William Shatner Scolds EU Over Plan To Censor Gendered Language In Iconic Star Trek Intro

[Ubiquitous]

Actor William Shatner scolded members of parliament in the European Union
over reports that they planned to address the "gendered language" in the
iconic introduction to his science fiction fan-favorite television series:
"Star Trek."

GB News reported on the initiative, which was apparently inspired by a 61-
page document -- titled "Toolkit on Gender-sensitive Communication" -- which
was published by the European Institute for Gender Equality.

In addition to advising against the use of phrases like "no-man's land" --
suggesting "unclaimed territory" as an alternative -- the document addressed
the problematic goals of the Galactic Federation, namely "to boldly go where
no man has gone before."

According to the group's findings, statements such as that one created an
environment where "women may be subject to invisibility or omission."

Shatner, who delivered the line as part of the introduction of each "Star
Trek" episode, was not convinced.

"Presentism at work yet again," Shatner began by registering his complaint
about the attempt to apply today's values to a show that was created in a
very different time and culture.

"Why start at Trek?" the actor asked in his X post, suggesting that there
were certainly more important historically significant documents that should
be addressed first.

"Isn't it better to start at the beginning and redo foundation material such
as the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of Shakespeare before worrying
about a silly TV show opening that reflects social commentary of the time?"
he asked. "If people are offended by 6 seconds of dialogue recorded in 1966
without a modicum of understanding of the social issues at the time there's
bigger issues that they need to deal with first -- like educating
themselves."

Presentism at work yet again. Why start at Trek? ??Isn't it better
to start at the beginning and redo foundation material such as the
Magna Carta, religious writings, works of Shakespeare before worrying
about a silly TV show opening that reflects social commentary of
the... pic.twitter.com/P0okn5rYca

-- William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 29, 2024

One person responded to Shatner by asking is the EU planned to ban the words
of American astronaut Neil Armstrong next.

"Neil Armstrong must be spinning in his grave ... 'One small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.' Will he be canceled for leaving out an 'a'? Is
the word 'mankind' misogynous? We live in foolish times."

Neil Armstrong must be spinning in his grave..."One small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind".

Will he be canceled for leaving out an "a"? Is the word "mankind"
misogynous? We live in foolish times.

-- Ry Brooks (@RyBrooks) January 29, 2024

--
Let's go Brandon!

[Rhino]

While Shatner is absolutely right in the larger sense, he seems to have
forgotten that as long ago as TNG, that famous intro was changed to
"where no ONE has gone before". I assume that was because "activists"
of one kind or another were already upset about the use of "man".

All of these "activists" seem to have forgotten - or more likely
ignored - the fact that "Man" has long been understood to include BOTH
sexes and does NOT mean exclusively male.


--
Rhino

[Ubiquitous]

>While Shatner is absolutely right in the larger sense, he seems to have
>forgotten that as long ago as TNG, that famous intro was changed to
>"where no ONE has gone before". I assume that was because "activists"
>of one kind or another were already upset about the use of "man".
>
>All of these "activists" seem to have forgotten - or more likely
>ignored - the fact that "Man" has long been understood to include BOTH
>sexes and does NOT mean exclusively male.

I blame our degraded education system.