Star Trek's "first nonbinary character".

submitted by bopomofodojo from self.GenderCritical

https://www.etonline.com/star-trek-discovery-blu-del-barrio-on-playing-franchises-first-non-binary-character-exclusive

It's just so sad. Called "she" in-show, clocked as a woman by yours truly in under a second flat. She could be a new generations smart tomboy to look up to, but instead it's just uwu nonbinary "finding myself" nonsense. What is this insanity doing to young women? JKR was, is, and will continue to be right.

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[–]LasagnaRossa 29 insightful - 4 fun29 insightful - 3 fun30 insightful - 4 fun -  (1 child)

Non-binary = tomboy, got it

[–]Omina_Sentenziosa 20 insightful - 2 fun20 insightful - 1 fun21 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Just like pansexual is bisexual and smug about it, I think that female NBs are just tomboys but smug about it.

[–]lefterfield 24 insightful - 2 fun24 insightful - 1 fun25 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

She even has a very stereotypically feminine-sounding name. Is Star Trek hurting this much for ratings?

[–]bopomofodojo[S] 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The other sad thing is how good this season is shaping up to be on its own merits, they don't need this, except for woke points.

[–]Omina_Sentenziosa 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Discovery isn't exactly liked, old school fans despise the complete lack of joy everyone involved in it seems to have, hate the lack of continuity with the Canon universe and don't appreciate the darker and edgier feeling it has compared to the first 4/5 iterations of the franchise. Not to mention, the writing is atrocious and the characters are uninteresting and irritating.

I am an old but not that old fan (meaning that being in my 30s I started following the narrative universe with the remake from the '80s) and while I was initially happy that they were making more Star Trek, I have completely noped the fuck out of Discovery, and that was way before they started kissing TRAs' s asses.

The franchise in general has been decaying since the beginning of the 2000s, I would say. Voyager wasn't exactly appreciated but it still managed to run for the standard 7 seasons, but then Enterprise started (4 seasons) and Nemesis happened and that kind of killed the franchise.

The hip reboot with Chris Pine might have done some money in the beginning, but the second and third movies were trashed (the third wasn't that bad, the second was horrible). It was also not really a Star Trek trilogy, it was more a Star Wars with an Enterprise and a Kirk instead of a Millennium Falcon and a Han Solo.

Discovery has been mocked and vilified by Trekkies since the beginning of its run, I honestly have no idea why they keep making it given that it seems like nobody watches it and the few who do watch it hate it

Picard was divisive at best, better received than Discovery but it's plagued by its same problems: it is just less reviled because beloved actors and characters of the franchise showed up in it.

[–]Femaleisnthateful 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Agree with everything you said. I'm hate-watching Discovery right now. The franchise has fundamentally changed, and the showrunners are on the record as saying they wanted to break from tradition. The appeal of Star Trek of old was that it wasn't rooted in contemporary politics. It appealed to people of all backgrounds, and used futuristic settings to allow people to detach from their contemporary biases, while presenting an optimistic, humanist vision.

The current version of Star Trek is obsessed with appealing to Woke ideology. It won't age well.

[–]Omina_Sentenziosa 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not only the woke ideology, but this trend to make everything edgy and dark is really annoying and unoriginal (not just for Star Trek).

It's funny for me to see how much my opinions on the matter changed in the past 3 decades, though. When I was a child and started watching TNG, I was craving less optimistic and frankly cheesy "let's all Kumbaya together" storylines. When DS9 started airing I was in heaven because it had the right amount of optimism but it also had a more negative description of humans and I absolutely loved it (same goes for VOY: both shows really showed that humans can indeed turn vicious and evil if necessity arises and I thought it was much more believable that what TNG was selling).

But now??? Jesus, give me alien giant jellyfishes holding tentacles because they are happy to be together again as much as possible! I absolutely loathe the fact that they went all "everything is bad and will get even worse". If I wanted to witness that I would watch the news. I need some freaking hope that as a race we are not completely rotten.

I also agree with the fact that it was talking about politics and social issues without being specific and as such it appealed to more people. Right now, it's like they are completely focused on American politics and what is happening there (like the fact that it was stated that Picard is the child of the Trump administration). It's like they can't talk about anything but how awful Trump is, as of nothing else is happening in the World.

