Why Modern Star Trek TV Shows Are So Divisive
Modern Star Trek has become strangely divisive - which factors made it so? Charting a course across screens big and small, Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek endured where so many others sank, but at no point has the good ship Star Trek been invulnerable. Star Trek: The Original Series season 3 and Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 both weathered stormy seas, there's a whole legend about odd-numbered movies being cursed, and Enterprise landed to widespread indifference.
2013's Star Trek Into Darkness was arguably the first example of modern Star Trek division. Despite strong reviews and a predecessor that successfully reignited mainstream fortunes, Star Trek Into Darkness is frequently voted among the franchise's very worst cinematic endeavors by fan polls. That same spirit has permeated over to TV, with Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Lower Decks all coming under fire. Only Star Trek: Strange New Worlds evaded the cruel sting of audience ire.
Related: Strange New Worlds Fixes A Modern Star Trek Problem
The division of modern Star Trek can be partly attributed to a far wider culture chasm. Right-wing press amusingly accused Star Trek: Strange New Worlds of going political, and as the franchise makes efforts to increase cast diversity and representation, a vocal minority will always seek to devalue progress by crying «wokeness.» It's also true that social media has amplified toxicity within fandoms across the board. One need only look toward Moses Ingram's Star Wars backlash, The Rings of Power comment sections, or Snyder cut hashtags to see how quickly fires can catch. For Star Trek specifically, however, why have modern TV shows proven so divisive?
Addressing Star Trek: Discovery backlash at SDCC
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