alienEthOS: The Ethics of Sci-fi

alienEthOS forums / Suggested Topics / Slavery issues in ST Enterprise

Author	Message
Anonymous	# Posted: 24 Apr 2006 16:58:01 In one show, the Entreprise meets a very friendly alien race and do a joined exploration together. The learn that this race needs 3 partners to mate: a male, a female, and a third gender to carry the foetus. This third gender is very rare and in order for everybody to reproduce, theyr're maintained in a state of slavery, passed from one couple to another, forbidden to get any education, have a name, etc. The chief engineer befriends one of these 3rd gender person and teaches him a lot of stuff. Big diplomatic incident ensues, and this person eventually commits suicide. At the end of the episode, captain Archer lectures the chief engineer about undertanding different cultures and ways of life. I was offended when I heard that slavery could be considered "a different culture". What do you guys think?
Scott Haley Member	# Posted: 25 Apr 2006 23:25:40 That wasn't a good episode, and Archer seemed way out of character at the end. I think that if you believe something is wrong, you should still think it's wrong when you're in a foreign culture, or else you're a stinking hypocrite. In most episodes, Archer is better than this. --Scott
lycurgus33 Member	# Posted: 4 Mar 2007 18:14:14 The episode was "Cogenitor" It showed there that the so called "Prime Directive" was nothing more than a hollow shell with an anti-life foundation. It was this episode that pretty much did it for me from watching any of the new Trek garbage.
Scott Haley Member	# Posted: 2 Apr 2007 21:45:10 Somebody should have told that writer that the Prime Directive didn't exist yet on "Enterprise." The Paramount people should hire someone talented to do a Trek series. Joss Whedon, maybe.