American Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Culture - Research Paper ExampleThey also look forward to a utopian future, where this model is applied to the substantial universe, and American culture and values are spread out to other species by a combination of force and persuasion. Star Trek uniquely represents the achievements, and the flaws, of American society in the second half of the twentieth coke. Scholars have noted how important the programs have been, not just in terms of entertainment history, that also in wider terms Star Trek holds a peculiarly exalted place in American culture, (Wagner and Lundeen, 1998). These authors argue that the reason for the programs success and cult status is that Star Trek serves as a secular American mythology (Wagner and Lundeen, 1998) This line of reasoning suggests that after the medieval and renaissance periods when piety guided major civilizations, the Enlightenment brought a new way of seeing the world, in which reason and skill replace religion as an explanation for the world. In Star Trek, Spock and the Vulcans portray this faith in pure reason, while Kirk, Scotty and McCoy portray a to a greater extent ambivalent acceptance of this dogma, and a firm belief in emotions such as friendship, loyalty, patriotism and of course ambition. Some of the older programs display rather sexist and racist views, however, which reflects the period in which they were made. The Star Trek series, and the films as well, still have cult status with older people in the United States who have followed them from the very beginning. Many younger viewers identify more with the higher technology of later science fiction programs like Star Wars and regard Star Trek as a somewhat more historic series, but still appreciate its humor, the long running debates and jokes between the characters, and the deep mythical significance of space exploration which is still today a extreme goal for modern humans. As the series progressed through the seventies and eighties it adapted to take account of more modern ideas such as womens lib with the female captain Janeway, multiculturalism with the space station of Deep Space Nine. Many a child in America and across the world was attracted to a locomote in science through watching this series on television. Evidence for the permanent influence of Star Trek on real world science can be found in a news bulletin from March 7th, 2011 which revealed that William Shatner, the actor who played the original Captain of the starship Enterprise, recorded a subject matter based on the opening credits of the television program which was then transmitted to the real astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery onwards they departed from the international space station to make the vessels final flight. The text was accompanied by the television series backing medicine and stated These have been the voyages of the space shuttle Discovery. Her 30-year mission to seek out new science, to build new outposts, to bring nations togeth er on the final frontier, to boldly go and do what no spacecraft has done before. (Williams, 2011) The use of the past tense along with a very small 30-year time span makes the message rather nostalgic, as if to say the American mythology of pioneering exploration to find new life and new civilisations is now over. The conquering imperialism of mid and late twentieth century