Is this my nerdiest post? Yes. Anyway,

The Star Trek wiki had something interesting...

Paul Schneider modeled the Romulans on the ancient Romans, naming the species' homeworlds after the mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. "It was a matter of developing a good Romanesque set of admirable antagonists that were worthy of Kirk," Schneider related. "I came up with the concept of the Romulans which was an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel, and it turned out quite well." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 34) D.C. Fontana reckoned that Schneider basing the aliens on the pre-existing Roman civilization was the cause for the writer receiving insufficient credit for creating the Romulans. ("Balance of Terror" Starfleet Access, TOS Season 1 Blu-ray) Gene Roddenberry, interested in ancient Rome himself, approved of the initial depiction of the Romulan species. "He loved Paul's having endowed the enemy-Romulans with the militaristic character of the ancient Romans," wrote John D.F. Black and Mary Black. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 11, p. 19) Roddenberry's original concept of the Romulans, however, was that they represented 1960s' Chinese Communists.

Yes, Romulans are somewhat based on the Roman Empire and are xenophobic conquerers, but Westerners often ignorantly attribute these traits to communist countries anyway.

Then there is the Klingons, again, the Klingons are nothing like communists, (they're a patriarchal empire) and yet I've seen people say they were based on the Soviets.

So what do you think?

    • 1simpletailer@startrek.website
      ·
      10 months ago

      It may not have gained the mainstream appeal of TOS and TNG, but DS9 is Trek at its absolute best. It is also Trek at its most overtly leftist. A cast that would be considered diverse today back in the 90's, an anti-facist insurgency portrayed in a nuanced but mostly positive light, absolutely biting racial commentary, a main character that could be considered a trans allegory, and one of tvs first homosexual kisses (again, in the 90s) to name just a few things. The entire series is about leftist ideals and convictions being tested and it's asperational AF. It's not perfect by any means, it had to make it on American television after all, but rarely does something so overtly leftist do just that. I recommend any comrades who haven't seen it check out the episodes "Bar Association" and "Far Beyond the Stars".

    • Aryuproudomenowdaddy [comrade/them]
      ·
      10 months ago

      Like the ending of DS9 probably has the most wild finale of any Trek show to date but the series as a whole is very good, especially in the later seasons when the Dominion war is in full swing.

      • glans [it/its]
        ·
        10 months ago

        Apparently they wanted to fully kill off Sisko but Avery Brooks made a huge stink about it saying it wasn't right, so it is some sort of compromise.

        • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
          ·
          10 months ago

          He wanted Sisko to promise to return cause he didn't want to depict a black man abandoning his son. Being killed was never on the table he was gonna just permantly and willingly go join the prophets

        • Aryuproudomenowdaddy [comrade/them]
          ·
          10 months ago

          I mean Sisko ascends to godhood, which I guess isn't the first time that a character has become a higher life form but it still felt kind of out of place for ST if that makes sense.

        • timicin@lemmygrad.ml
          ·
          10 months ago

          voyager's finale made more sense at the time it first aired because ds9's finale was SO loving slow and sentimental; that it both needed to set itself apart and it barely had any support for a finale from paramount.

          also, at the time of the airing of it's later seasons voyager had been threatened by the type of cancellation that enterprise endured several times so we were lucky that we got a true finale at all. if it weren't for the introduction of seven of nine; garrett wang nominated as the sexiest man alive; the mild but significant enough notoriety of nasa's sojourner's success; stars wars movie revival; and ds9 hadn't ended a year before leaving voyager as the only trek on available for the first time in a decade on tv and movies we wouldn't have had a finale at all.

          enterprise's finally was never meant to be a finale; but it became one once paramount pulled the rug out from beneath enterprise by surprise.