I drunk watched disco and that was a mistake

  • Esoteir [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    It’s not about that at all.

    It's p much a direct analogue to the Patriot Act, they straight up say they turned it into an AI during the klingon war (that the feds started) to prevent war ("terrorism") from ever happening again just like the justification for it IRL

    Georgiou was basically exuding racist aunt energy at that point, and her entire character arc was being racist/evil bonked until she stopped. Still better than sisko virus bombing a colony with like zero pushback

    Section 31 had always been officially sanctioned wing of Starfleet, DS9 established they were written into the charter. If anything them having federation oversight (even if its still fucking dumb just like the concept of section 31 to begin with) makes more sense than the "yeah haha we just have some CIA folks running around, just let them commit atrocities pretend you didn't see it" system that DS9 shows is in place

    • zeal0telite [he/him,they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Yeah, I remember when the Patriot Act just turned evil for no reason and wanted to kill Arabs all by itself. It's got some crossover but there's nothing interesting past the initial symbolism. It doesn't ask us anything of the audience. It's all surface level, just like any other "themes" DIS tries.

      No, she's a genocidal dictator. No pass for her unless you actually see here try.

      And Sisko was dealing with a border dispute that could have spiralled into war. Idk, the whole point of that arc was that Sisko let his hatred for one guy in the group spiral out of control. It's also made clear that he just used the same tactic the Maquis used against the Cardassians against them. He also doesn't kill anyone in that attack, it's to force them to leave a Cardassian system. Yeah, it's not the best look tbh, but I don't think it's entirely uncritical. DS9 as a whole was about these characters and their flaws.

      Article 14, Section 31 was in the charter, but the organisation itself was an underground and unsanctioned one. It has interests in preserving the Federation and Starfleet but it's not the same thing. They used the charter as their justification for existing.

      In DIS they use it interchangeably with Starfleet Intelligence.

      Again, it's less about the lore or whatever and more about what they actually do with it story-wise. DS9 had them as antagonists, they actively fight against them and attempt to dismantle them. In DIS they're best buddies with several members and when their tech goes bad and almost wipes out the galaxy the show decides that they just weren't secret enough.

      They're hit and miss in DS9 imo but DIS just misunderstood the intent completely.

      • Esoteir [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        when the Patriot Act just turned evil for no reason and wanted to kill Arabs all by itself.

        you're taking the analogy too literally, it's that it ended up harming the federation more than any utility it had

        I don’t think it’s entirely uncritical

        bruh dax literally said "Sometimes I like it when the bad guy wins." after he did it lmao, there was like zero pushback for it, and sisko doing section 31 shit as a federation officer was never mentioned again, and that's ignoring the other shit like lying to drag the romulans into war lmao

        he also doesn't kill anyone in that attack

        he had literally zero assurance for that, he just dropped the WMD, if anyone didn't evacuate or didn't have the capacity to evacuate they would have died

        No, she’s a genocidal dictator. No pass for her unless you actually see here try

        her being there was trying, at any moment she could meme out with her jeans out but she didn't. The entire point of the federation is FALGSC, punishment for the sake of punishment has no material basis anymore, and they're doing their best to rehabilitate them. The whole S31 stuff was dumb but DS9 started that lib shit

        In DIS they use it interchangeably with Starfleet Intelligence

        yeah, because they're directly comparing them with IRL intelligence agencies. S31 is shown as a villain that constantly overreaches its boundaries and causes the destruction of all life because of their patriot act shit. The characters talk about how they need more oversight, but just like attempts in RL to add "more oversight", it doesn't do anything like we see later on in DS9

        and unlike in DS9, the main cast doesn't do shit just as bad as them while also stopping their plots

        but nah I'm done here fam, if you're saying you can't see any themes beyond surface level in STD it's bc you're either not engaging with it beyond a surface level or just don't want to see these themes

        • zeal0telite [he/him,they/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Dude, the AI just turns evil for no reason lol

          It's not even a clever analogy. There is nothing to the story there. Okay, it's an overreach in security, sure. Why is that bad? Because it would turn evil and kill everyone for no reason of course.

          The Patriot Act isn't bad because it directly wants to kill people. Its bad because it allows people to use it for their own nefarious deeds such as spying and such, and erodes basic human rights to privacy.

          In fact there's already an episode arc that did this already and it's called Homefront and Paradise Lost. And they're way better at portraying using a crisis to enact sweeping authoritarian edicts that erode rights in the name of "security" and it came out in 1996.

          Control is the equivalent of some guy walking up to you and saying "Boy, the war in Iraq sure is bad, right?"

          So yeah, I'm not overly impressed by "What if the Patriot Act blew up the world for no reason?" as a story hook.