In the Lucas movies, droids are pretty explicitly portrayed as chattel slaves. They are auctioned off, have separate inferior quarters (Jabba’s droid quarters are particularly notable), and are basically treated as beings without agency despite definitely having agency. There’s even an explicit visual analogy - Anakin and Shmi have collars that control them and could kill them, and the droids also have (spaceships shaped like) collars that control them and can kill them.
SNW and Prodigy both fit the bill, in spite of your vague objection to the latter. Add Lower Decks and the better seasons of DIS (2, 4, 5) when the kids are a bit older.
The reason he asked about SNW is because SNW might actually not have the problems you’re describing. You mentioned two tropes of modern Trek - the galactic danger and Section 31 - but SNW doesn’t use those tropes. Did you misread his question?
As for the advancement of society (optimism vs aspiration) - TOS shows us a Federation that has moved beyond money and greed, sure. But war is still possible; Errand of Mercy established that there had recently been a war with the Klingons, decades before DIS and SNW portrayed it. The death penalty is still a possible punishment for Federation officers (maybe citizens too?) in The Menagerie. McCoy makes bigoted comments toward his ship’s first officer regularly. If anything, SNW shows a more advanced society than TOS did. (I can’t imagine SNW Pike expressing TOS Pike’s opinion about women on the bridge!) Surely it makes sense that SNW’s society should resemble TOS’s more than TNG’s.
But the bigger sense of advancement across the entire franchise is still here too. A key point in SNW S1E1 is that society has moved beyond partisan struggles and infighting - the ability to explore space and live in the stars is tied directly to this sense of social harmony which we still lack. This was also true in previous eras of Trek, and is exactly why warp travel is the criteria to be contacted by the Federation. SNW shows that these writers get it, and continue to get it.
He asked you about SNW, and you forgot to talk about SNW.
Of the previous Trek movies, we have:
A deliberately ponderous sci-fi epic
A submarine story fueled by revenge
A crew who risks everything to save one friend
A reunion special with a “save the whales” message front and center
An ego project with ambition
A political/spy thriller
A crossover for the fans
A zombie movie
A long episode of TNG
The second movie again but worse
A reboot with plot holes
A misunderstood action flick
A Fast & Furious movie
So how is this “not Trek” while all of those are Trek?
It can’t be explained directly, by itself. They’re part of a bigger picture.
Straight men are attracted to women on the whole - legs, arms, waist, face, chest, back, it’s all good. Whatever force it is that makes us attracted to women, it’s not something that we chose or decided. We just do.
Since boobs are a sign of femininity, they’re attractive to us on exactly that level! They fit into our idea of what women look like.
I like life imprisonment for heinous people specifically because it seems like the less merciful option. Look at how many mass shooters and terrorists also take their own lives during the act - suicide is one of their objectives. If we can capture them alive and make them live in a small room, eating unexciting food and sleeping on thin mattresses for decades still to come - that’s the ultimate rebuke to their ideologies of death. Execution, on the other hand, is giving them what they seek.
It’s amazing. I am a Japanese learner, and being able to find Japanese words quickly - with English definitions and explanations - is very useful.
I decided to try to stop swearing in college, to see if it would improve my attitude - and to see if anyone would notice.
Both turned out to be true. People found me pleasant to work with and hang around. I recommend it, personally!
I block meme communities and AI art. I’ll unblock AI art once the machines figure out how fingers work. I don’t block porn except when it’s outside of my interests (I’m not into men or furries, for example).
You might consider unblocking the meta communities - it can sometimes be illuminating to see how other places are run, and give you ideas to improve your own instance.
We don’t have downvotes on my instance, and it’s an amazing difference. I recommend it!
I generally just upvote everything I like, no real thought process involved.
I’ve been avoiding Amazon since 2010. No regrets. They crave your time, money, and attention, and they deserve none of those. (Same with Meta.)
As someone who routinely watches YT through Invidious and NewPipe, I haven’t changed my habits.
The Electoral College.
Prodigy does start a bit weak, much like TNG and Lower Decks did. The writers find their groove pretty quickly though, and the rest of the series is great!