CaptainCalvinCat wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 12:54 pm
Gotta admit - I never thought, I'd see more right-leaning-people in the SFDebris-Community - or in the Sci-Fi-Community, predominantly Star Trek, Star Wars and Stargate, in the first place. After all, Trek - and Wars and Gate - are typical left-leaning stories, right? Sure, you have your action and you have your military-characters like O'Neill and Sheppard, but in the end, those two are the audiences surrogates, while (mainly) Daniel is that, what we in Germany call "linksgrüner Gutmensch" (the starry-eyed idealist) and Sam is the one bringing idealism and realism together.
So - shouldn't we, as audience of Trek, Wars and Gate be all more "lefty", instead of "righty"?
To be fair you can enjoy something that might not align with your politics. The Daily Show back in the day that was solidly left wing and Colbert's show mocking conservatives were enjoyed by people on both sides of the political aisle. Though conservatives don't seem to enjoy the more modern run of the DS with accusations of it being too narrow focused and preachy and Colbert doesn't seem to get alot of love these days either but its entirely possible thats just the political reality we live in where its "either you're with me or my enemy".
I'm personally somewhat conservative, more a liberal from the 2000s who was left behind, I believe in equal rights, LGBT rights, legal immigration, and environmental protection. I just don't fit in with modern liberals (at times) because I don't go to the extremes on some of those issues, solidly center left when being a centrist is considered at times worse then being an opposite Zapp Brannigan style. Though admittedly I've always been the odd man out even at my most liberal considering I've always supported gun rights.
Wars and Stargate I would think more appeal to my right wing side with war and fighting, the best thing from Belgium since the waffle blasting evil glowy eyed dudes and guys in white armor smacking around rebel scum (I may not understand SW). Trek appeals to more of the left wing side, a brighter future where humanity has learned to just get along for the most part, where everyone is accepted even if some of the enlightened future people might be d-bags about it, science solves all our problems, and there is no zippers to get things caught in.
But that said while they might appeal to one side or the other I don't watch them from a political angle, I enjoy them for what they are even if I might not agree with everything about them politically. They are in some ways an escape from the real world and modern utterly horrifying politics, even stuff I agree with I don't want beat over the head with. And while those shows might have appealed more to one side or the other I never got the feeling they were solely directed at either side, a liberal or a conservative could easily enjoy them as it was made for a wider audience rather then just one slice of the political pie.
I'll fully acknowledge my view might be unpopular in the fact I don't like injection of overt politics of the day into a work both because as I said I like the escape and I think it can make a work less timeless. People even decades later will get the symbolism of a guy with a white and black face hating a guy for having a black and white face but some like the MAGAish "Remain Klingon" zinger may lose its punch once people forget why everyone was so angry on both sides over the star of Home Alone 2 becoming President (its because he wasn't in Home Alone 3 right? To be fair that movie sucked no matter what). Everything is certainly a product of its time but the SW Original Trilogy despite being apparently a response to Lucas dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War still resonates with modern audiences (the notion the Prequel's Clone Wars was about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is probably bull though, probably, I don't even think the dates line up), the Original Series of Trek had plenty of stuff about civil rights, racism, sexism but remains for the most part watchable by modern audiences because part of allegory and good stories that help modern people with our hoverboards and space colonies to connect.
A good work should be a product of its time but not have to have the watcher be of that time to enjoy it. I think some works may be too of their time to do so, atleast in my probably wrong opinion.
