Well uh... the race war kind of hurried itself up in the 60s, so...
Jim Crow will do that.
" and still nobody cared. Sci fi has always been predominantly created and consumed by people who were on the fringes of society in some way or another, it's the genre of freaks and geeks after all. There's no suspiciously blond 80's bad guy movie chads gatekeeping stories about aliens, and there never was. Maybe Jewish nerds with pocket protectors.
To be ever so slightly fair to the episode, which I dont exactly hold in high regard due to the pomposity and self importance it radiated like it was a season 1 TNG episode, the plot point of the editor clamping down on an inoffensive plot point like this was based on a real event that was not exactly uncommon during the era.I thought it was kinda dumb to base the plot around the idea that racist crackers were keeping the black man down in fictional stories about rocket ships and ray guns.
In the real 1950's, as now, the kind of people who buy sci fi stories didn't particularly give a shit about the racial or other characteristics of the author, and probably would have no idea unless you went out of your way to tell them. One of the biggest selling books of the decade literally (ok not literally but figuratively) ends with "oh yeah BTW Johnny is a FILIPINO
I didn't care for Sisko's Benny persona because he's such a self-pitying whiny faggot and is the exact opposite to how Sisko usually is (when he isn't getting a weird rageboner over a Frank Sinatra ripoff hologram), but it's TV so we're supposed to learn Important Lessons about how Racism Is Bad whenever the producers can tear themselves away from sexually harrassing female employees for long enough to enrich us with their courageous moral principles.
It was as heavy handed and goofy as a typical episode of Quantum Leap, but compared to the shit that gets on TV now it was like Masterpiece Theater.
According to Memory Alpha, Zicree's original pitch had Jake sent back in time to the 1950s by some aliens who wanted to understand the concept of racism by seeing how Benny was treated differently to the magazine's other writers.
They make the turbo autist elitists of the past, as smelly and neckbearded as they were, look positively cool in comparison. Of course, they're even more smelly, as often as not have neckbeards, but are in dresses with lipstick smeared all over their faces as if they were a four year old who got into mom's makeup.
I think the uncertain fate of Benny is fine and always thought is was meant to reflect the similar uncertainty Sisko had about the future of the Federation given this episode is at a point where they're getting completely whipped by the Dominion. I guess I read the message as more of a "its still worth it to fight for a cause that you believe in even if you ultimately fail" type beat rather than something hopeful and uplifting.
That's Avery at work. Funny how this thread is so protective of him, when he's just as quarrelsome as Shatner/Stewart.
In "A Time to Stand", Joseph wonders how, if space is so wondrous and infinite, why people can't just leave each other alone? In "Pale Moonight", the Romulans are portrayed as deep space "cold warriors." In Insurrection, the So'Na are described in dialogue as “petty thugs” with "petroleum" reserves.
Yeah, that line in Bada-Bing Bada-Bang was so out-of-place and out-of-character. Sisko would have never said that.
Speaking about that SNL skit, it seems like Roddenberry's son didn't like it.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Siskos uncharacteristic sensivity to racial issues and his lulzy rage (regarding black humans, only, of course) makes me wonder how much easier it would've been for Cardassia/The Dominion to win the war if someone had just taught Dukat the gamer word... "Spam Captain Sisko over subspace communications, Weyoun! But make it seperate messages! Now, start with an N-"
He has as much credibility as Brian Herbert.
Not to be 'that guy': remember he threw himself in the hotbox in defiance of the "Paradise" cult leader.
The worst thing he did that I know of was have them change the ending of the show, if I recall they initially wanted it to be clear that Sisko was never coming back but Brooks had them change it because he thought it enforced some racial stereotype about black men abandoning their families. This is pretty stupid since hes mostly portrayed as being a great father on the show, It lessens the impact of the ending and completely contradicts the shit the wormhole fuckers had been telling him about finding no rest on bajor yadda yadda.
I can forgive it because this episode does take place after Far Beyond and it seems reasonable that a dude from the post-race 24th century who has probably never experienced racism before might be affected by something like that and have an unusual sensitivity to it afterwards. It's interesting how he seems to have no reaction to essentially being racially profiled in Past Tense so its likely this is disposition that comes about directly as a result of that dream/vision.
Ira was just bedazzled by James Darren. He wanted to give "Jimmy" a career revival.