“Wagon Wheels, Sails, and Warp Cores”: Star Trek and American Culture: Between Allegory and Worldbuilding

Abstract

Science fiction (sf) stories, like other forms of popular culture, are interwoven with the historical moment(s) that produced them. Once we have acquired the reading/viewing protocols that allow us to adjust for the ‘estranging/estranged’ distortions of sf, we recognize more clearly the cultural imprints of the language, images, and values that such stories bear. As popular culture mirrors, they can provide creative access points for ascertaining and understanding the zeitgeist that brought them forth. Both the conception and the first run of Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969) provide reflections and refractions of American culture at a time when it witnessed major international transitions and domestic upheaval. Bearing a recognizable imprint of the post-war optimism and confidence in scientific progress, Star Trek’s premise of telling modern morality plays gives us access to that which Americans were hopeful and/or concerned about. Star Trek was also minted with the American self-image of being the protector and defender of the western world, its values and its achievements. By viewing John F. Kennedy’s presidency vis-à-vis Star Trek, we will see how the US, as a self-styled conqueror of a continent, began to integrate the ‘benevolent’ mission of its ideological predecessor, the British Empire, into its own national mythos.