derekcharles

Star Trek deals the Irish yet another dose of racism with a return to Fairhaven, a town more likely to be found in the giddy fantasies of Americans than anywhere in Ireland. As I watched the plethora of American actors prancing across the screen lilting out their best "Oirish" accents and imbuing them with all the stereotypical and patronising energy they can muster, I can't help but think that this is no different than watching a bunch of white guys in blackface doing "Code of Honor" African accents or white guys with tape on their eyes, doing their best Mr. Yunioshi impersonation. Dressing American actors up in quaint farm clothes, sticking a whiskey bottle in their hand and having them produce an accent that is designed to make the characters sound as simpleminded as possible is no different.

But as I consider the motives of the writers of this episode, I can't help but think the problem is bigger than just them. To explain, if one looks at those IMDB reviews which highlight the degrading stereotyping of this episode, one's eye is drawn to the number of dislikes these reviews tend to garner--and there it is! The Trek writers fell back into the arms of their ignorant tropes not simply because their embrace felt so good but because it felt and continues to feel good to their viewers. At least a sizable contingent of their reviewers. Viewers who still *want* the fake accents. Viewers who still *want* to see the Irish portrayed as alcoholics begging for drink money. Viewers who still *want* to see us dancing a jig like a leprechaun (a US born stereotype). Viewers who still *want* to hear us lilting "Top of the morning to ya!" (an exclusively US phrase) or talking about lucky charms (an exclusively US cereal). Viewers who still *want* to see us fighting like lower primates.

And that's the sad truth. These viewers are never happier than when their reductive views of the world are seemingly confirmed. Perhaps it's the need for a feeling of superiority. "Look at how ridiculously unsophisticated they are, let's laugh at how people could be like that." It doesn't matter that the affectations aren't even remotely accurate. The point is that it makes certain people feel good to depict others as being lesser than them. Whatever the reason, if the dislikes which reviews such as this one garner are anything to go by, it seems that Irish people are going to have to live with these kind of depictions for some time to come.

The Voyager crew invent an "Irish" holodeck town replete with every stereotype Hollywood has ever invented about us. As an Irishman, I've always felt that these kind of tropes show up the people who buy into them more than they do the Irish they're insulting but there's something about this episode that rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps, it's that Star Trek was always supposed to be forward looking. Their characters were supposed to be immune to the types of stereotypical thinking that morphs too easily from patronising to outright racism. That a bunch of 24th century Federation citizens could be so clueless and pathetically limited in their own understanding of an entire nation of people just feels wrong. Of course, it was written by 20th century Americans and so one could assume its showing nothing more than what we already knew-that US writers of the 1990's were as clueless about real Irish culture as they were in the 30's and 40's. However, there are enough glowing reviews of this episode by Americans writing in the 2020's to conclude that too many of them still revel in such patronising reductions of whole nationalities. "Make him more curious about the world around him..." Janeway commands when changing the Michael Sullivan character because well...all Irish people must be parochial-and even with all her sophistication upgrades, he's still not averse to the odd bar brawl. The irony is-and I say this as an Irishman who has been to the US dozens of times-that by and large, Americans tend to be more parochial than Irish people. As a small country, looking outside is almost our default position. It's not for nothing we punch above our weight in producing writers, singers, and other artists. But alas, some people are never happier than when their ignorant stereotypes are being indulged an erroneously confirmed.