Okay, let me just come out and say it. Having Capitan Lorca hint at Asian heritage because he loves fortune cookies, and the name Una Chin-Reilly looks like some Chinese girl married an English gentleman and then went to some remote galaxy…

But honestly, this is just an yellow face on white actor, and we should say it as it is.

I personally have zero zeal to exfoliate these matters due to some present physical ailments. But I do think of the trouble Asian actors… nay, Chinese-American actors and actresses had in America… Once eminent Chinese movie star Zhangziyi once said something to the effect that Chinese female actresses can only get roles for “whores and prostitutes…” echoing centuries of “exotic play thing” stereo type for all Asian women. This, really, sucks!

Anyways, it needs to be said because there’s still something really kinky about employing a Chinese women. Like, I don’t know how showbiz works, with revelation of decades of Weinstein, Spacey, I mean even Hanks… the all time wholesome guy that may have been role model to many young kids growing up, myself not completely excluded..

Would it be fair to say that the world has been merciful to Chinese women that they’re not lured and welcomed into this money and fame making machine? Lest they have to regularly perform these degrading sexual acts that they know their family, friends, countryman an ancestors would not tolerate. Would it be unreasonable to express gratitude to the world that these women were not entrenched in backstabbing business practices of this world? That they’re remain the wholesome persons that we think of?

Many will disagree with me. There might even be a (distinctively derogatory) name for the condition that brings about these thoughts in Chinese, and in English…

There’s yellow face in Trek. But it’s okay. I think the people involved are already working extra hard to enhance the world-view of its fans, broadening their ideal works to include Asian people. The fact this fictional future now seem to have Asian descendants of higher proportion, more close to present day proportion than there ever have been in this franchise, is something that we Asian Americans must celebrate.

That the producers and CBS/Paramount have to work in the early 21st century America does not in anyway diminish the significance in demographic shift, even if only in name, is very very heart warming. I never could have imagined today. An Asian Chief petty officer—one of O’Brien caliber, Another Asian face at Ops named Mitchell, a Muslim looking head of section 31, Capital Sulu,… every little bit is worth celebration. Our lives are wonderful. We live in a most marvelous century, best there have ever been!

But yes, there’re some very futuristic yellow faces here as well.

Btw, has anyone noticed that the story writing on this show is quite a different genre than Discovery and Picard? It’s back to more being about the collective known as the Federation discovering and experiencing as it’s individual constituents discover and experience. This vital element of Trek, where the growth of our volkseist hums along with the growth of individual. When Capital Pike grimaces and expresses disgust and intolerance at the child sacrifice in S1E6, it mirrors not only the audience’s feelings but also the feeling of Federation. I don’t see a doomed human fighting to lessen a child’s survival, I see myself and the future humanity fighting for him. This complex projection of tiny flickering pixels onto our psyches.

That is not to say the other shows lack German descriptions. Certainly Picard aims at the zeitgeist at its time of production, and Discovery attempts to attain weltgeist of our galaxy… and all in good fun. Picard calls the Jurati the “Doctor!”, like you know, in the British fantasy Dr. Who where everyone calls the protagonist the doctor. And of course Dr Who series 13 E5-6 just had to use a Trekkie Vulcan long-life-and-prosperity gesture for opening Sontaran ship doors. Great! Which btw, honestly, despite the words coming out of the mouths of the characters, I feel that Dr. Who is more of the Horror Fantasy genre, having poltergeists… I mean what’s with English creative people? Got too much fog? Harry Potter was so horrifying to read, for Ajish’s sake, is this really children’s literature? What in the name of all that’s good and wholesome are they smoking from their smog? Why they make evil Asure so absurdly revolting in a pretty way? That this happens in the founding place of the industrial revolution begs the thoughts that these must be result of multi-generational smog inhalation, exotic heavy metal poisoning and alien manipulation amongst many others. But I digress…