Adrienne Davis on Star Trek and Gran Torino

Adrienne D. Davis has published Film Review: Masculinity & Interracial Intimacy in 'Star Trek' and 'Gran Torino', as Washington University School of Law Working Paper No. 10-03-07. Here is the abstract.

Race has long been a central object of political reflection. The salience of racial difference remains hotly debated, figuring in both “utopian” and “dystopian” visions of America’s political future. If race is a primary configuration of “difference” and inequality in the nation, then intimacy between the races is often construed as either a bellwether of equality and political utopia or a re-inscribing of political dominance, typically represented as sexual predation by men against women. Quite expectedly, these political fantasies and fears are often played out at the multiplex, and we can see them in stark relief in two recent films that seem to have nothing in common, Clint Eastwood’s highly acclaimed but Oscar-snubbed Gran Torino and last summer’s high-octane blockbuster, Star Trek. This film review explores how both films render conventional (white) masculinity as in crisis, threatened by alternative masculine forms. In both films this crisis of masculinity translates into a political one that threatens the values and viability of the community. In both, a carefully negotiated interracial intimacy redeems masculinity, and, in the process, the political future. While interracial intimacy is often configured as heterosexual coupling, in both films, women of color expedite interracial intimacy, but the meaningful and redemptive intimacy is homo-social, between men.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.

Re-Examining Star Trek

In his review essay on Star Trek: The Exhibition, Edward Rothstein points out a number of anachronisms and anamolies, most stemming from the original television series and its spin-offs. He notes that mixing reality and pop culture may do neither justice. Points taken. (I saw this exhibition in San Diego). For those of us who grew up on ST: TOS and its offspring and who are fond of the Star Trek mythos, however, this show doesn't represent the reality or history of space flight. But that, as I understand it, isn't really the point of Star Trek: The Exhibition. The point is to examine the effect of the show on the generations who have watched and grown up with the show, and the effect of those viewers on Star Trek. See also the program (available on DVD) How William Shatner Changed the World, based on his book I'm Working On That: A Trek From Science Fiction To Science Fact (2004).

Can one exhibition capture all of that involvement and energy? Probably not. Many people have written books attempting to measure these effects. But this particular exhibition at least allows some of us to examine the evidence.

For more on the interaction of Star Trek and popular culture see also

Andreadis, Athena, To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek (1998).
Barad, Judith, The Ethics of Star Trek (2001).
Barrett, Michele, and Duncan Barrett, Star Trek: The Human Frontier (2000).
Bernardi, Daniel, Star Trek and History: Race-ing Toward a White Future (1998).
Hanley, Rick, Is Data Human? The Metaphysics of Star Trek (1998).
Jenkins, Robert, and Susan Jenkins, The Biology of Star Trek (1999).
Joseph, Paul, and Sharon Carton, The Law of the Federation: Images of Law, Lawyers, and the Legal System in Star Trek: The Next Generation, 24 U. Tol. L. Rev. 43 (1992). The ancestor of all law and pop culture law review articles on Star Trek.
Kraemer, Ross, William Cassidy, and Susan L. Schwartz, Religions of Star Trek (2008).
Krauss, Lawrence, The Physics of Star Trek (rev. ed.)(2007).
Marinaccio, Dave, All I Really Needed To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek (1995).
Paulsen, Michael Stokes, Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise of Constitutional Interpretation: Some Modest Proposals From the Twenty-Third Century, 59 Alb. L. Rev. 671 (1995).
Richards, Thomas, The Meaning of Star Trek (1999).
Roberts, Robin, Sexual Generations: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gender (1999).
Scharf, Michael P. and Lawrence Robert, The Interstellar Relations of the Federation: International Law and Star Trek: The Next Generation, 25 U. Tol. L. Rev. 577 (1994).
Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (Kevin S. Decker and Jason Eberl, eds. 2008).
Star Trek and Sacred Ground (Jennifer Porter, ed.; 2000).
Star Trek Visions of Law and Justice (Robert H. Chaires and Bradley Chilton eds.; 2002). Reprints previously published but interesting material, including the Paulsen, Joseph & Carton and Scharf & Robert essays, above.

Control, Alt, Delete: J. J. Abrams Reboots the Star Trek Franchise For a New Generation

Manohla Dargis reviews the new Star Trek film for the New York Times here.

When the Fans Take Over: Star Trek and Fan Fiction

From Newsweek's latest issue, a discussion of Star Trek's fan fiction, referred to as "slash fiction," here.

McGoohan, Montalban Die

Patrick McGoohan, known for a number of law-related roles: as "Number 6" in the cult series "The Prisoner," as "John Drake", the hero of the series "Danger Man" and "Secret Agent," and as various villains in several "Columbo" movies, as well as a number of well-received films, has died at the age of 80. The announcement of his death follows that of the news of the death of accomplished actor Ricardo Montalban, who most famously played the Nietzchean character Khan in an episode of Star Trek and reprised the role in the second big screen Star Trek film.

Read more about law in The Prisoner and Star Trek here.

The Prisoner

Christine A. Corcos, Narratives of Imprisonment: "I Am Not a Number! I Am a Free Man!": Physical and Psychological Imprisonment in Science Fiction, 25 Legal Stud. Forum 471 (2001).

Star Trek

Christine Corcos, Isabel Corcos, and Brian Stockhoff, Double-Take: A Second Look at Cloning, Science Fiction, and Law, 59 Louisiana Law Review 1041 (1999).

Paul Joseph and Sharon Carton, The Law of the Federation: Images of Law, Lawyers, and the Legal System in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” 24 University of Toledo Law Review 43 (1992).

Richard J. Peltz, On a Wagon Train to Afghanistan: Limitations on Star Trek’s Prime Directive, 25 University of Ar-kansas (Little Rock) Law Review 635 (2003).


Michael P. Scharf and Lawrence D. Robert, The Interstellar Relations of the Federation: International Law and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” 25 University of Toledo Law Review 577 (1994).