Dec 4, 2022·edited Dec 4, 2022Liked by Chris Bateman
Three points about the Ferengi as Jews:
First, my impression is that TV actors are happy to have a paying job and will go along with racism or other offensive aspects of a role if that's what the job is. A person's got to eat. So I don't think it's realistic to assume that an actor didn't find a role offensive just because they auditioned for and then accepted it.
Second: Trevor Noah recently made a joke on his show about the name change of "monkey pox" to "mpox", saying something to the effect that in trying so hard to show they're not racist, they're showing that in fact they are, because who hears the word "monkey" and immediately assumes people will associate it with ethnicities of humans? This joke immediately made me think of the Ferengi, because why should we see greedy aliens and assume that they represent Jews?
With that said: it would not surprise me if you've said something like this yourself at one point or another on your blog, but Star Trek very much is racist in its depiction of aliens, not in the sense of targeting specific real-world groups but in the sense of having and promoting the exact kind of worldview that leads to such behavior. To boil all members of particular races down to simple and often negative stereotypes is at the heart of racism, and that's precisely what Star Trek has always tended to do. All Klingons are violent. All Romulans are sneaky. All Ferengi are greedy. All Vulcans prioritize logic over emotion. These races exist only in the imagination, but it can be argued that for an individual, all other races exist only in their imagination until they have actually met them. So for the Trekkie who has never met a Jew, the Ferengi are not Jewish, but it may feel completely plausible that Jews will all be like Ferengi.
Interesting commentary, Mordechai - thanks for sharing this! Shimmerman said this about it this specific topic:
“In America, people ask ‘Do the Ferengi represent Jews?’ In England, they ask ‘Do the Ferengi represent the Irish?’ In Australia, they ask if the Ferengi represent the Chinese. The Ferengi represent the outcast… it’s the person who lives among us that we don’t fully understand.”
Fully automated engineering department? It's like going to the supermarket now, no need for hoo-mons, the robot will sort you out. Nothing ever goes wrong so should be safe in a spaceship.
In Persian and Afghan languages, ferengi means “foreigner”. Bear in mind that spelling those languages in Roman letters is often changeable.
Thanks for this - very interesting! And yes: transliterations are always interesting, and far more flexible than we sometimes expect.
You’re welcome!
Three points about the Ferengi as Jews:
First, my impression is that TV actors are happy to have a paying job and will go along with racism or other offensive aspects of a role if that's what the job is. A person's got to eat. So I don't think it's realistic to assume that an actor didn't find a role offensive just because they auditioned for and then accepted it.
Second: Trevor Noah recently made a joke on his show about the name change of "monkey pox" to "mpox", saying something to the effect that in trying so hard to show they're not racist, they're showing that in fact they are, because who hears the word "monkey" and immediately assumes people will associate it with ethnicities of humans? This joke immediately made me think of the Ferengi, because why should we see greedy aliens and assume that they represent Jews?
With that said: it would not surprise me if you've said something like this yourself at one point or another on your blog, but Star Trek very much is racist in its depiction of aliens, not in the sense of targeting specific real-world groups but in the sense of having and promoting the exact kind of worldview that leads to such behavior. To boil all members of particular races down to simple and often negative stereotypes is at the heart of racism, and that's precisely what Star Trek has always tended to do. All Klingons are violent. All Romulans are sneaky. All Ferengi are greedy. All Vulcans prioritize logic over emotion. These races exist only in the imagination, but it can be argued that for an individual, all other races exist only in their imagination until they have actually met them. So for the Trekkie who has never met a Jew, the Ferengi are not Jewish, but it may feel completely plausible that Jews will all be like Ferengi.
Interesting commentary, Mordechai - thanks for sharing this! Shimmerman said this about it this specific topic:
“In America, people ask ‘Do the Ferengi represent Jews?’ In England, they ask ‘Do the Ferengi represent the Irish?’ In Australia, they ask if the Ferengi represent the Chinese. The Ferengi represent the outcast… it’s the person who lives among us that we don’t fully understand.”
https://www.player.one/are-ferengi-jewish-star-trek-deep-space-nine-cast-quark-armin-shimerman-118548
Fully automated engineering department? It's like going to the supermarket now, no need for hoo-mons, the robot will sort you out. Nothing ever goes wrong so should be safe in a spaceship.
😂
Im loving all these write ups, so sarcastically spot on! 🤣
Cheers Nick!