Star Trek: The Original Serieswas conceptualized in the early 1960s byGene Roddenberrya man with a dream of a brighter future for mankind. While it features thrilling space flights,sleek starships, and alluring aliens,Star Trekis at its core a series of morality plays. Instead of focusing on how far the humans of the future can push technological advances to the brink, the show is more concerned with how humanity can use that technology for good.
Although several ofTrek’snewer iterations have taken on a rather dystopic tone (many fans flat-out hatewhat they call “NuTrek”), the franchise as a whole is still known for its optimistic outlook on the centuries to come, thanks to the tradition started by the writers of The Original Series. The show did remarkably well at maintaining a progressive message, which makes its few stumbles all the more jarring. Here is a rundown ofStar Trekmisses which are hard to watch today.
7Janice Rand’s Constant Mistreatment
Janice Rand, played by the late Grace Lee Whitney, holds the title of “yeoman,” a rank which doesn’t seem to exist in the subsequent series, and denotes a secretary or assistant-type role. She is essentially Captain Kirk’s right-hand woman and has many redeeming qualities. She is smart, professional, and compassionate. However, her story is overshadowed by a dark cloud.
Assault and harassment are certainly important topics, but it seems Rand’s attractive looks caused her character to fall prey to the damsel-in-distress trope as she is repeatedly put into sexually threatening situations. Additionally, the show seemed to take an inappropriately lighthearted approach to such a serious subject.
The most glaring example of Rand’s mistreatment is the episode “The Enemy Within"in which a transporter mishap creates an evil double of Captain Kirk. Kirk’s nefarious look-alike attempts to rape Rand. As things get sorted out, First Officer Spock brushes off the debacle with the uncaring line, “Well, that other half of the Captain did have some ratherinterestingqualities, didn’t it?”
Spock, one of the show’s protagonists and role models, should show more concern. In this instance, the show failed to be a guiding light and instead fell prey to the common attitudes of the times.
6The Original Miniskirt Uniforms
Following the ubiquitous fashion that can be seen across thefilms of the ’60s, the regulation uniforms of the ship’s female crew in the original series consist of mini skirts. The skirts are comically short, with the women’s bloomers frequently peeking out as they move about.
The impracticality of the outfit might make viewers cringe and assume the women are being forced to wear the minuscule attire to create eye candy, but the mini-skirts actually appear for a surprising reason:the original series' female stars objected to the original pants they were asked to wear, insisting the look was too manly. Though they might appear silly and sexist today, mini skirts in the 1960s were symbolic of feminism and women’s liberation.
As an apparent gesture towards equality, the mini-skirt uniforms, called “skants,” were carried over to the first season ofThe Next Generation, which features several otherwise masculine-appearing male officers hilariously sporting them. A short-sleeved version of the mini dress has also been briefly worn by Counselor Deanna Troi.
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5NBC Said No to a Female First Officer
From the beginning of the show’s planning, Gene Rodenberry knew that he wanted a diverse crew, and took the bold step of attempting to add actress Majel Barrett as Captain Pike’s first officer inStar Trek’srejected first pilot. While today’s television landscape contains several great examples ofgender-diverse casting, this wasn’t the case back in the ’60s. Many shows of the era, and even many episodes of the foundingStar Trekseries itself, fail to passthe Bechdel test.
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The idea of a female first officer was shot down by NBC bosses, who called a female second-in-command “too cerebral.” It was also suggested that the presence of an alien (referring to Spock) and a highly-ranked woman on the senior crew would be too much for contemporary audiences of the day to accept.
In the end,Barrett was not completely removed from the show, but simply relegated to the muchless prominent role of Nurse Chapel. Although it is now impossible to imagine an Enterprise without Spock at the captain’s side, it is disappointing to look back at the missed opportunity for the pioneering show to take such a leap of progress by placing a woman at the forefront of the ship’s highest authorities.
