I have enjoyed every minute of the Star Trek: Discovery thanks to the great story-line, multiplicity of narratives, and complex characters. I must confess that Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green) is one of the most interesting characters I have ever watched in a science fiction show. It is amazing to watch the development of the story and Michael together, and follow her battle against the urge she feels to do the right thing, and then confront the prices she must pay for it.
While there have been a lot of discussions about the character’s name, the complexity and intersectionality of Michael’s identity, personal narrative and imagery goes beyond the name.
As Michael explains,
“When I was a kid after my parents were killed, my foster mother on Vulcan used to read it to me and her son. She and I were the only Humans in the house. That’s how I learned that the real world doesn’t always adhere to logic. Sometimes, down is up. Sometimes, up is down. Sometimes, when you’re lost, you’re found.” – Michael Burnham to Sylvia Tilly, 2256 (Context Is for Kings) (Wiki Link)
Micheal Burnham (a human) is raised by a human foster mother and a Vulcan foster father. The special relationship Michael has with the Vulcan father is portrayed in the most thought-provoking way in the racial context of the Star Trek. As explained on the Star Trek Database online, Michael was also the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy, graduating at the top of her class. Unbeknownst to her, Burnham could have been appointed to the Vulcan Expeditionary Group, but the offer was declined by Sarek so that his son, Spock, could join the Group following his education. After graduation, she joined Starfleet and served seven years under Captain Philippa Georgiou on the U.S.S. Shenzhou, rising to First Officer. While exploring an unidentified object, Burnham accidentally killed a Klingon Torchbearer, igniting what would become the Klingon–Federation War. During the initial confrontation, she incapacitated Captain Georgiou in an attempt to take command of the Shenzhou and attack the Klingons before they could attack the Shenzhou. Upon the destruction of the Shenzhou and death of Captain Georgiou at the Battle of the Binary Stars, Starfleet convicted Burnham of mutiny and sentenced her to life in prison (Star Trek database, Link).
Six months after her conviction, Burnham’s prison shuttle was intercepted by the U.S.S. Discovery where Captain Lorca offered her a temporary assignment to the ship’s science division. Burnham was later appointed a science specialist on the U.S.S. Discovery bridge by Lorca (Star Trek database, Link).
In terms of race from the very beginning, Michael is not considered as pure as others because of being a human raised and trained by the Vulcans. In fact, Michael has qualities that are in between humans and Vulcans. We are reminded of this in the story by watching how the rock-solid attitude that Michael demonstrates is not as emotion-centered as humans but not as emotionless as the Vulcans – the race that are socialized not to show any emotions – and this makes the character unique. In fact, Michael breaks many times. Her emotions – whether towards her father her captain, or her lover – are always accompanied by logical reasoning (the lover), remorse (the captain), and fear of failure (the father).
Michael Burnham’s character is not only appealing because of its racial fluidity, but also because of perceptions of its gender fluidity. Michael is – I dare to say – a character written for any gender. Her roles, bodily representations, and attitudes alone and in relation to other characters all go beyond the mainstream binary representations of female or male protagonists. Michael is no damsel in distress and no fighting fuck-toy. She is strong and vulnerable, logical but emotional at the same time. There is something different about the way Michael gets introduced to the audience too, by failures and mistakes and doomed to face the sad consequences of them that is. Michael is no more predictable in fight scenes than in the moments of romance.
And then, there is also the intentional fluidity, reinforced by lingual choices. Sonequa Martin-Green explained the name choice for her character in Star Trek Discovery:
“I appreciated the sort of statement it makes all on its own. To have a woman with a male name, speaking of… how we see men and women in the future. I also just decided for my creation and for my background that I was named after my father” (Ian Sandwel 2017, Link)
Some have discussed that the fact that Michael does not become the captain of discovery somehow lessens the appeal of the first episodes’ narrative (eg. Sam Thielman 2017, Link). I cannot disagree more. The fact that Michael [who was going to become a captain if only she had not made the hard/wrong decision that ended up changing the character’s faith and dragging us all to discovery] is not a princess, a captain, or simply a member of a certain elite group makes the story much more appealing and complicated than a scenario in which Michael’s wish to become a captain of her own ship would have come true. Michael is in this way a much more ‘relatable’ character. This time the hero will have to prove herself, rather than follow the usual [and boring] narratives of have a position due to her heritage, blood, race, or physical or moral superiority.
The reactions to Star Trek: Discovery because of its choice of actors and story has been mixed. ‘As the New Yorker reported, comments such as “Where is the alpha male that has balls and doesn’t take crap from anyone?” “Is everything going to have to have females in every . . . thing?” and “Star Trek: Feminist Lesbian Edition” quickly appeared on YouTube. On Twitter, [some] fans focused on the lead characters’ race, often employing the term “white genocide”’ (Travis Andrews 2017, Link).
We know that extremist fan anger moments, mean comments, and internet trolls are here to stay. If the Star Trek: Discovery creates such reactions – no matter how mean and hateful these reactions and comments might be – it is because it is touching the right nerves. The discussions about the female lead characters and heroes in the media usually get reduced to statistical aspects and issues of visibility. While visibility and representation matter enormously, how the characters are portrayed, what they do, what narratives they are part of, how agentic they are, and generally how they ‘perform’ in the story are other aspects that must be taken in to account. Even having a female superhero does not guarantee that the character is not going to fall into the stereotypical representations (despite its positive aspects, I found the Wonder Woman movie (2017) an example of this kind of failure). I think Michael Burnham’s character has [so far] gone beyond this trap.
As Leah Thomas (2017, Link) writes, ‘Michael is curious, smart, and brave. She also makes reckless decisions and bold mistakes for noble reasons. She is the type of complex female protagonist that should be all over television. She’s way more than just a “strong woman” — she’s just as flawed as any beloved hero.’
And so are the other characters of the show. Their genders, sexualities, bodies, and performativity do not place their characters in stereotypically assigned roles. Neither does their race (read an article about this, here).
The Star Trek: Discovery continues, and I have great hopes for what comes next in the show. The conversation that the show has contributed to – whether intentionally or unintentionally – is one that needs to be taken up by more stories and storytellers, performances and performers, media and public figures, so that this sort of portrayal of diversity becomes the norm, rather than a beautiful exception. In the time of #metoo, and while we discuss the problematic aspects of similar campaigns that are not intersectional enough, Michael Burnham’s are the types of hero’s we need to see more and more.
Published by Ladan Rahbari
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