Star Trek: A Study in Ethnic Diversity:

In 1964, Gene Roddenberry wrote a proposal for a science-fiction series. The proposal was influenced both by Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and by the popularity of TV Westerns. Roddenberry’s series was to be both a morality tale and an adventure story, and it was to be named Wagon Train to the Stars. The name was later changed to Star Trek based on the earlier pioneer “trekkers.” Star Trek fans are now called Trekkies, or Trekkers. The original Star Trek featured the galactic adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterpriseas they explored the “United Federation of Planets” during the 23rdcentury.

Star Trek was designed to take on such controversies as war and peace, personal loyalty, authoritarianism, imperialism, class warfare, racism, religion, human rights sexism, and the intergalactic role of economics and technology. William Shatner said that science fiction is like religion in that it tries to explain the inexplicable. In Star Trek, technology and diversity are valued rather than feared, and people work together for the greater good.

Incongruity and Incongruity-Resolution is one of the most recurring themes in humor theory. All of the Alien species in Star Trekare almost human, but not quite. They might have antlers, or pig snouts, or furrowed foreheads, or big brains, or they might even be part human and part machine. And they might be green, or blue with white hair, or have other deviations from human appearances. And the behaviors of Aliens, like their appearances, are both human and non human. They are incongruous (non-human), but their incongruity is close enough to being human that we can easily identify with them. Star Trek Aliens are like “funny” humans. But their “funniness” should not hide the fact that they can be super-logical, super-objective, super-sexual or super-dangerous. Even these hyperbolic attributes can be a bit humorous.

Star Trek is about boldly going where no one has ever gone before, but it is also about how humans ineract with the various ethnic identities that they meet in outer space. Andorians have antennas, blue skin, and white hair. (Cy)Borgs are part machine and part human. They have a “hive” mentality. Susanna Thompson is the (Cy)Borg Queen. Species 8472 communicate telepathically. The Borgs want to assimilate them, but they are immune to the Borg’s attempts to do so. The Cardassians believe in expansion of the Federation. Gul Dukak is a Cardassian. Armin Shimerman is a Ferengi named Quark. Sofia Boutella is a Jayla. Abd Deep Roy is a Keenser.

The Klingons are belligerent warriors, but one Klingon is member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. His name is Worf. Krall was the captain of the Starship Franklin. When it crashed into a planet, Krall and his crew felt that they were abandoned by the Federation. The green-skinned Orion humanoid women seem to be slaves, but in truth, their dancing girations have a powerful influence over human males. The Romulans are a splinter group that broke off from the Vulcans. Unlike the other Vulcans, the Romulans refuse to suppress their emotions. Kirstie Allie plays a Vulcan named Saavic in Star Wars. Leonard Nemoy plays Spock, a Vulcan member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. He knows the Vulcan nerve pinch, and the Vulcan finger signal, He also has the Vulcan ears. His motto is, “Live long and prosper.”