cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/iasip/p/434908/blackface-klingons

  • Sunny S6E9 “Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth”
  • TNG promo (Robert O’Reilly as Gowron)
  • TOS S1E27 “Errand of Mercy” (John Colicos as Kor)
  • TNG S2E10 “The Dauphin” (Michael Dorn as Worf)
    • StitchInTime@piefed.socialEnglish
      10·
      3 days ago

      I’m with you, they’re aliens, and they can (and have) been portrayed wonderfully by folks of all ethnicities. If anything they’re emulating Vikings in modern depictions, and if that’s the case… they’re pretty metal 🤘

      • kieron115@startrek.websiteEnglish
        4·
        3 days ago

        Klingons seem to be the only alien species in star trek that has multiple races/ethnicities. Every other alien i can think of all wear identical makeup/prosthetics. Klingons get a whole range of appearanes.

        • SatyrSack@quokk.auOPEnglish
          9·
          2 days ago

          Off the top of my head: Vulcan, Andorian, Orion, Xindi

          EDIT: How could i forget these folks?

          • kieron115@startrek.websiteEnglish
            4·
            2 days ago

            Oh, yeah, I’ll give you Vulcan. Do the Xindi all count as one species? I took them to be six (well, five now) distinct species that all evolved on the same planet. As for Andorians, I guess they have the Aenar but Shran described them as a “sub-species”. Not sure if that was racism on his part or not. Orions I’ve never seen portrayed as anything but green.

            • SatyrSack@quokk.auOPEnglish
              5·
              3 days ago

              You are right, Xindi and Andorian/Aenar are actually different species, so that shouldn’t count. There were blue Orions in The Animated Series and Lower Decks

              • kieron115@startrek.websiteEnglish
                4·
                3 days ago

                Hey, that’s awesome. I never even noticed while watching LD bc they spent so much time just expanding Orion culture in general. Such a good show.

    • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      Yeah brown stage makeup does not equal blackface. Blackface is a white person playing the role of a human of another race, and perpetuating a racial stereotype. MISSA GORIGHTRY!!!

      There are some racial overtones to some of the Trek alien races though. They used to use white actors for Klingons in TOS but they would give them Fu Manchu mustaches and a yellowy orangey skin tone. They were sneaky and devious. Now they use black actors a lot for Klingons and they’re big brutes. The Romulans of TNG look more Asian now, and guess what! They’re sneaky and devious!

      None of this is blackface and a lot of it is just me doing pattern recognition on weak signals. Nine of it is over the line.