spreading democratic ideals and abrogating the freedom of other countries by intervening. This comes out in the analysis of “The Omega Glory.” The episode, which ends with Kirk successfully ending a war between the Yangs and the Kohms and imprisoning Captain Tracey, leads Spock to question “whether their actions have not violated [the prime directive] as well.”

This is an allegory to US foreign policy. America was founded in reaction to intervention/domination, yet Wilsonian foreign policy is built on the idea of spreading democratic ideals via intervention. This is paralleled in the prime directive, which is about non-intervention.

Science fiction is useful for critique of political culture for two reasons. First, the idea of a more advanced society lends scientific credence to the thesis of the criticism. A society with light speed travel is thought of as more advanced, so a critique advanced from said position is given the same advanced status. Mainly people conceptualize history as a teleological process, with technological and moral advancement being intrinsically linked, and science fiction plays off this.

But even more generally, science fiction allows creators to deal with larger ideas more explicitly. Because science fiction has almost infinite freedom in characters and settings, it can create a situation that expressly question political assumptions without feeling didactic. As Star Trek demonstrates, the ability to create new planets with new species tells us more about our planet and our species by placing humans in new situations with new morals. And thus, science fiction, through its expression of human creativity, can critique human power structures and hope for the creation of a better world.

Politics of Science Fiction

“The prime directive became a troublesome and contradictory element in the stories the series presented. The idea, at its core, ran counter to the Wilsonian impulse that was so pronounced in U.S. foreign policy during the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson—an impulse whereby the United States sought to remake the world in its own image.”
The creation of a “prime directive” in Star Trek reaffirms an anti-colonial mindset that federation representatives should not interfere in the natural development of less developed societies, or those without the technology to travel in space. Though the concept of the prime directive surfaces multiple times during the series, it appears in the “Patterns of Force” episode when Federation member John Gill states while dying, “I was wrong… The non-interference directive is the only way.” Therefore, in relation to foreign policy, the writers of Star Trek chose to suggest that the US should engage in relations that do not impose on the autonomy of less “developed” countries. Though the series often maintains the moral superiority of the US, they also tie this moral superiority to the country’s commitment to liberty for all.

Science fiction and/or fantasy writing removes the subjectivity of issues we are a part of. People are more likely to be objective and logical in understanding issues they are not directly tied to. Since political/cultural ideologies are so tied to our lives and livelihoods, it is unlikely anyone will comprehensively criticize them. Sci-fi, then, provides a dissociation that can allow us to think outside of our worlds. It lets us acknowledge that realities exist outside of our own in the ways it literally creates alternate universes. I think the creation of alternate realities allows us to question the values we have normalized and legitimized. Additionally, science fiction often employs metaphors and allegories, both of which are crucial ways for humans to understand the ways the world works. I think The Matrix is an extremely effective, intentional critique of the ways we live our lives and the mindlessness that accompanies living. It shatters our perceived realities and in doing this suggests that realities are constructed and can be understood differently. It questions ideas of free-will and autonomy.

Though often effective, at times I feel like science fiction or fantasy genres are not as impactful as they hope to be because no viewer will willingly identify themselves with the villain, instead choosing to dissociate.

 

Science Fiction as a Means to Challenge Conventional Beliefs

The episode “Mirror, Mirror,” first aired in October of 1967, serves as an excellent example of a direct allegory of U.S. policy. As Sarantakes explains, this episode is part of an overarching attempt to “demonstrate that American principles were different from the values of other countries seeking power and that these values should allow the United States to promote democracy and show tolerance for the values of other cultures and peoples,” (Sarantakes 82).

