Star Trek is known as one of the most influential television phenomena, ever. While the original program ran from 1966-69, it's been followed by four other shows, ten movies (and counting), countless books and toys, and one of the most (if not the) largest and most dedicated fanbases in all of TV, movies, and books. The show itself followed its characters' brave proclamation "to boldly go where no man has gone before," by crossing racial boundaries and taking on deep moral lessons at a time when that just wasn't done in television.
As Dwayne Day said in his essay "Star Trek as a Cultural Phenomenon" [emphasis added]:
"As many fans later explained, Star Trek presented a positive image of the future at a time when the news was filled with stories of racism, social strife, and war. When many people wondered if the world would emerge intact from the Cold War, Star Trek depicted many different races working peacefully together several hundred years into the future. At its most basic level, Star Trek had a simple humanistic message: humanity will be okay."
Let's break down one specific scene from Star Trek:
The obvious message is one against racism; when one of the characters says of the oppressed race, "Slaves? That was changed thousands of years ago, you were freed," the other character says, "Freed! But were we free to be men? [..] Free to live our lives in equality and dignity?" I don't know if the faces of the aliens, which look like those delicious frosted half-moon cookies, were meant to be symbolic, but it could certainly be taken that way.
Yet while the scene is definitely anti-racism, there is a deeper underlying message as well. As the title of the scene says, both these men (or aliens, I guess) are "committed to hatred." At a time in history when the racial debate in America was full of hatred, and when we were in the midst of the Vietnam War and the growing concern over the Cold War, hate was everywhere, on every side of every debate. This was Star Trek's way of showing this fact.
Boldly go, said Star Trek. Whatever your race, whatever your background, wherever you come from. Go. Fight the hatred. Don't worry so much. Humanity will survive. Everything will be okay in the end.
Now go fix it. Go be the good in the world. Go.
Boldly.
