
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
2018

2016
Director
Ian Roumain
Runtime
86 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
Over the last fifty years, America has been fascinated by Star Trek since it first aired in September of 1966. This 2-hour documentary celebrates the 50th anniversary through interviews with cast and crew members from every television series and the original films.
Overall Score
Good
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The film archives a franchise that pioneered depictions of non-heteronormative identities and same-sex intimacy. It provides a platform for cast and crew to validate these narratives as core to the franchise's cultural impact.
Gender Representation
The documentary highlights the franchise's transition from early archetypes to complex, high-agency female characters. These figures often demonstrate intellect and leadership that disrupt conventional gendered power dynamics.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
The film reflects on a legacy of diverse, non-Anglo-Saxon casts. It explores how the franchise used various species as metaphors for ethnic diversity and utilized multi-ethnic ensembles in high-agency roles.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The documentary explores themes of secularism and post-nationalism. It examines a philosophical framework that prioritizes collective progress and situational ethics over singular religious or nationalist dogmas.
Disability Representation
While the franchise frequently integrates characters with physical and sensory differences, this documentary focuses primarily on the human cast and crew. Such representation remains secondary to broader social themes.
Strengths
Areas for Improvement
AI Analysis
This documentary serves as a historical archive of a franchise defined by its subversion of traditional social hierarchies. By interviewing cast and crew across fifty years, it documents how the series utilized intersectional storytelling to challenge systemic norms. The film succeeds in celebrating a legacy of progressive values, particularly regarding racial and ethnic diversity. It frames the franchise's history as a consistent effort to disrupt homogeneous casting through multi-ethnic ensembles and metaphorical storytelling. However, the retrospective format prioritizes broad social and political discussions over specific depictions of disability. While the franchise's history includes diverse physical representations, the documentary's focus remains largely on the human contributors and overarching cultural impact.

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