Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
It’s taken me several months, but I’ve finally tackled another item on My Grand List of Geeky Goals. Beam me up, Scotty. I’ve tackled #18.
I often felt like a total noob when it came to Star Trek. It’s one of those weird things in geek culture that feels like a pre-requisite to entry. I hate to say that there are such things, because I don’t truly believe those kinds of admittance requirements should exist, BUT you are missing out on a huge cultural element of geekdom if you don’t know the language of the show.
Hell, I’m glad I watched it because I finally understand why Wil Wheaton is so famous.
But there’s more to Star Trek than young Wheaton’s fame…
My first introduction to the series was actually a few years ago when my boyfriend TJ told me about his childhood Starship Enterprise model, which was his favorite toy for quite a while. He used to watch the show with his Great Grandma, which I think is just about the cutest notion ever. Just this five or six year old boy sitting on a recliner with his wee Granny taking in space adventures. This seems to be the magic sauce of the show: whether 5 or 95, we all want to know what’s out there.
In order to get into the series, TJ suggested we start with The Next Generation and Captain Jean Luc Piccard. While the graphics and special effects can be distracting at times, the show’s real strength is in its characters and plot lines. A favorite episode for me was right at the beginning of the series called Code of Honor, Episode 3 of Season 1.
Code of Honor finds Lt. Yar captured on an alien planet where she must fight the king’s wife to the death for the “honor” of his hand. Women fighting for a dude… yeah. BUT, here’s where the writing is so smart. Lt. Yar is the object of affection BECAUSE of her strength and her role as Chief of Security on the Enterprise, which is an unusual twist. And in the end, we find that the crew has devised a way to save both women from an untimely death. And just in case you thought this story was entirely sexist because it required the women’s rescue, we come to find out that the King’s wife is actually the rightful owner of the throne, so she tosses him out on his ass and just gets herself a new, more loyal husband. He’s hotter too. I can get down with that.
Ladies and gents, I’m pleased to report that Star Trek is total feminist propaganda. And inclusion propaganda. And I’m a fan of some good propaganda.
So we’re still watching, because dammit, it’s more diverse than shows on television at this very moment. More diverse. Smarter. More compelling. Sure, the colors are very muted, but what does that matter when so much of our current television is the same whether the audio is muted or not?
I want to get through all of TNG before the next Star Trek movie comes out with all the Batch sexiness, which isn’t likely to happen, but a girl can try.
So here’s to #18. This was a fun one.
Do you have a Grand List of Geeky Goals? What’s on your list?
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