Politics and Philosophy in Fiction

Federation President

I was watching Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country a while back and I remembered something that has always bothered me. And, no, it's not the lavender Klingon blood. I'm sure they did that to avoid an "R" rating.

I generally like Star Trek VI as it's one of the better Star Trek movies. And, it's way better than Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. But then again, so is a root canal.

In Star Trek VI, the President of the Federation (played by Kirkwood Smith) is giving a speech. And in that speech he says, "Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we can do a thing, it does not necessarily mean that we must do that thing." Which has nothing to do with the plot, story, or theme of the movie. It was, apparently just inserted by the filmmakers to make a political or philosophical point. According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the movie had five writers: Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner, and Mark Rosenthal for "story" and Nicholas Meyer (who also directed) and Denny Martin Flinn for the screenplay. Which one of them inserted that gratuitous line, I don't know.

In Jurassic Park, for example, Dr. Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum) says "[Y]our scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."

Which is a similar sentiment to what the Federation President said. But that was part of the theme of Jurassic Park. The movie was a cautionary tale about mucking around with science. Star Trek VI is not.

Now, when I write, sometimes (okay, maybe a lot), my politics and philosophy seep into the story. But I try not to make it gratuitous. At least make it part of the plot.

Have you noticed gratuitous politics inserted in movies or books? Let me know in the comments below.

The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.