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4Nurse Chapel’s Spock Obsession
The cast restructuring between the first and secondStar Trekpilots saw Majel Barrett demoted from top-ranking bridge officer to a nurse named Christine Chapel who is something of a background player. The troublesome side to her character is that it isalmost wholly defined by her unrequited affection for Spock.
Who exactlyisChristine Chapel? Unfortunately, this question is never fully answered, as she is rather poorly developed, and there is no build-up to her apparent love for Captain Kirk’s first officer. When she awkwardly ambushes him with an amorous outpouring inThe Naked Time,viewers don’t have any background to understand her reasoning.
Her enamoration continues, and theSpock connectioncontinues to define her character even in future series such asStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. Why couldn’t Nurse Chapel get a chance to save the ship by using her science skills to develop a new miracle elixir? While romantic dalliances are a fun part of television, Christine Chapel deserved more character development and to be portrayed as better than lovesick on the sidelines.
3Starfleet’s Death Penalty
In “The Menagerie,” one of Star Trek’smost gripping episodes, Spock is court-martialed for commandeering the ship and journeying to the forbidden planet of Talos IV. His mysterious motives are later revealed to revolve around the disfigurement of Captain Pike in a tragic accident. Tensions are high during his tribunal, as it is revealed Starfleet has instated a death penalty for visiting the off-limits world. The episode is hard to watch because despite featuring such a controversial topic as the death penalty,it fails to thoughtfully examine its morality.
Many socially progressive people consider the death penalties to be primitive, distasteful, barbaric, and just flat-out wrong. Why, then, is an innovative production likeStar Trekallowing its group of Starfleet heroes, who are supposed to be emblematic role models, to use it? It seems the writers included the death penalty as a device to demonstrate the high stakes of Spock’s choice to visit Talos IV, without analyzing the philosophical implications.
2Starfleet’s Ban on Female Captains
Starfleet’s apparentban on female captainsis one instance where the futuristic show stayed frustratingly stuck in the past. The ban is first revealed in the episode “The Turnabout Intruder” when the character Janice Lester states to Captain Kirk, “Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women. It isn’t fair.” Kirk then concedes, “No, it isn’t.”
The ban later becomes one ofStar Trek’s contradictions, whenshows set earlier in time thanThe Original Seriesdepict women acting as captains.Star Trek: Enterprisedepicts Erika Hernandez, played by Ada Maris, rising to the rank of captain by the year 2154.Discoveryfeatures Philippa Georgiou as a captain in 2249, and Katrina Cornwell as an admiral in 2246, after having previously captained a ship of her own. Additionally, Captain Marie Batel ofStrange New Worldshas earned her own command by 2259.
Although some fans hoped Lester’s statement referred to the current status quo rather than an outright ban, the one-time presence of a ban is confirmed inStar Trek: Mission’s End. It is stunning to see that instead of actually portraying female captains onscreen, a character stating that their exclusion is unfair was as far as the episode was willing to go.
Although the originalStar Trekwas bright and forward-thinking in many ways,it was at times too influenced by the current culture and attitudes. Or perhaps this was an artistic choice to prevent total escapism and remind audiences there was still progress to be made.
1The Forced Kiss That Changed the World
In the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,“Captain Kirk and Uhurafamously share a kiss. Premiering to audiences on July 17, 2025, the episode depicts the first romantic kiss between a black and white person ever seen on TV. Occurring only one year after the Supreme Court struck down the United States' ban on interracial marriage,the kiss is celebrated by many as a progressive milestone. Considering the NBC bosses' gatekeeping, it is rather remarkable that the smooch even made it to the air.
Although the appearance of an interracial kiss signifies a step towards a more enlightened age, it is also shrouded in a bit of controversy. The crew mates do not actually engage in the kiss on their own volition. Instead, they are forced to kiss when their bodies are taken over by the Platonian species, which uses its telekinetic powers to prank and demean the crew. This plot point could cause offense by suggesting that an interracial kiss is a preposterous act that no one would actually choose to do. However, fans must remember that even broadcasting such a kiss, whatever the context, was a groundbreaking step.
