10 Examples Of Real Pop-Culture In Star Trek

Human culture in Star Trek has changed so much over the centuries, yet there still exist many relics of art and inventions from modern times.

Pop-culture references appear in many different forms, from brief mentions in dialogue, to background appearances, and sometimes even important plot devices.

We've mentioned before that Human society in Trek hasn't seemed to have made much development in terms of pop-culture since the 21st century (aside from the introduction of hologram technology), but it's clear that many of them have a deep appreciation for pop-culture of humanity's past. Relatively ancient plays, songs, books, films, and poems appear more culturally relevant than new works, like holo novels.

In this list, we're going to look back at ten of the most interesting references to recognisable pop-culture across all of Star Trek, and explain exactly what these references mean for the franchise.

Rick And Morty has been the centre of a lot of controversy lately. With Justin Roiland (the voices of both Rick and Morty) being fired from the show for domestic abuse, the future of the show is uncertain, but if the second season of Star Trek: Picard is to be believed, the show will do just fine without Roiland in 2024.

In the episode Assimilation, right after Rios met Teresa's son Ricardo, Teresa told the boy in Spanish to finish his homework, or else he couldn't watch Rick And Morty.

Aside from the fact that Rick And Morty seems a bit mature for a nine-year-old kid, lots of folks online have pointed out how strange it is that the creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Mike McMahan, now exists in Star Trek canon, given that he also worked on Rick And Morty as a writer, producer, story editor, and fourth-season showrunner. Does this mean that the show, Lower Decks also exists in Trek canon? It raises a lot of confusing questions, though the same questions could probably be raised for many of the entries on this list.