What if a Star Trek-like show had been made in apartheid South Africa?

[Thande]

An odd thought admittedly inspired by the name - 'trek' is an odd choice of words for the OTL version, and Roddenberry originally wanted to call it the more American 'Wagon Train to the Stars'...

Anyway, let's say that a Star Trek-like show is made in the mid-1960s in apartheid South Africa (and isn't made in the US). Let's assume it's English language, as otherwise it wouldn't have much influence outside South Africa.

What sort of values would be represented therein? Certainly no interracial kiss!

And I wonder what would happen if, after 1994, some nostalgists wanted to make a 'Next Generation' version, and we'd have the same furore over things like Tintin in the Congo in OTL...

 

[Sergio Van Lukenstein]

Heh, I did a Google search for "television 1960s south africa" and found out that this POD would be completely ASB.

Television wasn't introduced to South Africa until the mid-'70s.

The Afrikaners fought tooth and nail to keep television out of the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Television#South_Africa
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/oracle974/text/74c21e88-271.html

 

[Thande]

Heh, I did a Google search for "television 1960s south africa" and found out that this POD would be completely ASB.

Television wasn't introduced to South Africa until the mid-'70s.

The Afrikaners fought tooth and nail to keep television out of the country.

Dammit!

Kind of obviates what I was talking about in the first case...

Maybe Ian Smith's Rhodesia? Of course, that removes the 'trek' reference.

 

[Landshark]

Heh, I did a Google search for "television 1960s south africa" and found out that this POD would be completely ASB.

Getting television introduced ten years earlier is hardly ASB.

There was a Thunderbirds style show made in the 70's.

Link

 

[Rhysz]

Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the SASS Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to stripmine strange new worlds, to subjugate new life and new civilizations, to obliterate what now white man has obliterated before.


The Enterpise is commanded by Kapitein Johannes T. Kurksman, a proud descendant of the noble Boers. This blonde intrepid adventurer Known throughout the Federation of Vrijstaats for his couragious style of command. Although unsuspected with his dashing looks and personality, Kurksman is a very devout man, and has been proudly married for years.

The ship's doctor Wolfgang 'Scalp' von Hoch, is famous for his excellent medical skills and fierce temper. Previously, an important member of the biological warfare unit, he decided that space could provide more effective pathogens. He is mostly famous for shouting:'It's just a fleshwound Johannes!'

Pawel Kosack, the ships weapons officer and second in command, is the descendant of Karnak Kosack, the hero of the Army who succesfully stopped the Mandela uprising, in the 'Glorious battle for Johannesburg'. Know for his extreme dislike of anything to do with politics, he never attends things like formal dinners.


(HMMMMM, came of a bit more like a Nazi version of Star Trek.......

)

 

[Thande]

(HMMMMM, came of a bit more like a Nazi version of Star Trek.......

)

Or a Draka one...

 

[Sergio Van Lukenstein]

Getting television introduced ten years earlier is hardly ASB.

Okay, not ASB, but it was worth noting that an additional POD of "Television is embraced by the conservative elements of South African society and introduced to South Africa 10-15 years sooner." would be required for the ATL Star Trek show to happen.

 

[Rhysz]

Or a Draka one...

True, or as my fellow Dutchman would say:"Indeed!"

On the other hand I do remember a German answer to Star Trek named 'Orion Sieben'. Which was actually pretty fun, whith hugely bigger 'campness levels' than Trek.

http://cultmovies2001.tripod.com/

 

[Sergio Van Lukenstein]

Rhysz, I think what everyone really wants to know is...

Who replaces Sulu and Uhuru?

 

[Rhysz]

Yeah, I was thinking about that as well. I'm surprised you weren't wondering about Spock! I'll come up with something.

Well, if i can keep the Nazi theme going; Sulu will be in I think Chinese and Japanese were classified as Aryan because they built civilisations. (might depend on which nut you asked.)

 

[Thande]

I think any Star Trek-style show will still have the idea of having bridge crew members from different countries to symbolise unity, it'll just be different choices.

A South African one like this might have a balance of English-descendants (I don't know what the word is), Afrikaners and Indians, for example.

A Nazi one might have (secondary) characters from Italy, Romania, Hungary etc.

A Soviet one would have characters from the different SSRs and other socialist nations.

 

[Sergio Van Lukenstein]

Yeah, I was thinking about that as well. I'm surprised you weren't wondering about Spock! I'll come up with something.

OH! I thought Kosack was Spock, but I see that he's meant to be Chekov. I was thrown off when you said "second-in-command". I see how that makes it extra significant that the first officer is the weapons officer instead of the science officer.

 

[BlackMage]

Rhysz, I think what everyone really wants to know is...

Who replaces Sulu and Uhuru?

Well, it's hardly implausible for a 'happy darkie' stereotype onboard, even in a menial role. Uhura would be the respectful, courteous, 'civilised' black woman happy with her lot. Or, or course, the crew could simply be all white.

The most interesting thing about this scenario, aside from its inherent interest, is what it means for the philosophy of the show. Star Trek has always been a show with a particularly utopian left-wing philosophy; 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations', a post-materialist future, prosperity and equality for all, an end to xenophobia. The show's enemies are particularly important in this regard: the violent, aggressive Klingons, the anti-individualist, oppressive Borg, or the fascist Dominion. South Africa Star Trek (SAST) would be a very different show in terms of the philosophy espoused. Something close to the Nazi exaltation of the warrior or service to the state, I'd wager. Certainly the utopian Federation, based upon multiculturalism and respect for pluralism, couldn't exist in such a show -- although it was only really fleshed out in Next Generation, anyway.

