Star Trek: A Cultural History

The Cultural History of Television

by M. Keith Booker

First airing in 1966, with a promise to "boldly go where no man has gone before," Star Trek would eventually become a bona fide phenomenon. Week after week, viewers of the series tuned in to watch Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise as they conducted their five-year mission in space. Their mission was cut short by a corporate monolith that demanded higher ratings, but Star Trek lived on in syndication, ultimately becoming a multibillion-dollar media franchise. With merchandise spin-offs, feature films, and several television iterations--from The Next Generation to Discovery--Star Trek is a firmly established part of the American cultural landscape.

In Star Trek: A Cultural History, M. Keith Booker offers an intriguing account of the series from its original run to its far-reaching impact on society. By placing the Star Trek franchise within the context of American history and popular culture, the author explores how the series engaged with political and social issues such as the Vietnam War, race, gender, and the advancement of technology. While this book emphasizes the original series, it also addresses the significance of subsequent programs, as well as the numerous films and extensive array of novels, comic books, and merchandise that have been produced in the decades since.

A show that originally resonated with science fiction fans, Star Trek has also intrigued the general public due to its engaging characters, exciting plotlines, and vision of a better future. It is those exact elements that allowed Star Trek to go from simply a good show to the massive media franchise it is today. Star Trek: A Cultural History will appeal to scholars of media, television, and popular culture, as well as to fans of the show.-- "TrekToday"

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural Studies, Star Trek, History

218 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2018

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a title like this, I really wanted this book to help me bridge the gap between the shows and the legacy they have for someone who hasn’t quite been able to click with any of it but the book didn’t reach the mark. It is a serious book that treats itself as such and is dense enough to require a lot of unpacking. Most fans probably won’t get much out of this and most non-fans will still find it too bewildering despite the amount of time spend on plot recap and other episode minutiae. The third chapter about Star Trek in a historical context was the strongest of the lot.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Star Trek' has a huge footprint as a cultural landscape within which hundreds or writers, actors and other creative personnel have attempted to combine entertainment with intellect. From its earliest incarnation, when Gene Roddenberry positioned it as 'Wagon Train to the Stars', and the first pilot ('The Cage') was rejected as 'too cerebral' by network executives, the science fiction franchise has walked the line between escapism and social commentary. Booker tries to assess and discuss this process and whilst he makes plenty of valid points and arguments, at the end this is a rather disappointing book. What should have been an incisive and effective study of how 'Star Trek' has both reflected and changed cultural history since its first airing is instead an inchoate grab bag of ideas and episodes from almost entirely the Original Series alone. By failing to truly grasp the gamut of the post 1960s TV shows Booker has left out much of the strongest and most culturally significant aspects of the franchise.

As stated, there are some useful insights offered by Booker in some aspects of this study. His observations on the importance of the Cold War as a theme in the Original Series, as well as racism and the growing power of computers are all worthy of contemplation. However these concerns have been addressed beforehand by others in online forums and audiovisual productions. Booker does find more worthy ground to cover when he looks at constructs of the 'other' in 'Star Trek', using as his philosophical prism the work of Edward Said. The discussion of the singularly 'American' vision of the future, in parallel with older popular culture contexts such as the Western, is also good value. Yet all the while Booker sticks almost entirely with Kirk, Spock, Bones et al. The possible insights or observations to be drawn here are therefore almost entirely over 50 years old.

Booker does not do enough to look at how each series reflects the contemporary values of the US (and by extension the west) as they are produced. 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' was born at the cusp of the end of the Cold War and the supposed triumph of America, whereas both 'Deep Space Nine' and 'Voyager' reflected the disorientation and domestic confusion of 'the end of history'. 'Enterprise' was a more conservative series for an America that saw a resurgence in similar political values, and the J.J. Abrams reboots are simply empty headed action vehicles for an American mainstream that doesn't want to think too hard. Booker doesn't really address these major cultural threads, or more specific and individual issues. Religious extremism, LGBITQ+ issues, the failures of contemporary economics, the decline of liberalism are all culturally significant issues in contemporary history that 'Star Trek' has tried to engage with, yet Booker barely gives these the attention they deserve. His dismissal of 'Star Trek Discovery' which is perhaps the most socially aware of all the franchises' series is not worthy of what should be a serious study.

So, who will benefit from reading 'Star Trek: A Cultural History'? Trekkers/Trekkies may enjoy it, but I suspect they will become peeved with Booker's inability to escape the 60s. Those who are interested in cultural studies and want to learn more about how 'Star Trek' has helped inform and reflect the last 60 years will possibly get more out of the book, but I'd suggest they'd be better off watching the various series and then working things out for themselves. Unfortunately this has been something of a missed opportunity for both potential audiences.

[Alicea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. It ticked all the boxes for me: facts, Star Trek, cultural commentary, and sociology. What's not to love?! This book covers all aspects of the Star Trek universe including the different TV series (excepting Below Decks and Picard which came out after its publication), movies, books, and merchandise. The main focus though is on TOS (The Original Series) and the various ways that its episodes spoke to the cultural zeitgeist. The Cold War, gender politics, fear of technology, and race relations are the main themes of TOS and Booker goes through each of them by delving into specific episodes. He even does a mini summary and wrap up of the TOS episodes at the end of the book (I don't know why I found that so thrilling). If you're a Trek nerd like myself and/or you're interested in how it reflected, analyzed, and at times subverted the politics of its time then you'll really love this book.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains a lot of great tidbits about Trek culture, as well as some valuable insights into the underlying cultural contexts of the series. But it reads more like a collection of standalone essays by the author, which gives it a scattershot feeling. Still, a worthwhile read for any Trek fan or someone interested in the series as a cultural phenomenon.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if this book knows what it wants to be.

The pop cover and subject matter indicate a general audience, but his discussion of comparative science fiction literature is probably too academic for most lay fans. Each chapter seems to be a separate academic paper that the author stitches together here, with no overall conclusion.

I did enjoy his sense of humor and insights into the series.

[Mareike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, concise overview over Star Trek as a cultural phenomenon, but Booker should (and could) have dug deeper on certain aspects (for example the representation of race and gender or the history of Star Trek fandom).

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some surprising ideas of how Star Trek evolved - not what I thought it was going to be - still a good read.

[David Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview, but ultimately much shorter than a true history of Star Trek would have to be. It's an ideal textbook for a media studies class, and it might have gotten another fraction of a star if the author didn't seem so eager to make me think about "The Omega Glory" for more than the few seconds I can stand it. The analyses are straightforward and reasonably thorough, but not quite enough to get the fans really excited.