In this episode, the Federation wants to utilize mines on the planet Halkon, which lacks any military defense capability. However, Halkon’s leaders are reluctant to accept this request, prompting a contingent from the Federation to come talk to the leaders, who maintain their stance. The delegation abides by Halkon’s resistance and prepare to leave. However, upon departure, the delegation is warped into an alternative “anti-universe,” in which the Federation is an empire that uses brute force and violence to realize its desires. Ultimately, the delegation realizes what has happened and returns without causing any disturbance or backtracking on the pact. As such, this episode indicated the Federation, symbolizing the US, had different, more tolerant principles than that of other superpowers, such as the USSR or historical empires.
Because science fiction and/or fantasy writing tends to look into the future and incorporates concepts that could be considered unrealistic from a status quo perspective, it is powerful in challenging political/cultural ideologies. In other words, it creates a separation or a “wall” between contemporaneous events and the specific show/text. In reality, that “wall” is porous because of the underlying similarities between the fiction and reality and diffusion between the two, in which reality influences science fiction and the message from science fiction can influence reality. One example is the Bollywood movie PK. In this movie, an alien lands on Earth in India, wanting to learn more about the people and culture. As an outsider, the alien is able to innocently question different religious superstitions and also point out some instances of hypocrisy by some individuals. If the inquisitor were another human, it is likely that this movie would have received much more criticism and incited divide between different groups. However, creating that aforementioned “wall” enabled the producers to get across their message and create one of the top grossing movies of all time.

Science Fiction’s Role in Political Commentary

Sarantakes, in his article, “Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of U.S. Foreign Policy: The Perspective of the Original Star Trek Series,” argues that the original episodes of Star Trek offered a commentary about the United States’ foreign policy. He postures that Star Trek writers not only reflect liberal values of the time, but attempted to shape the conversation surrounding issues, such as the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, and the U.S.’s relationship with the Soviet Union. The show does this, at times, quite obviously. For example, in one episode, two warring factions, the Yangs and the Kohms, are discovered by the show’s main characters. It is clarified in the show that the Yangs and Kohms are futuristic representations of Yankees and Commies, Americans and Soviets. This episode shows a dystopian Earth on which the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. never ceased fighting and each side resorts to ruthlessness, with the Americans losing sight of their founding principles. By the end, the main characters “‘… showed [the Yangs] the meaning of what they were fighting for.’”

It is more acceptable for science fiction writers to offer up political commentary in their work because they can veil the commentary behind the work’s background. In the case of Star Trek, if critiqued about the political nature of their show, the writers could argue that their show exists in isolation of American politics because the setting of the show is wildly different from the current setting. This is similar to the original Wizard of Oz, in which a social commentary about American life in the Great Depression was hidden behind a fantastical set of characters and storyline.

Beyond the Screen: Science Fiction as a Commentator

In his article Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of U.S. Foreign Policy, Nicholas Sarantakes discusses the ways in which the original Star Trek series provided political commentary on an era dominated by Cold War tensions. He examines different story lines that the writers utilized as direct allegories to U.S. foreign and domestic policies and culture during this time period.

One notable allegory that Sarantakes describes is in the episode “Mirror, Mirror,” which aired on October 6, 1967. In this episode, members of the Starship Enterprise, which resembles the U.S. Army and Navy, are whisked into an anti-universe; there, they find themselves serving an evil empire with power hungry and ruthless rulers. “The empire is thus an example of the imperial domination that so many great powers exercised over peripheral lands—it represents everything that the Federation is not” (83). In this, we see a stark contrast being created between the Federation, which represents the United States, and the anti-Enterprise place that they find themselves. This new world is dark, while the original starship is much lighter and clearly “good.” In this, the writers are trying to portray a message of difference, in that the democratic United States is disparate and significantly better than the autocratic Soviet Union. This places a greater worth on the United States’ values, and therefore justifies the United States’ promoting of its own values of democracy and tolerance.

