How Star Trek Mirrored the Cold War - DOCUMENTARY

Wizards and Warriors channel: / wizardsandwarriors
Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the Star Trek universe and how its early iterations mirrored the Cold War era.
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#ColdWar #StarTrek

[@TheColdWarTV]

Wizards and Warriors channel: kzbin.info

[@fluffypants]

Good channel

[@MicaiahBaron]

Love when you guys promote each other; would never have found you all otherwise.

[@brokenbridge6316]

As much as I love Star Trek. I love Star Wars equally and I hope that one day you dedicate a video to that franchise too and it's impact on the world during the Cold War.

[@michaelporzio7384]

Fun Fact: The Soviets actually made the point of asking why, with the Soviet Union leading the way in spaceflight, no Russian character was in the crew of the Enterprise. The producers actually responded by adding the Checkov character in season II.

[@user-wi3yx3gy2o]

The fact is it is not possible to know the exact in-universe nationalities of the people on the Enterprise unless the character’s nationality is stated or otherwise indicated, as if a child learns a language thru may speak it without any strong “foreign” accent. The language actually spoken on the Enterprise is presumably English, in universe, but unless it is explicitly stated somewhere (I’m not sure), for all we actually know they are speaking Esperanto or another language and the English is for the audience’s benefit. There are instances of time travel and other scenarios in which the crew speaks English with actual English speakers, but also ones where the languages of the human or human clone characters they interact with would presumably not be English at all. Uhura is African in race and nationality, and it is implied that her first language is Swahili, but she speaks with no accent. Of course there are more apparent racial differences, but these seem to not have much meaning in terms of identifying nationality, since hundreds of years of migration and one world government means nationality and race are not necessarily connected and not very significant distinctions.

[@radioactivetrees9626]

​@@user-wi3yx3gy2ostay home.

[@kayzeaza]

@@user-wi3yx3gy2ojust because there is a “one world government” doesn’t mean the entire human population is migrating around at such a level that there is permanent extinction of ethnicities. Hell everyone in The UK speaks English but they have such varied accents town to town that it’s easy to identify where someone’s from. I would assume that the majority of everyone on earth would speak English (more than already do) but local languages would still exist. It can be assumed also that the space crew all speaks English because of a policy of one language onboard to stop any miscommunication, just like the fact that every air traffic controller and airplane pilot must speak English

[@ErickSoares3]

It seems to be a legend: I saw that the show only began to be streamed at URSS after its production had ended.

[@michaelporzio7384]

@@ErickSoares3 Roddenberry himself said it. Though he was known to embellish things at times! Read "The Making of Star Trek" by Stephen Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry. Page 249 Ballentine Books edition. Book was first published in 1968. Excellent book BTW, not only for Trekkies, but for anyone interested in how TV shows were made back in the day.

[@nolarobert]

Gene Roddenberry rightfully gets the credit as the creator of Star Trek but far too many people forget the genius of Gene L. Coon for bringing many of these Cold War-themed stories to the fore. Coon was the father of the Klingons, the Star Trek stand-in for the Soviets. He also came up with the concept of the Federation, the Organian Peace Treaty, and the Prime Directive. Much of what we love about TOS came from the influence of Coon. Also, a shoutout needs to go to Dorothy D.C. Fontana as an influential writer on the series. Star Trek has always made commentary on the contemporary world. That's part of what makes it so fascinating.

[@chiensyang]

The original stand-in for the Soviets were actually Romulans, not Klingons. Klingons eventually appeared more often in the later episodes of the original Star Trek because dressing up the actors and actresses as Klingons were cheaper than as Romulans.

[@EndingSimple]

As s 67 year old man sitting at a computer on a dark rainy day, I thank you for this wonderful trip down memory lane. Lifts my spirits.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Fun Fact: The First Star Trek series might not have gotten off the ground if not for the intervention of one Lucille Ball who is best remember playing Lucy on "I love Lucy." She used her considerable influence to get the show green lit. And for this many Trekkies refer to her as "The Godmother of Star Trek."

[@frankchan4272]

Yes. If are old enough to see the original TV which includes all of credits & it showed Desilu productions which Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz were the owners. I don’t know if they show that on reruns now.

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@frankchan4272---Well the only reason I know about it is because I saw something about it online.

[@ocularpatdown]

I love Lucy!

[@luisjadorf6122]

the crossover the world needs

[@FarenellPhoto]

Fun fact: Nicelle Nichols was going to leave Star Trek for more lucrative theater offers after the 1st season til that meeting w/ Dr King where he persuaded her not to for the reasons listed in this video.

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

As a huge longtime fan of this channel as someone very interested in Cold War history and a massive Trekky, I can only say: This is truly _the best of both worlds_ . Resistance is futile.

[@Numba003]

Your username makes this even better! I have been assimilated lol. God bless! ✝️ :)

[@ocularpatdown]

I see what you did there.

[@Adsin16]

I think this is one of my favorite episodes. Influence of times on pop culture and vice versa is fascinating to watch, especially with half a century of distance.

[@jliller]

The Klingons also reflected elements of the Japanese, such as their emphasis on honor and their love of ceremony. Perhaps moreso in TNG than TOS.

[@ocelot3607]

Star Trek has hugely impacted my life growing up as a kid and even watching the newer shows now. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country has to be my favorite movie not just for the movie itself but the story it tells. Every day I hope that in some way we can achieve even a fraction of that strange new world, and boldy go where no one has gone before.

[@jonmcgee6987]

One thing I've always wondered about that movie. Scotty gets sent to deal with the sniper. Did they make that choice because James Doohan actually had dealt with and took out an actual sniper before?

[@ocularpatdown]

When it was released, I had to drive across an entire state to find a theatre that was playing ST:VI. Never mind that state was Vermont. ;)

[@unr74]

Rocky & Bullwinkle was another outstanding commentary on the Cold War.

[@franciscovarela7127]

Natasha and Boris -> thieves, villains and scoundrels.

[@afr11235]

I remember as a little kid, watching TOS reruns was just entertainment. It wasn’t until I rewatched it in college that I realized quite how blatantly it reflected the US/CCCP rivalries and the overall politics of the time.

[@brokenbridge6316]

I love Star Trek at it's best any episode form the franchise is meant to make people think about issues that they normally wouldn't think about and challenges one's perceptions about society, and life in general among many other things. May this franchise never lose sight of it's purpose.

[@earthwormscrawl]

Assignment Earth -- The demonstration about the dangers of orbital based nuclear weapons.

[@Numba003]

My wife and I are big Trek fans, and I've been quite enjoying this channel for a while now. Thank you for an episode uniting my interests in history and good old Trek lol. God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)

[@PremeTeamTX]

I imagine a incoming MASH episode could come at some point. It'd be pretty cool to see an episode on actual MASH units throughout American involvement in the CW, and one on the impact the show had on American society and the views it portrayed.

[@theawesomeman9821]

I had a friend who was into Star Trek and he would rent DVDs of the show. I used to always watch two or three episodes with him and his father whenever I visited their house.

[@Metalisalearning77]

I'm so thankful someone put out this idea as this is something of a theory I've had with Star Trek how it's races, militaries & cultures were/are stand-ins for the Cold War

[@helloworld0609]

The pro war stance of Star Trek in the Vietnam war era largely mirrored that of the US media before 1968. It's only after the Tet offense in 1968 that the pro war media began to become anti-war.

[@Redshirt434]

Funny how much of Star Trek involved Cold Wars. TOS used the Klingon Empire, TNG used the Romulan Empire, DS9 used the Cardassian Union...i guess Voyager used the Borg, but thry were always that raging storm in the distance.

[@joshuah5255]

Yes two of my worlds are colliding right now and I’m so there for it

[@Fire_Score_Maximum]

Got an ad for Star Trek: Fleet Command before this. 2:27 Glad you included another Science Fiction Franchise, Doctor Who. Particularly its film adaptation of the 1965 Television Story/Serial: The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

[@chrishanneman1298]

This is quite literally one of the best episodes you've done. Thank you.

[@jinron24]

You show how ground breaking Star Trek is then and now, keep up the good work.

[@jimryan5513]

This did a good job of bringing out the parallels with the Cold War that the series touched upon. I liked how you drew upon not only the original series, but the follow-up films as well. If you are interested in doing more cultural reflections of the Cold War in this series, I would love to recommend the ITV series THE PRISONER. The 17 episodes of this show have some remarkable reflections of what was going on then, and are worth covering here as well.

[@henrimichelpierreplana4332]

Thanks a lot for this video david. Great work.

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

The Cold War, can you please make a video on Françafrique, which is basically France's Monroe Doctrine approach towards its former colonies in Africa. I want you to make a video on this topic, since the concept of Françafrique dates back to the Cold War era.

[@jonmcgee6987]

I think this has been one of your more informative and very entertaining episodes.

[@Sequoia204]

This is the most fascinating video about Star Trek I've ever seen! Very well done, David! I have a new found respect for Star Trek.

[@benjaminclark4030]

Whoa. I was not expecting this, but I'm very pleasantly surprised. 👍

[@bigcountry5241]

Great episode, thanks and keep up the good work y'all.

[@Kamil_1995_PL]

Never give up! You're doing a great job making videos. :)

[@MichaelDodge27]

This was a great video!! Star Trek TOS has been great to watch long after its initial release, I can only imagine it's impact back in the day.

[@samibilal]

Thank you for continuing your excellent channel content. As a 40-something looking back, I recognize that the Star Trek franchise has me subconsciously more progressive and idealistic in my youth. But I had never seen the original series, and had missed the artistic commentary on the cold war.

[@Ed_in_Md]

Absolutely outstanding David. Thanks very much!

[@deanbuss1678]

As a kid My first exposure to geo- political issues were discussed because of STAR TREK. Still a "trekkie" I found this episode most excellent 👌👍. Thanks David.

[@sentteri]

Excellent episode!

[@Louis-nt3pb]

Amazing documentary. Thank you.

[@38bass]

A very enlightening episode!

[@bigsarge2085]

Always interesting.

[@jacobavners2394]

Loved the choice of theme for this one! Also, I admit I expected the video-end quip to be something along the lines of 'Be sure you have set your phasers to 'Subscribe' '

[@Pyeknu]

Thanks for this episode! #LLAP!

[@jimmyyu2184]

"Today, is a good day to watch TheColdWarTV" & drink blood wine. 🖖❤

[@ocularpatdown]

Qapla’!

[@SpectacularDisaster]

One of your best videos

[@andrewgilbertson5672]

Very nice!

[@davidcarr7436]

"My God, Jim, do you know what you've done?" "He knows Doctor, he knows." City On The Edge of Forever. City On The Edge Of Forever won the writer's guild award for best teleplay. It was not the same as the aired episode, which itself won a Hugo award.

[@kenrankin5814]

Outstanding episode! I think you did a little Easter egg with that still from Star Trek Continues 😁

[@BTScriviner]

I never connected Chernobyl in the real world with the explosion of Praxis in Star Trek. D'oh! Another interesting video.👍

[@philly83]

I'm glad to see this

[@bikkiikun]

Mind you, Spock was mixed race at a time where mixed race marriges were illegal in vast parts of the US.

[@pokepress]

But it was a white human and a white Vulcan, so I guess the network was okay with it. 😉

[@bikkiikun]

@@pokepress Gene was very creative when it came to getting things past the censors, that were generally deemed controversial.

[@joeblow8593]

Thanks

[@TheMagicLemur]

Undiscovered country is easily the best Star Trek movie. The underlying Cold War-esque message, the excellent plot, and the end of the original Star Trek give it copious resonance.

[@henrimichelpierreplana4332]

Thanks again for this epidode. I thought that the episode with the doom s day machine ( forgot tbe title) had its place here, showing the MAD policy going out of hand.

[@skpjoecoursegold366]

thanks.

[@staredsky]

best episode ever

[@grimreaper6557]

Well done ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Nobody.exe50]

This episode was art ,, no joke pure art .i would love to see more videos about media during the cold war stuff like Tour of Duty. or the man from U.N.C.L.E

[@bryedtan]

I sm glad you did this look of the Cold War's influence to Pop Culture lkke Star Trek hope iou can also analyzed other cultural influences of the Cold War with fiction like James Bond or Jack Ryan both literary and visually.

[@travismiddleton8218]

Reading everyone's comments shows how much Star Trek means to them. The political themes of Star Trek are some of my favourite aspects of the franchise.

[@karlcarlysle462]

People forget also that lucille ball pushed for this series

[@Sforeczka]

Can you point to any sources about the US military in Europe during the Cold War, particularly USAEUR? I served in an MI BN part of the 3rd Armored Division from 1982 t0 1983. Still trying to place my experience in context. Not only did we have two military enemies, we were also targeted by the Baader Meinhof group.

[@Jestersage]

Also, considering the time which we are in - essentially Second Cold War at least - Romulans/Vulcan is now full on PRC/Taiwanese, as examplify by Picard S1 (A group of Warrior Nuns with a guy that is straight out Wusha? Claiming Vulcans Split from Romulans instead of the other way around? Romulan infilitration?)

[@amb163]

Thank you for this video. I grew up on Star Trek and am still a huge fan of all of the series in the franchise. It's affected my life and my beliefs profoundly, and I believe I'm better for it. Every time I hear a "fan" complain of "nu-trek" being "too woke," I want to scream. Roddenberry's "woke", hopeful vision has always permeated the core of every series.

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

NuTrek is just bad, very bad. Written by inept soap opera writers for cheap.

[@carlosvasquez9890]

Yeah...the difference it that Roddenberry did it smartly

[@amb163]

Then don't watch. I love it all.

[@Palatine-Knight]

​@@amb163 But it _would_ be ideal if it upheld the quality and atmospheres the older series had. Trek was always a tale of progress, hope, and personal improvement. A look at moral dilemmas, and the pursuit of the greater good through the eyes of various crew members. Discovery spent most of its time focused on one person. Who was abrasive and arrogant, and predominantly just made selfish decisions without any attempt to better themselves. With a wider crew who did much the same.

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Star Trek VI *STOMPS* on New Trek! IT is such a good SciFi Film

[@pinkpantheonqueerhistory5699]

A new The Cold War video AND its Star Trek related? Has Christmas come early??

[@hendersongriffith3990]

I would love to watch Star Trek though. This was Soo insightful 👍✅. Huge grease to your elbow David.

[@steelhorses2004]

Books, movies, documentaries can be made about this great series - Star Trek. Wait they already have lol Make more please.

[@EricChipko]

I request a similar academic dissection of "Rocky and Bullwinkle." It is funny that Bullwinkle is in my spell check.

[@TheColdWarTV]

Now we get Moose and Squirrel

[@pfcn2]

Qapla' Well done.

[@ChessMasterNate]

I agree with most of this, just not the City on the Edge of Forever. And, even though you made a strong argument for Romulans being East Asia, it is pretty clear they are modeled after the Romans. Though, later exploration of the Romulans does depict a strong value of family…which is not inconsistent with East Asia. The writers of the series are obviously interested in ancient Rome and to a lesser extent Greece. If there is a theme to the City on the Edge of Forever, I think it is that mistakes can be very costly to rectify, but you have to be strong and do what needs to be done. You can bend that into something political, but I don't think it is inherently. Protests, is just the most obvious way this random woman make a huge difference in the future, that would be noticed by media that Spock could see. A lesser theme is that you have to be careful with very advanced alien tech. Probably not the most useful advice for us.

[@Jestersage]

Here's how I see it: TOS Romulan is merely a claim. Whether it's real or not is hard to say. However, later producers and writers gone full on Death of Author and run with it, and you ended up with the Romulans of TNG amd Picard S1. With TNG, you have the two ways of Unification, mirroring that of KMT vs CCP's desire. By Pciard S1, you have the obvious from Elnor (which is right out from a Wusha show), but most telling is how Narek claimed that it was Vulcans who split from Romulans and not the other way around - mirroring PRC and RoC

[@phil20_20]

That was no coincidence, Jim.

[@adrianjorgensen3750]

And let us not forget the best TOS episode. Trials and Tribulations.

[@ShorterThanYouKnow]

That was the DS9 episode. The TOS episode was "The Trouble With Tribbles".

[@minoru5760]

Thanks for the video from an interesting pov! Whether it's true or not, Star Trek was mentioned that it had took on Asians in a different perspective. For ex Klingon culture of honor and their Praetorian society, or aliens as economic animals seen in Ferengi, was said that had introduced from impressions of the East Asians like Chinese or Japanese

[@RoboticDragon]

Star Trek 6 is the best Star Trek movie imo, 2 is next, then first contact.

[@joluoto]

Don't give Roddenberry too much credit, TOS was a team effort with many creators involved, and Roddenberry's own episodes are actually among the bad ones. He stole all the credit though, that he did. Also he was really really creepy towards the women on the show unfortunately.

[@Perkelenaattori]

Indeed. There were a ton of excellent writers like DC Fontana & David Gerrold who have since gone to be famous writers.

[@drewstar412]

I hope I don't sound like a jerk. Can you direct me to points/accusations you have posted? I think the late great D.C. Fontana worked on ST TOS, and, it seems, never got the credit she deserved on that series. Yeah, if one is a die hard sci fi fan, then, they'd know D.C. Fontana (Which, I could be wrong on her not getting the credit she deserved on ST TOS). I didn't know that Roddenberry was really really creepy towards the women on the show.

[@Perkelenaattori]

@@drewstar412 There are several reports that came out later that Roddenberry was basically a drug addict and alcoholic for pretty much the entire 60's and 70's and he also got involved in all sorts of orgies. I honestly think he's did a great thing in creating Star Trek but as a person he was most certainly deeply flawed.

[@LoganHunter82]

@@Perkelenaattori Nobody's perfect, as they say. "He who is without a sin, may throw the first stone"

[@SiPakRubah]

​@@LoganHunter82The problem with people idolising anyone is that they thought someone has no flaws, but when they found out their flaws, they treated their idols like they're Lucifer (angel once but now seen as a devil) Happened towards too many famous peoples that has quality traits but ended up hard to find someone who we can make them as our role models just because of a dirt on them We should stop treating everyone as an angel and treated them as a human with flaws

[@Pituqat]

Now let's discuss Soviet sci-fi films like Solaris and Per Astra ad Aspera.

[@chiensyang]

Were the Soviet producers able to use the movies critique the Cold War situations like the producers of the West?

[@1joshjosh1]

I never caught the explosion on praxis was kind of like Chernobyl

[@CT-uv8os]

Actually the first interracial kiss on Star Trek was between Shatner's Kirk and Barbara Luna's Marlena in "Mirror,Mirror".

[@chainsawkillers]

I think your post is generally good. I think equating The City on the Edge of Forever to a commentary on the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War is seriously erroneous.

[@seanpollard5809]

Politics in trek was somewhat incidental to time and context of the medium. Fans would've been onside with the "politics" and it would have been preaching to the choir. George, more or less, said this himself.

[@sheldorleconcher8870]

As an old GenXer who grew up in a homogenous small Manitoba town, Star Trek was the world I wished I lived in. I couldn't understand why people didn't act the way they did on the show. I remember thinking the if Russians were like Chekov, why were they so bad? It very much influenced my world views. I'm more jaded and cynical now, but I still wish our culture resembled the Federation more closely.

[@timtyoutube87]

Lt. Styles was upset because Vulcans and Romulus looked the same as species. Much talked about, much plans but never showed the earth - Romulan war.

[@justsomeguy8849]

I wrote my Bachelors capstone on this very topic actually.

[@drewstar412]

But, But, David...before this, what about Gene Roddenberry's "The Lieutenant"? A precursor of US involvement in the Vietnam War. Did you enjoy that series? Some say, that Star Trek never would have existed, had it not been for "The Lieutenant"?

[@Game_Hero]

Disappointed that one with the timetravel to Earth in the 60s with that dude tempering with rockets is not here.

[@Mrgunsngear]

🍿

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

The original show has never been shown in USSR.

[@sethmaki1333]

The kiss between Uhura and Kirk wasn't the first interracial kiss on TV. It wasn't even the first in Star Trek. That happened in the episode Mirror Mirror.

[@marcusothman3435]

Am I the only human being that never watched a minute of either Star Trek or Star Wars?

[@A_10_PaAng_111]

Yes

[@TheColdWarTV]

Yes

[@marcusothman3435]

@@TheColdWarTV 😂😂😂

[@ocularpatdown]

I’d say so.

[@razzking]

About 28 years ago one of the first things I read on the internet was a lengthy exegesis on Start Trek and how it was a facade for a socialist / militaristic society where everyone is happy with their assigned role in life and all needs are met. Alas, it is no longer on the web.

[@grahamturner1290]

🖖

[@rhedosaurus2251]

Roddenberry was foward thinking, but he far too utopian for his own good at the end via 1980's. There is a good reason why both Nicolas Meyer and Steve Berman partially moved away from that view. Also, Roddenberry's view on religion-he claimed to be an athiest, but came more across as a deist-meant that he would have NEVER approved of Deep Space 9.

[@padawanmage71]

Iirc, Gene Roddenberry was very sick when he saw a preview of ST VI, and, unfortunately, didn’t like it. I think he clearly though that the ‘bad’ and ‘good’ guys should be clearly defined with no overlap. STVI showed the Federation (or high ranking people) was willing collaborate with not just the Klingons but also the Romulans and respite to assassination to keep the war going. Whether this was a nod to Kennedy, I don’t know.

[@aze94]

I did not know that the original series had made apologetics for the Vietnam War

[@LeCharles07]

The fact that MLKjr supported Star Trek really warms my heart.

[@SSNewberry]

This was clearly known at the time.

[@leonricci1993]

Your content is great and well written...but the audio is flat, muffled, and hard on the ears...it lacks a well rounded resonance...this should be easy to correct if you do some research...avoid listener fatigue and agony please...Thank you for listening to my CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

[@smegheadGOAT]

I grew up in South Africa 1970's 1980's and star trek was one of the programs allowed on heavily censored TV. I think Afrikaners believe American blacks were okay?

[@devfromthefuture506]

Do an video about Oppenheimer , And Soviet spying and how they think Oppenheimer was Russian lover