But if we were to give Star Trek an apartheid ethic, I'd say that:

These are the voyages of the starship Jan Smuts. Its five year mission: to serve the great people of South Africa. To seek out new worlds for their benefit. To boldly go where no Afrikaner has gone before...

A militarised, entirely white crew, on a ship run along much more military lines. Spock, if he exists, may be the the token 'left-wing' character, in the same way that the emotionless Spock of OTL Star Trek served as a counterpoint to the rest of the crew. The missions will be much less about exploration or philosophical ideals, and much more about conflict. The show itself may degenerate into a basic action show.

The enemy race, serving the same function as the Klingons, could be a realisation of the Afrikaner elite's worst fears of the African majority, in the same way that the Klingons reflected Cold War fears. They would be emotional, aggressive, selfish, stupid...all the old cliches.

Fascinating topic, Thande.

 

[Susano]

True, or as my fellow Dutchman would say:"Indeed!"

On the other hand I do remember a German answer to Star Trek named 'Orion Sieben'. Which was actually pretty fun, whith hugely bigger 'campness levels' than Trek.

http://cultmovies2001.tripod.com/

Yes. Postwar German.

 

[Thande]

Fascinating topic, Thande.

Thanks. Though I was kind of thinking of some South African coming up with a background that is like that of Roddenberry's Star Trek (utopian, everyone gets along, united Earth) but tainted by the different attitudes at hand - i.e., Earth is united, but there's a distinct hierarchy of human races, and so forth.

Remember OTL Star Trek was pretty controversial at times in conservative 1960s America, so I was thinking of something more like that, but in a South African setting. (Assuming, of course, that the government wouldn't just pull it in SA).

 

[Rhysz]

Hideki Sato, The chief helmsman of the SASS Enterprise come from a long line of samurai. Against the wishes of his father he chose not to work for grand shogun Oda. Growing up in a small seacoast village Hideki alway had a sense of wonder about what lay behind the horizon. Application to the Federation of Vrijstaats academy would possibly bring even more discoveries. Sato still wears his families katana, going so far as installing a holder next to his post. Sato had long been requested by kapitein Kurksman, because of his agressive style of pilotting, that some say, borders on the fanatically suicidal.

Uhura is a black janitor (head of waste disposal) on the Enterprise. As a 'kaffer' she makes her home on the black dorm at the end of the ship. The 'Black dorm', of course, also conveniently houses an airlock. Some crewmembers have come to calling her "Quickie MacBlack" as she is not adverse to having sexual relations with superior white crewmembers. Rumours have arison that Sato has developped an interested in her. Although it is not clear what these interests exactly are.

 

[Rhysz]

Thande,

I think Star Trek also included the first interracial kiss over seen on o (netrwork) telivision. So yeah, it was pretty controversial.

 

[Rhysz]

The enemy race, serving the same function as the Klingons, could be a realisation of the Afrikaner elite's worst fears of the African majority, in the same way that the Klingons reflected Cold War fears. They would be emotional, aggressive, selfish, stupid...all the old cliches.

How about some kind of socialist federation of planets?
The Borg can stay, in my idea there could still be some kind of individualism. Besides.....The Borg assimilate ALL races.

 

[Sergio Van Lukenstein]

Well, it's hardly implausible for a 'happy darkie' stereotype onboard, even in a menial role. Uhura would be the respectful, courteous, 'civilised' black woman happy with her lot. Or, or course, the crew could simply be all white.

Now that I think of it, SAST wouldn't have any black people on the bridge. So, no black officers. Maybe we get black people wearing red shirts.

Probably, the highest position to which black officers aspire to is Yeoman.

The missions will be much less about exploration or philosophical ideals, and much more about conflict. The show itself may degenerate into a basic action show.

The enemy race, serving the same function as the Klingons, could be a realisation of the Afrikaner elite's worst fears of the African majority, in the same way that the Klingons reflected Cold War fears. They would be emotional, aggressive, selfish, stupid...all the old cliches.

I think we can still have philosophy, but it'll be discussions of racial superiority. About why it's right to put the "barbarian races" in their place and annex their planets. Maybe you get a semi-left wing character (like Spock, as you said) who questions the apartheid philosophy, but whenever anyone listens to him, things go wrong and apartheid is proven correct again and again.

Spock gets to be the left-wing character, being an alien. He's from an alien race that Earth has an uneasy alliance with. It might be like how in OTL Star Trek, the Vulcans made first contact with humanity right after the successful warp drive experiment. Perhaps the ATL Vulcans represent the Western world or America.

 

[Rhysz]

A Soviet one would have characters from the different SSRs and other socialist nations.

How about one from a capitalist state? To symbolise an international socialist victory? Chekov was mainly a comedic relief, so why not a US member:

Skippy Mcbride
Hailing from the USS (United Soviet States), he's the ship's requesitions officer and always in on a scheme to get more goods. He's good natured but not the brightest. Most of his schemes are foiled by one of the 'big three'. Cowardly, he is dispised by the political officer, secretary Orlovski.