The whole bit about the Vulcans plotting a pre-emptive war on the Andorians, claiming they have weapons of mass destruction they don’t really have, was a nice bit. Kinda obvious. Doesn’t answer the question of what possible reason people would have to fight wars in space. I never understood that very basic concept of the space opera. Space is so BIG. Sure, maybe in the Star Trak universe where every planet is habitable… I dunno.
Here’s some pictures. I apologize for their crappiness; the Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica ones were screen captures (MPlayer and KSnapShot yay!), and the Voyager and the Uhura one I just found on the web.
This is a female crewmember of the Enterprise. Note skin-tight costume. She is a second officer in Star Fleet. Is this how they dress their officers in Star Fleet? NO! They dress them like this:
So why is she wearing a cat suit?
Is she related to the Borg in Voyager? She held some sort of position in the starship, I think. Her position was probably “Officer in charge of Cheese”. None of the other women wore skintight clothing.
ST: The Next Generation had that one woman, the ship’s counsellor, who always wore low-cut cat suits as well. And of course, the woman who started it all, Lieutenant Uhura…
… although to be fair, that WAS the official uniform for women officers in Star Fleet at that time.
But the whole thing just kills the shows for me. I know the only reason those women have to slide into those paper-thin costumes is to please the horny teenage boy element. No wonder Star Trek is doing so poorly. It doesn’t even treat its audience with respect.
Battlestar Galactica does. Women officers dress like officers; women pilots dress like pilots. These guys treat their viewers with respect. They don’t need women with staples across their bellies to be taken seriously. They look real.
To be fair, there is a main character who dresses like a stripper, but as she is the imaginary creation of a guy who fears women (and when shown in reality is always fully dressed), I’m gonna give them a pass on this one.
And just in case Amber is reading this, Serenity’s second in command:
She’s talking to her husband about having kids.
It can be science fiction and still have real people in it, you know, Star Trek.
Roddenberry did have some odd ideas about women. But he at least let the show be dangerous now and then. Civil rights. Drug addiction. Women's rights. Race. But these modern shows keep the cheese without the social conscience.
Star Wars wasn't a TV show! But Mark Hammil did have that dreamy blow-dry hair…
Star Wars Holiday Special was a TV Show. 😛
Yah, but the thing is, Serenity and Galactica were written by real people. Trek was created by a misogynist who made his missus appear as a winsome nurse in a teeny tiny dress. And he used to insist that all the women be filmed in soft focus. I mean, you can even tell at what point in TNG he died because suddenly all the women start wearing trousers.
And you didn't mention Star Wars: ridiculously girly outfit, silly hair, kickass attitude. And that's just Luke Skywalker.