Star Trek: Dr McCoy's 10 Point Guide To Being The Best Doctor In Starfleet
7: No Room For Political Correctness
Just like a physical slap, sometimes you need to verbally put a patient in their place and nothing does that better than a bit of casual racism. McCoy, maybe because he was from the south, wasn't too bothered about political correctness and that was most evident when he was insulting Spock. If he wasn't calling him a ''Green blooded son-of-a-bitch,'' he would be targeting his pointed ears. Since the 60's as society and attitudes change, a minority of Star Trek fans have started to voice their concerns about some of the comments made by McCoy. It is true that script writers now would be wary to include lines like this for a character in fear of him being labeled racist. And for a show that is about exploration to discover new species, a seemingly xenophobic character is at odds with that vision. But that is what made Star Trek interesting, as much as it is about discovery and peaceful exploration, it is also about everything that makes us human and that includes all the bad stuff. I don't for a second think McCoy was racist or xenophobic but he wasn't politically correct and that is part of his charm. McCoy's Lesson: If you are worried about offending people, you might as well give up now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3c9wtbQTZ4
Just like a physical slap, sometimes you need to verbally put a patient in their place and nothing does that better than a bit of casual racism. McCoy, maybe because he was from the south, wasn't too bothered about political correctness and that was most evident when he was insulting Spock. If he wasn't calling him a ''Green blooded son-of-a-bitch,'' he would be targeting his pointed ears. Since the 60's as society and attitudes change, a minority of Star Trek fans have started to voice their concerns about some of the comments made by McCoy. It is true that script writers now would be wary to include lines like this for a character in fear of him being labeled racist. And for a show that is about exploration to discover new species, a seemingly xenophobic character is at odds with that vision. But that is what made Star Trek interesting, as much as it is about discovery and peaceful exploration, it is also about everything that makes us human and that includes all the bad stuff. I don't for a second think McCoy was racist or xenophobic but he wasn't politically correct and that is part of his charm. McCoy's Lesson: If you are worried about offending people, you might as well give up now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3c9wtbQTZ4