New series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is being review-bombed by the ‘anti-woke’ brigade
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is being review bombed. (John Medland/Paramount+)
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is being review bombed. (John Medland/Paramount+)
New Paramount+ show Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is being review-bombed, with critics describing its inclusion of diverse characters, including individuals with disabilities and people of varied races and body types, “woke”.
The most recent Star Trek series follows a crew of Starfleet cadets as they come of age and train to be officers. Created by Gaia Violo, the show is set in the 32nd century, and is a spin off of Star Trek: Discovery.
The show’s synopsis says that viewers will meet “a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism.” That optimism, however, has not been felt by everyone.
The show’s divided reception is evident in its Rotten Tomatoes score. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s critic rating is at 87% while its audience score is at 43%.
The show has been targeted for its supposed “wokeness,” seemingly because of the fact it centres women characters and people of colour in significant roles.
Bizarrely, Stephen Miller, the United States Homeland Security Advisor, weighed in on the show on Friday (16 January).
“Star Trek 2026… Beyond parody…,” wrote the right-wing account End Wokeness. Seemingly, they’re angry that three female characters: Chancellor Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), alien character Lura Thok (Gina Yashere) and academic liaison Lieutenant Rork (Tricia Black) are having a fairly routine conversation.
Miller quote-tweeted a clip of the show, writing: “Tragic. But it’s not too late for [Paramount+] to save the franchise.
“Step 1: Reconcile with [William Shatner] and give him total creative control.”
Shatner starred as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek series in 1966. Though he has been embroiled in controversies surrounding his thoughts on autism and cisgender identity, Shatner has been vocal in opposition to President Donald Trump.
‘Star Trek 2026… Beyond parody.’
That frustration with the show’s representation was shared by some viewers, most likely the ones who have also been negatively reviewing it.
“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was greenlit during the Biden Administration and looks like the last gasp of ultra-woke, hyper-PC, anti-drama, pro-LGBDQ+++ Infinity, liberal nonsense. Away with it!” one user posted.
Another reason people have dogpiled on the show is that Holly Hunter’s character Nahla Ake (Holly Hunt) wears glasses in the future, suggesting that short-sightedness and similar conditions – and disabilities – would have been “eradicated” by then. These “fans” seem to have conveniently forgotten that, for many years, fan-favourite Star Trek: The Next Generation character Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) chose to wear a visor over his eyes rather than undergoing full corrective surgery to restore his sight.
However, many have fired back at this point. Nahla is half-Lanthanite and is over 415 years old. Having lived for so many years, she’s a history buff and enjoys the nostalgia of things like physical books and glasses.
It’s also been highlighted that Kirk wore glasses, just like Nahla, only emphasising the hollowness of such a complaint.
The show has also been the target of a hateful rant from Elon Musk. The 54-year-old posted: “Turns out they banned Ozempic and LASIK in the future lol.”
‘His face still looks like a sock full of wet sand.’
LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, a type of laser eye surgery.
Lesbian actress Gina Yashere, who plays Lura Thok, shot back at Musk.
“I know I should be the the bigger person…,” Yashere wrote.
“All this from a guy who has all the money in the world, yet his face still looks like a sock full of wet sand. He looks like someone tried to make a human out of a melted candle. He looks like someone stretched the rubber skin too tight over a mannequin.
Yashere continued: “He looks like someone filled a condom full of mashed potato & cut eyes into it. All this money & influence & this is what he chooses to do with it. Pathetic.”
Yashere’s post has been liked more than 3,000 times, with hundreds of people joining the comments to add to the Musk-themed insults.
The first two episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are available to stream on Paramount+ now. New episodes drop every Thursday.