Science fiction is particularly effective in commentating on political or cultural ideologies in that it gives writers the opportunity to transport both its characters and its audience to different worlds, ones that often represent possible future scenarios. This disconnect from reality allows for dramatizations and creativity, often in the forms of utopias and distopias, that are highly effective in conveying certain messages. One example of this is the book and film series Divergent. In this series, the characters are divided up into five factions, each characterized by one value that those in the faction wholeheartedly live by. Those who fall under more than one category are labeled as “divergent,” which in their world becomes synonymous with “outsider.” Chaos ensues as the leaders of the world attempt to hunt down the divergent. Veronica Roth, Divergent’s author, uses this dystopia to warn against large divisions in society, particularly from the clashing of ideologies.

Star Trek’s role in displaying America’s conscious during the Cold War

Through Star Trek’s futuristic setting, the show’s creators were able to address a wide variety of controversial content indirectly without incurring the censorship of network television. One such episode that allegorized an important event in world history is “Patterns of Force”. This episode’s focus on authoritarianism and interventionism provides a strong message against the overuse of power by the United States.

In “Patterns of Force”, Kirk and Spock discover a planet where Federation researcher John Gill has gained power of the planet Ekos and implemented a totalitarian system of government that reflects Nazi Germany down to the uniforms. After Kirk and Spock defeat the authoritarian regime, Gill’s dying words reflect his realization of the monstrosity he has created. Sarantakes extrapolates Gill’s comments to a wider Cold War context stating “The implication is that the United States should make no effort to impose its will on other countries” (85). “Patterns of Force” is one of the more overt episodes of Star Trek. Just as Sarantakes explains, the creators goal was to state their disagreements with US intervention policies. By comparing US intervention to Nazism, a tangible evil that the American audience could surely relate to, Star Trek’s creators critiqued American foreign policy during the Cold War.

Star Trek was able to discuss issues like the ones in “Patterns of Force” because its science fiction genre cloaked its underlying messages. Moreover, science fiction and fantasy can be so effective at identifying deep seated political or cultural ideologies because its foreign, abstract settings detach the audience from their current reality so that they can fully see their actions without their own bias. Star Trek does this well; it is much easier to identify unnecessary interventionism in a fictional, distant universe detached from the viewers current reality than it is to simply tell the audience that part of their reality is wrong.

A more recent example of a science fiction work criticizing modern ideologies is Disney Pixar’s WALL-E. Through a story about a garbage cleaning robot in a futuristic world where Earth has been abandoned due to over excessive trash creation. Through a thinly veiled critique of humanity’s excessive nature, WALL-E must save humanity’s obese descendants from ruining Earth and being confined to a sedentary space lifestyle forever. These themes are very clearly portrayed in the movie through morbidly obese humans that require floating chairs to move around their spaceships and desolate, waste covered scenes of a futuristic Earth. Both of these images function as a call to action to get the audience to realize that better care must be taken of the Earth if we are to use it in the future.

When F.P. is on TV: An Exploration of Allegory and Critique in Star Trek

In “Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of U.S. Foreign Policy; The Perspective of the Original Star Trek Series,” Sarantakes explains that Star Trek is full of story lines that serve as direct allegories to U.S. foreign and domestic policies and culture. One such allegory appears in “Mirror, Mirror,” an episode that aired on October 6, 1967, in which a delegation from the Starship Enterprise is transported into an alternate universe. This alternate universe is equated with evil, not only by its norms, which include the use of force and violence as political tools, but also by its depiction, as it is poorly-lit and dark. While in the “good” world, the Enterprise delegates respect the refusal of the Halkonians, another group, to give them minerals, in the “evil” one, they don’t.

As Sarantakes explains, “The empire is thus an example of the imperial domination that so many great powers exercised over peripheral lands—it represents everything that the Federation is not,” (83). The “good” world represents the U.S. and its superiority over the Soviet Union, the “evil” world. This allegory reinforces the conception of the U.S. and democracy as superior to the USSR and suggests that the U.S. will be no better than the Soviet Union if its foreign policy is not ethical and democratic like the Federation’s.

Science fiction and fantasy writing can challenge deep-seated political and cultural ideologies by showing audiences a version of their own world in a foreign context. Due to this distance, it can challenge ideologies even in sensitive environments. For instance, the use of allegory in Star Trek was intentional, as in the mid-1960s, major TV networks were reluctant to tackle controversial issues directly. Star Trek’s science fiction designation provided a way around this barrier (78-79).

