Last year, I blogged about Star Trek’s 45 Anniversary. Earlier today I blogged about Google’s awesome Star Trek 46th Anniversary doodle on google.com. I wanted to just say a couple more things.
In general, this has been a good year for science fiction. So much of it has been dystopian. And why not? We see our economies starting to crumble, the environment in peril, our governments disconnected and dysfunctional, and it’s hard to see a future that is anything but horrifically bleak.
Star Trek offers something different. The idea that the future doesn’t have to be hopeless. That as dark and as insane as it gets, there can be harmony at the other end. When Star Trek dealt with social issues of the day, it wasn’t simply as fodder for drama, but to give us a glimpse of the other side of the tunnel, when things are brighter and we can breathe again. It may have been naive at times, but the darker our real world gets, the more we need Star Trek and its ilk to show us a future filled with light. Sure, there’s always more than enough intensity and conflict to keep our heroes on their toes (and to shorten the lives of more than a few redshirts…) but they always find a way to a better tomorrow. And that’s what Star Trek offers all of us.
Happy Anniversary, Star Trek.
Now go on everyone, treat yourself to an episode (they stream from startrek.com to your Mac or PC for free).
