Notes
Coming off my hiatus in the midst of a pandemic that is affecting people of color at significantly higher rates than white people and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice, I wanted to start with an episode that looked at racial struggles. I polled the audience and “Far Beyond the Stars” won handily.
It is my favorite episode of Deep Space Nine and possibly of all of Star Trek. It is about us. About the power we have as storytellers in our own lives, and about how sharing fantasy stories like those found in Incredible Tales and on Deep Space Nine help shape the future. But it is also, and for this moment more importantly, about the lives of black men and black women. In 1950s New York City, in 2370s deep space, and in 1990s Hollywood.
Everything depicted in Benny Russel’s New York remains true today. Inequity in opportunity. Injustice in housing. Police brutality. If anything, it’s all escalated in the twenty two years since the episode aired. Stay mad. Make noise. Write stories.
Now kiss
I use this phrase in nearly all my photocaps and nearly always 2 or 3 times. But I can think of only one time I used it when they were actually meant to be explicitly flirting on screen. There are no ‘now kiss’es in this photocap because Ben and Kasidy/Benny and Cassie are constantly touching and kissing.
And it is beautiful.
Black Lives Matter
Please consider making a donation to Color of Change, the Community of Justice Exchange or a local bail fund, Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, or any of these other racial justice organizations and funds.
Thank you to Sam for letting me steal her allegory line. This post is a part of Pixie Recaps Starfleet; please consider supporting me on Kofi.