Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was not a perfect show but its treatment of imperialism, war crimes, and genocide was light-years ahead of some of the stuff coming out today (looking at you, Star Wars).
Bajor, a world struggling to recover from decades of genocidal colonial policies, is front and center
Bajoran characters, most prominently Kira, are allowed to grapple with their own trauma and their stories donāt revolve around making their oppressors, the Cardassians, feel better
Kiraās history of violent resistance against the occupation is not sugarcoated, nor does the show shy away from the fact that she hurt innocent people in the process. But neither does the story condemn her for using violence to resist genocide
Not only was Kira a terrorist, but a religiously driven one as well. Belief in the Prophets held Bajor together during the occupation, and is a major subject of exploration in the show
Despite all that Bajor suffered, Bajorans are not relics of the past or a destroyed, defeated peopleātheir culture is vital and alive, they are rebuilding against incredible odds, and are working toward Federation membership
Bajorans themselves are not some misty spiritual cardboard cutouts, either. They are complex, they lash out, they are spiritual, they are lovers, killers, reactionaries, weirdos, mystics, the full range of experiences and personalities
And then thereās Kai Winn, who is an entire book in herself. She is such a well-drawn female villain, a complicated portrayal of self-serving ambition, self-deception, and self-entitlement
Because Bajorans are given their own stories, it actually works when some Cardassiansāgenerally minor and one-off charactersāare shown to be dissenters, or themselves traumatized from the occupation
We actually see Dukat, the leader of the occupation, trying to play the misunderstood hero/redemption card only to get slapped down by the narrative time and again
Dukat isnāt a one-note villain either; he is often charming and sometimes inspiring, as when he has a stint as a resistance fighter himself against the Klingons occupying Cardassian territory
Ultimately, though, the story reveals Dukat to be a liar, a virulent racist, an abuser, and at heart an imperialist megalomaniac who almost destroyed the Alpha Quadrant with his lust for power
David Brin was right and Star Trek is better
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