Some Longterm Fans Of Star Trek Are Nervous About Alex Kurtzman - Why, And Is It Fair?
3. Star Trek And The Continued Depiction Of Politics
One user made the below point:
No, this is nu-trek. A Black woman who was written as a drug addicted negligent mother who is all of a sudden a lesbian. That is not Trek. That is political.
Let us break this down.
Raffi Musiker is the former first officer to Admiral Picard, and has fallen on hard times after the Synth assault on Mars. She is depicted as struggling with addiction, brought on by her experiences. She is also shown to have a very strained relationship with her son, something that she is trying hard to rectify - something we hope will be depicted in the second season, as she has now been vindicated.
While Star Trek has always dealt with politics from the earliest days of Roddenberry, the issues that this Twitter user has highlighted seem to suggest that her entire character arc was written to be a political statement, as opposed to a natural journey. If in fact that was Kurtzman's plan, then he has failed, as Musiker is one of the better characters to have been introduced in Star Trek: Picard.
The trauma that she has been through with her son aids her in how she handles Dr. Juratti and Elnor, while her addiction struggles play into her relationship with Rios. The hint at a relationship between her and Seven of Nine at the end of the season is a depiction of two women who have experienced loss, finding a new warmth between them.
Perhaps there is politics at play here, but no more so than depicting a race of Half-Black/Half-White aliens bent on destroying each other in the '60s, right?