Actor William Shatner scolded members of parliament in the European
Union over reports that they planned to address the "gendered
language" in the iconic introduction to his science fiction
fan-favorite television series: "Star Trek."
GB News reported on the initiative, which was apparently inspired by
a 61- page document -- titled "Toolkit on Gender-sensitive
Communication" -- which was published by the European Institute for
Gender Equality.
In addition to advising against the use of phrases like "no-man's
land" -- suggesting "unclaimed territory" as an alternative -- the
document addressed the problematic goals of the Galactic Federation,
namely "to boldly go where no man has gone before."
According to the group's findings, statements such as that one
created an environment where "women may be subject to invisibility or omission."
Shatner, who delivered the line as part of the introduction of each
"Star Trek" episode, was not convinced.
"Presentism at work yet again," Shatner began by registering his
complaint about the attempt to apply today's values to a show that
was created in a very different time and culture.
"Why start at Trek?" the actor asked in his X post, suggesting that
there were certainly more important historically significant
documents that should be addressed first.
"Isn't it better to start at the beginning and redo foundation
material such as the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of
Shakespeare before worrying about a silly TV show opening that
reflects social commentary of the time?" he asked. "If people are
offended by 6 seconds of dialogue recorded in 1966 without a modicum
of understanding of the social issues at the time there's bigger
issues that they need to deal with first -- like educating
themselves."
Presentism at work yet again. Why start at Trek? ??Isn't it
better to start at the beginning and redo foundation material such as
the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of Shakespeare before
worrying about a silly TV show opening that reflects social
commentary of the... pic.twitter.com/P0okn5rYca
-- William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 29, 2024
One person responded to Shatner by asking is the EU planned to ban
the words of American astronaut Neil Armstrong next.
"Neil Armstrong must be spinning in his grave ... 'One small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind.' Will he be canceled for leaving out
an 'a'? Is the word 'mankind' misogynous? We live in foolish times."
Neil Armstrong must be spinning in his grave..."One small
step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
Will he be canceled for leaving out an "a"? Is the word
"mankind" misogynous? We live in foolish times.
-- Ry Brooks (@RyBrooks) January 29, 2024
--
Let's go Brandon!
Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
Actor William Shatner scolded members of parliament in the European
Union over reports that they planned to address the "gendered
language" in the iconic introduction to his science fiction
fan-favorite television series: "Star Trek."
GB News reported on the initiative, which was apparently inspired by
a 61- page document -- titled "Toolkit on Gender-sensitive
Communication" -- which was published by the European Institute for
Gender Equality.
In addition to advising against the use of phrases like "no-man's
land" -- suggesting "unclaimed territory" as an alternative -- the
document addressed the problematic goals of the Galactic Federation,
namely "to boldly go where no man has gone before."
According to the group's findings, statements such as that one
created an environment where "women may be subject to invisibility or
omission."
Shatner, who delivered the line as part of the introduction of each
"Star Trek" episode, was not convinced.
"Presentism at work yet again," Shatner began by registering his
complaint about the attempt to apply today's values to a show that
was created in a very different time and culture.
"Why start at Trek?" the actor asked in his X post, suggesting that
there were certainly more important historically significant
documents that should be addressed first.
"Isn't it better to start at the beginning and redo foundation
material such as the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of
Shakespeare before worrying about a silly TV show opening that
reflects social commentary of the time?" he asked. "If people are
offended by 6 seconds of dialogue recorded in 1966 without a modicum
of understanding of the social issues at the time there's bigger
issues that they need to deal with first -- like educating
themselves."
Presentism at work yet again. Why start at Trek? ??Isn't it
better to start at the beginning and redo foundation material such as
the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of Shakespeare before
worrying about a silly TV show opening that reflects social
commentary of the... pic.twitter.com/P0okn5rYca
-- William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 29, 2024
One person responded to Shatner by asking is the EU planned to ban
the words of American astronaut Neil Armstrong next.
"Neil Armstrong must be spinning in his grave ... 'One small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind.' Will he be canceled for leaving out
an 'a'? Is the word 'mankind' misogynous? We live in foolish times."
Neil Armstrong must be spinning in his grave..."One small
step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
Will he be canceled for leaving out an "a"? Is the word
"mankind" misogynous? We live in foolish times.
-- Ry Brooks (@RyBrooks) January 29, 2024
While Shatner is absolutely right in the larger sense, he seems to have >forgotten that as long ago as TNG, that famous intro was changed to
"where no ONE has gone before". I assume that was because "activists"
of one kind or another were already upset about the use of "man".
All of these "activists" seem to have forgotten - or more likely
ignored - the fact that "Man" has long been understood to include BOTH
sexes and does NOT mean exclusively male.
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 65 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 06:57:06 |
| Calls: | 862 |
| Files: | 1,311 |
| D/L today: |
921 files (14,318M bytes) |
| Messages: | 264,771 |