Star Trek 3 Plot: 10 Moral Dilemmas From The Show That Could Be Resurrected
5. Peace At What Cost?
In the episodes Elan of Troyius and The Empath, we see Star Fleet captains in both generations of Star Trek ready to deliver a free individual into a political marriage to preserve peace between warring planets. Both occasions are somewhat hypocritical in that Star Fleet officers dedicated to preserving the rights of individuals in the Federation should be so willing subjugate these individuals rights, despite being ordered to do so, or even recognizing the inherent customs of other races. If its wrong, its wrong. A further complication in these two episodes is that both captains had personal feelings for the women they were effectively selling into indentured servitude. If these men of such distinctive character can swallow their own personal beliefs to engage in such behaviour, isnt it possible that other similar choices might be made in the service of peace in Star Trek III? This is the type of personal scenario that forces the viewer to ask himself if he might make the same decision. Would you willingly part with someone you had personal feelings for if it meant the avoidance of war?
John Kirk is a Teacher-Librarian and currently a History/English Teacher with the Toronto District School Board.
But mostly, John teaches Geek.
Comics, Sci-Fi (Notably Star Trek), Fantasy and Role-Playing and table-top games all make up part of John’s repertoire, There is a whole generation of nerds-in-embryo who rely on him to make sense of it all, to teach that with great power comes great responsibility, that the force will be with us always and that a towel IS the most useful thing to have in one’s possession.
When John isn’t in the classroom, he can be found in his basement writing comic reviews for www.popmythology.com and features for Roddenberry Entertainment's www.1701news.com.
