In response to John Dougill: > some Trekkie > questions first: > > - The Star Trek crew is multicultural, bigendered and even > interspecies. Is there a member with a physical disability too - I > haven't really been watching for some years. Is the guy wearing a > funny thing round his eyes supposed to be blind? Was there any > significance in gettng a British actor to be leader of the new > Enterprise crew (all the rest are Americans, aren't they)? What > happens with babies - do any of the Trekkies ever get pregnant and if > so, what do they do about it? And could anyone give me the correct > wording of the mission statement - 'to boldly go where no man/one ? has > been before'. Thanks...... Physical disability: Geordie LaForge, the engineer in NEXT GENERATION, is blind and wears a (painful) prosthetic visor that allows him to see beyond the visual light spectrum. (He recently had the visor replaced--and even, apparently temporarily, regained his "real" vision in STAR TREK: INSURRECTION.) In a recent episode of DEEP SPACE NINE, the Ferengi Nog lost a leg in battle that has been replaced by a prosthesis (which it took him some time to adjust to psychologically). Patrick Stewart does command the Enterprise on NEXT GENERATION (he speaks with a British accent but his character is of French ancestry). But the "nationality" of many of his crew is indeterminate (although some, like Chief O'Brien, are clearly marked). Cpt. Janeway on VOYAGER is a woman, and Cpt. Sisko on DEEP SPACE 9 is black. From time to time, other officers have been shown from a range of earth ethnicities (eg., Sulu from the original series finally got his own command) and of alien species. One major character on VOYAGER is Native American. Major characters on DEEP SPACE NINE include a genetically-enhanced earthling and five aliens of different species (Dax--both versions, Kira, Odo, Whorf, and Quark). And, of course, Data on NEXT GENERATION is an android and the Doctor on VOYAGER is a hologram. Note that African-American actors, as well as others, often play aliens on these shows. There have been several episodes, especially in NEXT GENERATION and DEEP SPACE NINE involving pregnancy--usually resulting in some tragedy: Troi on NEXT GENERATION and Kira on DEEP SPACE NINE (and even Janeway?) among others. The "nine-year" mission of the original series was " . . . to boldly go where no man has gone before." The "ongoing mission" of NEXT GENERATION was " . . . to boldly go where no one has gone before." > <bold>Unit One - Historical change - the 1960s and 1970s</bold>. > > > Any suggestions for films showing the social changes of the early 1960s > and the clash of attitudes between the refusal to accept differences > and the youth movement or rights movement? > If you can get access to them, documentaries like THE WAR AT HOME and BERKELY IN THE 60S could be very useful. I don't know how accessible ALICE'S RESTAURANT or ZABRISKIE POINT might be to non-Americans (or Americans, for that matter), but they distilled a lot of attitudes more clearly than many films that are "better" in form. > > > <bold>Unit Two - The Black experience > ROSEWOOD GLORY A RAISIN IN THE SUN I don't know well these translate to other cultures (including Minnesota!: BOYZ 'N THE HOOD, TO SLEEP WITH ANGER Don Larsson ---------------------- Donald Larsson Minnesota State U, Mankato [log in to unmask] ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite