7 things nobody wants to admit about Star Trek

3. Monolithic alien races

The fact that the earlier Star Trek installments portray alien races as monolithic societies is a big criticism of the franchise. Other races and their people are often shown as having a single set of characteristics or beliefs -the logical Vulcans, the warrior-like Klingons, or the money-crazy Ferengi. This does allow the story to continue while the viewer immediately understands the “nature” of these aliens, but all it boils down to is that it’s an oversimplification, bordering on stereotype. While it may serve its storytelling purpose, it unfortunately misses an opportunity to explore the kind of diversity and social complexity we find in human societies.

However, recent installments have taken steps to address this issue, adding layers to the primary traits initially ascribed to these species. For example, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine gave us a really nice look at the Ferengi through characters like Quark and his family, and having them display a range of motivations and ethical considerations even though their society does mainly focus on profit.

Star Trek: Enterprise also explored Vulcan culture in more depth, showing that not all Vulcans are as logical as Spock and that their society does have its own conflicts and divisions among the civilization. This only enhances and enriches the franchise by allowing for more interesting interactions between characters of different backgrounds, and it brings Star Trek closer to its desire to celebrate diversity.