Barbie has been a summer juggernaut as a cinematic feature despite outrage from the right in the United States. Dean Obeidallah argues that conservative boycotts and backlash only have traction in specific niches where their adherents are the majority of the market.
One wonders if Paramount will take note as they strategically rebrand their streaming offerings. Unfortunately, it seems they’ve been headed in the other direction.
While Discovery led the way in representation across many diverse groups, some of us have been concerned that Picard season three pulled back to more traditional gender roles and an emphasis on white cis-male heroes. SNW has a large female main cast, but the OG female command officer Number One doesn’t seem to be getting much opportunity to show heroic leadership.
Thought this conversation might be less fraught over here at Quark’s.
Star Trek has been super progressive through this era - Discovery, Lower Decks and Prodigy.
It’s the cancellation of Discovery and Prodigy that’s giving people pause along with Picard season three’s in repentant targeting of the vocally unhappy mostly male YouTuber old fans.
The concern that I seem to be seeing is around whether the announced a corporate shift in strategy at Paramount to target the middle American popular market means less representation and less progressive Star Trek.
The franchise is one of Paramount’s biggest. With Paramount’s its stated streaming strategy reliant on ‘ Franchises, Familiar Faces and Fandoms, how could there not be pressure on Kurtzman to shift the shows towards serving that middle popular demographic.
Put that in the context of an active attempt to sell off BET, pulling back on the MTV brand, and one can appreciate why fans in diverse countries would be uneasy.