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Why do they turn Federation into a dystopia? (feddit.org)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by Chemo@feddit.org to c/startrek@startrek.website

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I just don't get it. What is the freaking problem of those directors, trying to rewrite federation into some kind of dystopian tech fascism?

I was annoyed by the first Star Trek movie by JJ Abrams, with those police cops. I was alienated by those anti-android resentments in Picard. I stopped watching Discovery after the first episode, because the main protagonist was sent to some kind of labor prison for disobedience, where prisoners regularly die. I didn't think it could get any worse but just watching the first 10 minutes of Starfleet Academy makes me want to bury the whole franchise [edit: and stopped watching]. Some drumhead court-martial, lifelong prison sentence, violently separating a mother from her child and some goons beating up a prisoner. How in the hell is this the same federation of TNG, Voyager and DS9?

Star Trek is supposed to be the ONE fiction with a positive, utopian view on mankind and the future. I totally get the attraction of dystopian settings but for that I can read some Warhammer 40k novels. This really makes me furious.

Fortunately there is still Strange New Worlds.

Please spoiler me, when this bullshit in Starfleet Academy gets turned around in some twist, because otherwise I will just ignore the show.

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[-] Skunk@jlai.lu 17 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Tbh Starfleet Academy makes a U turn on that decision the minute after, explaining that because of the war/burn they were jerks but they regret it and try to make amends bla bla bla.

Academy gave me this utopia feeling, but in 2026 it made me more depressed than hopeful as I finally realized that I will never find a Starfleet Academy on our world, aka a bunch of peoples working together to make humanity better whatever if their skin is pink or they believe in the giant flying spaghetti monster.

[-] Chemo@feddit.org 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Thank you. That gives me hope I can enjoy the show. But I still don't get the necessity to turn the federation into a dystopian shithole even for a short time. Also, this seems to me just like the Picard spin all over again. Some bad event suddenly turns the Federation into a malicious society and now they have to amend...

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this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026

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