I live in another country, i want to watch something that has broader topics not just TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP!

[–]worried19 23 insightful - 4 fun23 insightful - 3 fun24 insightful - 4 fun -  (2 children)

This is going to age badly.

Also, if you're calling your female character "she," what's the point of labeling her "non-binary?"

[–]kalina 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

woke points

[–]questioningtw 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think they seem to be implying that all trill hosting a symbiote are defacto nonbinary; which is kind of silly.

[–]questioningtw 11 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

I hope audiences completely reject her character. I actually liked the first two episodes of this season, but I am not sure if I will continue watching it if they actually seriously do this look at how woke we are!

[–]bopomofodojo[S] 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I thought she was a great character with a lot of potential (yay more Trills!), for multiple reasons - but... why not just make her a girl/woman? It accomplishes nothing, and everyone just called her "she".

[–]questioningtw 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

oh, she is a Trill? Damn. my eyes are going bad, or the [icture i saw was just real dark, I thought she was human. I haven't got to watch it yet, because i have been binging on horror movies!

Edit: ok, she is a human with a symbiont? What???

[–]bopomofodojo[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yep human with trill symbiote. So... it'll be interesting.

[–]Penguinberri 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Star trek have had loads of gnc characters! Drax for one was one of my favourites growing up. And in TNG the director said he thought the future would've gone past gender norms so had background male characters in dresses often!

[–]SilverSlippers 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Pretty sure that was Jadzia Dax (Trill; DS9)

[–]bopomofodojo[S] 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This is something I keep seeing in various "leftist" ST spaces.

No, Jadzia (and Esri) Dax were women. Curzon Dax was a man. All were joined Trills. The fact the ungendered symbiote allows them to "switch" sex between hosts does not make any given host "non-binary" or "trans" or anything of that nature. I sort of hate that this really interesting species in the universe of ST is just being reduced to "trans metaphor" retroactively and the actual sex and accomplishments of the characters are being erased for this reason (so many TiMs saying that "akshually Jadzia Dax is a stunning and brave transwoman" rather than a strong, competent woman - pretty typical).

[–]macaron 7 insightful - 3 fun7 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Keep on finding yourself, until you realize you are a woman.

[–]yousaythosethings 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This kind of stuff makes shows unwatchable for me.

[–]QueenBread 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

So.... nonbinary means tomboy. You're not a REAL woman unless you wear make up, pink clothes, gown, high heels, and keep your hair long.

[–]ZeWombat 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

The actor is an NB female who is playing an NB character? Is being NB a requirement for an actor to play an NB? Just like transwomen should play transwomen.

[–]worried19 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Netflix's Sex Education is doing the same. They're adding a non-binary character portrayed by a female actor also identifying as non-binary.

[–]questioningtw 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Orange is the New Black did the same with Ruby Roses character. The funny thing is her character wasn't even that butch; and the actual butch lesbian character was fine being a woman.

[–]worried19 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's crazy to me that a lot of the female people claiming to be non-binary or even outright men are like 100% times more feminine than I could ever be.

[–]questioningtw 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Apparently yes, in fact trans people are so special that only trans people should be able tp play them. Scarlett Johansson was actually harassed out of a role by crybullies who thought she was too feminine to be a butch lesbian. You never, EVER see gay people pull this shit.

[–]MinisterOfTerfery 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

I thought the whole thing that non-binary revolves around they/them pronouns. That's the only way non binaries differentiate from women and men. How is she non binary and going by she pronouns? Stay tuned in another episode of will gender ideology ever make sense!

[–]Femaleisnthateful 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I hate how the Star Trek franchise has jumped the woke shark.

I read the interview and still don't understand what this actress means by 'non-binary'. Does it mean having short hair? Not abiding by gender stereotypes? I fail to see how this is a progressive identity. Also, she keeps referencing trans identities. Does she think she's trans? Also never understood how 'they/them' pronouns are better than 'it'. Seems very objectifying to me, but whatevs.

[–]AugustiJade 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Except for there have been non-binary characters in Trek already...

[–]questioningtw 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

At least in the Outcast episode in TNG; the androgynous species actually looked androgynous.