BEYOND THE FINAL FRONTIER Race and Ethnicity in Star Trek Michelle Mueller, s4597281 A thesis submitted to the faculty at Radboud University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in North American Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Frank Mehring August 2017 Mueller, s4597281 / 2 Abstract This thesis examines the portrayal of two characters of ethnic minorities in the popular Star Trek–franchise. Its primary purpose is to determine whether the portrayal of the African American lieutenant Uhura and the middle eastern inspired antagonist Khan adheres to negative stereotypes and how their portrayal has changed over time in the franchise. Theories important for this case study are: W.J.T. Mitchell’s Seeing Through Race, Edward Said’s study of Orientalism, and J.P. Telotte’s work of Science Fiction Film. In order to examine the characters’ portrayal with the help of these theories, the case study of this thesis will focus on two episodes from Star Trek – The Original Series from the 1960s, the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan from 1982 and the new Star Trek from 2009 and Star Trek Into Darkness from 2013. These particular products have been chosen because firstly, the feature both of the characters and secondly, ample time has gone by in–between the episodes and movies to open the possibility of change in the portrayal of ethnic minorities. The results of this thesis show that the portrayal of the African American woman, Uhura, in the 1960s and the 2000s are both progressive. In both cases, she is portrayed as a valuable member of the team. Further, in the movies from the 2000s, Uhura takes actively part in the plot. In the 1982-movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan however, her character vanishes fades into the background and she does not carry any importance for the team or the plot. As for the portrayal of the antagonist Khan, the television episodes from the 1960s as well as the movie from 1982 emphasizes his mystical and mysterious background reminiscent of the Orient through his clothing and his behavior. In Star Trek Into Darkness his ethnicity was erased which opens the discussion of this character having fallen victim to being white-washed. Keywords: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Race, Orientalism, Film studies Mueller, s4597281 / 3 Cover Sheet ENGELSE TAAL EN CULTUUR Teacher who will receive this document: Prof. Dr. Frank Mehring Title of document: Beyond the Final Frontier – Race and Ethnicity in Star Trek Name of course: Master’s thesis Date of submission: 11 August 2017 The work submitted here is the sole responsibility of the undersigned, who has neither committed plagiarism nor colluded in its production. Signed Name of student: Michelle Mueller Student number: 4597281 Mueller, s4597281 / 4 Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Cover Sheet ................................................................................................................................ 3 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. Theorizing Race in Science Fiction ..................................................................................... 10 2.1 Science Fiction Genre and Analysis ........................................................................................... 11 2.2 Theorizing Race in the Media and Entertainment Industry ........................................................ 15 2.3 Hollywood’s Problem with Race ................................................................................................ 20 2.4 Star Trek and Race ..................................................................................................................... 22 3. Case Study: Star Trek .......................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Star Trek – The Original Series .................................................................................................. 27 3.1.1 Analysis of Uhura ............................................................................................................... 28 3.1.2 Analysis of Khan ................................................................................................................. 35 3.2 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ................................................................................................ 41 3.2.1 Analysis of Uhura ............................................................................................................... 42 3.2.2 Analysis of Khan ................................................................................................................. 45 3.3 Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) ................................................................ 51 3.3.1 Analysis of Uhura ............................................................................................................... 52 3.3.2 Analysis of Khan ................................................................................................................. 61 4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 69 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 76 Mueller, s4597281 / 5 1. Introduction The popular science fiction–franchise Star Trek celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016. It tells the story of the fictional starship Enterprise commanded by the famous James T. Kirk (portrayed by William Shatner) and his first officer, the alien from the planet of Vulcan, Spock (portrayed by Leonard Nimoy). The franchise is still very well–known today not least due to the reboot movies from 2009, 2013, and 2016 respectively. As a utopian science fiction show, Star Trek has presented the viewer with an ideal future where all of humanity comes together to travel through space in the fictional space agency Starfleet throughout its various movies and television series. The newest movie has come out in July 2016 and has been met with mixed reviews (cf. Scott). Additionally, a new TV series has been announced for 2017, courtesy of CBS Television Studies for the North American market and Netflix for the rest of the world (cf. “Netflix to Beam New CBS ‘Star Trek’ Television Series in 188 Countries Around the World.”). Due to this demand, it is obvious that the franchise still enjoys great popularity today. The franchise's first series, Star Trek – The Original Series, aired from 1966 to 1969 and featured the African American actress Nichelle Nichols in a non–stereotypical role on public television for the first time. She was portraying Communications Officer Nyota Uhura, commonly referred to as Uhura, aboard the starship Enterprise (cf. Nichols 164). The actress continued to reprise this role in the Star Trek–movies from the 1980s and 1990s. In the reboot movies of 2009 and onwards, the role of Uhura is portrayed by actress Zoë Saldana with Dominican–Puerto Rican ancestry (cf. “Zoe Saldana”). However, some critics argue that her role should have been more substantial considering the advancements in civil rights and women rights since The Original Series aired (cf. Scodari 336). Similarly, another character was faced with criticism as well: In an episode of The Original Series and in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, actor Ricardo Montalban of Mexican descent portrayed the antagonist of the story, Khan Noonien Singh, who is originally of Indian descent (cf. “Singh, Khan Noonien”). The makers of the reboot movie Star Trek Into Darkness chose to revive the storyline with a few alternations and has faced criticism in regard to the choice of a white actor in the role of Khan (cf. Foundas). Popular cultural products, such as TV series and movies are subject to their respective time period and portray on–going stereotypes and ideologies: “[B]y studying American film history, we can gain keen insights into the ways that different groups of American people have Mueller, s4597281 / 6 been treated (and continue to be treated)” (Benshoff and Griffin 3). More often than not, Hollywood’s characters are based upon negative stereotypes (cf. Benshoff and Griffin 27). This makes the depictions of ethnic minorities questionable since they draw upon pre–existing ideas, which have not been changed since years. Continuing to promote a negative image of a certain group of people does lead to tensions in the human community. In Star Trek and Sacred Ground, Jennifer E. Porter and Darcee L. McLaren further point out that TV series act as a mirror as well as a model of real life (cf. 1). Especially since the matter of race should be an “obsolete concept” (Mitchell XI) by now, as scholar W.J.T. Mitchell argues in the preface to his book Seeing Through Race, the treatment of ethnic minorities has to be examined to find out whether it really is an old–fashioned concept or if it is still subject to stereotypical depictions from half a century ago (cf. Mitchell xi). The following thesis will therefore center on the subject of race particularly featuring Star Trek, as the franchise allows a rich variety of case studies. This thesis will specifically focus on how two characters, namely Khan and Uhura, are portrayed in the Star Trek– franchise, focusing on the aesthetic aspects,