Moreover, science fiction and fantasy writing can make a society’s flaws more visible by placing often deep-seated ideologies in new contexts. Science fiction and fantasy provides enough distance from our own world that we can appropriately and, without emotional attachment, see it as it is.

One science fiction show that similarly self-consciously provides a cultural critique is Humans. Set in a parallel universe in which humans have lifelike robots called synths, and the lines between human and machine blur, this series explores the negative effects of seemingly “beneficial” technology on our lives and considers what makes us truly human.

Image:https://i2.wp.com/www.tor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/st-mirror6.jpg?resize=740%2C555&type=vertical (still from “Mirror, Mirror”)

Star Trek and Black Mirror: Using Media to comment on social issues.

One allegory Sarantakes highlights in the reading is the dangerous effects and nature of atomic weapons. Star Trek challenged the idea of the nuclear arms race several years before it became a prominent issue in American Politics. Specifically, “The Doomsday Machine” episode, which aired in 1967, alluded to the negative threats atomic and H-bombs to the planet. In the episode, a “giant, planet destroying death machine” is responsible for the destruction of the “third planet” and subsequently the lives of the entire crew of the Constellation space ship. The doomsday machine is eventually destroyed, as Kirk rigs the Constellation to ram into and destroy the machine. The episode ends with an important allusion back to the 20th century nuclear race; Kirk notes “Ironic, isn’t it. Way back in the Twentieth Century, the H-bomb was the ultimate weapon-their doomsday machine. And we used something like it to destroy another doomsday machine. Probably the first time such a weapon has ever been use for constructive purposes.” Here, Sarantakes makes the strong argument that nuclear weapons are never the ideal weapon of choice when defending or attacking another nation; their is almost no positive externalities than come with employing nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons have the terrible power of destroying an entire planet, and thus, must be used (or not used) with extreme mindfulness.

Science fiction literature has often been a platform to discuss social or political issues because of the indirect, and thus inoffensive, methods they use. Nearly all science fiction literature addresses social and political issues through allusions and metaphors, instead of directly. Thus, they are more easily able to discuss difficult or controversial topics such as war, international relations, nuclear bombs, etc, because they do not necessarily have to take responsibility for the way viewers receive and interpret the topic. More recent science fiction, such as Black Mirror, have also used their media platforms to discuss social issues. Black Mirror specifically uses fictional stories to warn about the dangerous effects of reliance on technology and social media in the near future. For example, in the episode “Nose Dive”, the series hints at the dangerous reliance on social media in giving people self worth; the episode suggests that social media and technology eventually ruin society’s individualist nature.

 

Sci-fi and Political Messages

In an episode of Star Trek, the crew is transported to an alternate universe where they are serving a despicable empire. Instead of being peaceful, they are interested only in conquering worlds. They become imperialists, exploiting other people; for example, the anti-Enterprise crew force another world to allow mining on their world. This is clearly meant to represent the Soviet Union, with the real Enterprise being the U.S. The distinction between the universes is made even more transparent, as the anti-Enterprise is poorly lit, as opposed to the bright Enterprise. This furthers the message that the U.S. is the protagonist and the Soviet Union is the antagonist in the world’s narrative.

As Sarantakes writes,  “The message of the episode is that a democratic country like the United States is different from and better than its autocratic rival, the Soviet Union and that U.S. foreign policy should reject these merits.

Star Trek isn’t the only show to do this. As Sarantakes notes, because science fiction and fantasy media can hide behind the fact that they are not connected to reality, controversial positions can be taken.  For example, in the sci-fi movie District 9, aliens are contained to ghettos in a small part of South Africa. The aliens are subjected to a military occupation, and cannot leave for home. This is a metaphor for apartheid South Africa, as it shows a community of people being discriminated against.