‘Voyager’ Co-stars Vaporize Notion that Star Trek Isn’t Political
“Space Cadets for Harris” leaned heavily into our favorite franchise
Actor Robert Picardo gently — but firmly — has put the notion that Star Trek shouldn’t be political on the “make it go away” setting.
Picardo joined other Star Trek: Voyager alumni earlier this week on one of a series of targeted — and highly popular — Zoom calls which Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov Tim Walz, have been using to rally support for their burgeoning campaign for the White House.
Playfully dubbed “Space Cadets for Harris,” the event clearly leaned into its connections with Star Trek, given the tagline: “To boldly go where no woman has gone before,” to acknowledge that Harris would be the first woman elected president of the United States.
Picardo, who plays the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) through Voyager and subsequent iterations of the franchise, removed doubt that Star Trek can be — and is — a political entity.
“I’m probably speaking for my other Star Trek colleagues when I say that we are often admonished in social media not to get involved in politics, as if actors are merely supposed to entertain people — that we are not individuals in our own right, that we shouldn’t have the rights of other citizens to express political opinions,” he said. “Rather than fear hurting people’s feelings — and maybe Star Trek fans, and may miss the core message of Star Trek — I’m going to proceed. Because what is the core message of Star Trek, besides optimism for the future?
“It’s imagining a future in which science and technology can empower and enable humanity, without destroying it,” Picardo added. “A future in which each individual is respected for the content of their character, not for the color of their skin. And it’s a future in which learning and understanding and the pursuit of science is a reason, unto itself, for exploration.
“These are all core values of Star Trek. So if you are a Star Trek fan, I suggest that you are not only an optimist by nature, but that you love science,” he said. “We cannot afford to go back to another administration where science is under attack.”
Picardo recalled his experience in 2017, in which he stood outside in the rain for two hours in Washington DC for the March for Science.
“Science was under attack, and could be under attack again, and science is so important. It not only enriches our lives, it’s the key to a better future. So we need candidates like Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who respect science [and] support science, and understand that is a key to a better future.”
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“Space Cadets for Harris” brought the luminaries from Star Trek together with a number of real-life “space cadets,” such as astronauts, former NASA administrators, and others.
But the pervasiveness of Star Trek during the event continued to be evident.
Emcee John Grunsfeld, former NASA astronaut and one-time NASA chief scientist, quipped that Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans want “women in this country to become Borg drones,” referring to their policies against reproductive rights and healthcare.
When he introduced Picardo’s Voyager co-star Jeri Ryan, who portrayed the former Borg known as Seven of Nine, Grunsfeld quipped, “Our next guest knows a little about that.”
“This — as everyone has mentioned — election is literally life-and-death,” she said. “I wish it weren’t, but it is: The life of our planet, the life of women who are literally bleeding out in back rooms and their cars and waiting rooms because they can’t get healthcare — not to mention the life of our democracy in our country.”
It’s important for everyone — including Star Trek celebrities like her — to be involved, even if that’s controversial, Ryan said.
“Too many of us, for too long, have been willing to take the easy route, and we’ll post and we’ll say, ‘Yay!’ and we’ll vote. But we don’t really want to get our hands dirty and have to do the nasty stuff and get people mad at us,” she said. “And this is too important. It’s time that we have to speak out, and we have to get active and we have to get involved.”
Despite the love of Star Trek demonstrated by many of the event participants, Ryan put the spotlight back on the real-life heroes.
“It’s an honor to be on this with so many actual space people. We pretend, but you guys actually do it!”
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