OVEG: Tattoo

"The over-romanticizing and simplification of Native existence were the two greatest assaults on Native existence and continue to be." -Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie

Forward: I've been dreading this episode, to tell you the truth, which is probably an odd thing to say given what we've seen so far. I would take a dozen Twisteds, two dozen Parallaxes, and even several Thresholds rather than do this episode even once. Why, you may ask? Because I have an opinion on this episode that is very far out of the norm; coming out against this episode is like being opposed to orgasms. But I can't help it, I can't lie to you about this and be in any way convincing.

I look at this episode the way I do the Silver Surfer, in that I feel like the only sane person in a universe of crazy people. Why am I the only one that thinks it's ridiculous that one of the most powerful and angst-ridden heroes of the Marvel Universe flies around on a surfboard? Likewise I must ask why I'm the only one to look at this episode as I do?

I remember one particular episode of Deep Space Nine where Captain Sisko began having these strange visions on a trip to the Gamma Quadrant. He felt this strange pulling upon his huge black penis, pointing the way to places where he had to go. Over the course of his journey he recalled conversations with his father back in New Orleans about his legacy and the great responsibility of the huge black penis. It was a symbol of his people and their strength. And on his journey he saw a huge phallic symbol carved from ebony and then he was confronted by an alien species. The aliens told him of the inheritence they'd bestowed. You see, they traveled to Africa millennia ago and confronted the backwards locals there, but were nevertheless impressed by their sexual prowess. Thus they bestowed upon them the gift of the huge black penis, that the locals might use it to raise up mankind. The aliens left and returned later to discover that their gift had also encouraged further development of the locals, that they now had rhythm and excelled at basketball. But upon one of their later returns they'd found that those who did not possess huge penises had come and enslaved them, and the aliens left for good. And Sisko, upon hearing this, finally truly understood his place with his people and the gift that was the huge black penis.

Offended yet?

I tell that story to make a point, because believe it or not the actual episode is even worse than this. At least a huge penis could be a genetic factor; what this episode does is say that aliens genetically modified American Indians to act the way they do. It doesn't matter how you dress that up, how well you put the bits together, because at its center it's still built around a concept that is frankly racist and offensive. And I don't understand why I seem to be the only one to have that feeling (given the other reviews on the Internet I've seen for this episode). I'm not politically correct at all, but this truly bothers me. It's a very curious feeling, that; it makes me wonder if I'm the one who's wrong, seeing things that aren't there. So I checked out bluecorncomics.com, which had an essay on Chakotay that helped put my mind at ease:

For the purposes of this study, the worst aspect of the Chakotay character is that it gives no insight into either Native peoples in general or Native veterans in particular, being content to spread New Age misconceptions instead. Even Chakotay's name is a clear signal to New Age followers. In the fictional Anurabi dialect, his name translates as Earth Walking Man or "Man Who Walks the Earth But Only Sees the Sky," every bit as pretentious as most other New Age "Indian names." In a further instance of New Age homogenizing of all Native cultures into one "generic Indian" framework, STV's writers openly modeled the Anurabi on a composite of Aztec, Mayan, Mixtec, and even Inca cultures. The writers further relied upon a number of New Age sites for information, and crosslink to them.

For all of their pretensions to having "enlightened" views of Natives, STV falls back on old stereotypes. Chakotay's people are shown as trapped or deliberately choosing to live in the past, even in the Twenty-Fourth Century. Indeed, Chakotay's choice to join Star Fleet is scripted as a complete rejection of his Native culture, rather than as adaptation. Naturally, STV's writers could not show successful Native adaptation to the military.

This was from Dr. Al Carrol, and in reading through some of his email conversations with a die-hard Beltran fan, I feel confident that I'm not some white weenie getting worked up over nothing. "I am extremely heartened by the fact that so many fans of all ethnic backgrounds caught on to how phony and stereotypical the character of Chakotay and Beltran's portrayal are."

Oh, and one last bit from the author of the website talking to someone that I absolutely adore: "No one is saying that Voyager is supposed to be a factual account of Indians. What we're saying is that its fictional account of Indians is stereotypical. We understand the difference between fact and fiction. Do you understand the difference between authentic and inauthentic fiction?" I love that quote because it's very much a part of what OVEG is in a different way, more often looking at science or just basic logic. "Get a life, it's just a show" is often trotted out by the intellectually lazy; just because it's fiction doesn't mean it gets a pass. Whether it's scientific nonsense or cultural nonsense, it's still nonsense. If there is a single specific aspect of Voyager that explains my contempt for it, it's that it wants to be things without any willingness to make any kind of effort to actually become them. Star Trek wants to be considered scientific, but it's all style and nothing else. Likewise, Star Trek wants to be multicultural, but it's all New Age stereotypes without substance. Technobabble and homogenized crap are the signs of their laziness, and that's why this show gets the mockery I eagerly bestow upon it.

Description: We open with Voyager in the quarry substituting for an alien planet. Torres is mumbling a little here, but it sounds like the ore that they're searching for here is contaminated by Vaseline, a common geological misfortune. Before we can get too into the technobabble Chakotay is called over by Tuvok to see circular markings common to Chakotay's people... prompting a flashback. Young Chakotay (15, as we'll find out) is in the Amazon with his father, searching for anyone left of their people. They find the same symbol, and Papa Chakotay explains that it's a healing symbol to apologize to the land for desecrating it by chopping down a tree for firewood. The people they're searching for are Rubber Tree People just like Chakotay (apparently the back story info on him being Mayan was changed since it was decided to turn his tribe into a blend of New Age gobbledygook and cherry-picked bits of cultures covering two different continents). In the twenty-fourth century these people still live in the jungle no differently than they used to. It makes me wonder if there are still Amish in America, with their horses and buggies.

Anyway, Papa Chakotay goes on about honoring the Sky Spirits that led them to this sacred land. Young Chakotay responds with derision to this, but back in the present day Chakotay concludes that the symbol is a healing one by whoever made the campfire. We later see him explaining this to Janeway, of how his father took them on a quest from their colony to Central America "looking for the descendents of the ancient Rubber People." (The Trojans?) I don't know if it's the script or if Beltran is screwing up, but sometimes they're the Rubber Tree People (which seems an okay name) and sometimes they're the Rubber People, which sounds like a tribe that look like the Michelin Man ("My name is Hiawatha Goodyear"). * Chakotay tells the myth of the Sky Spirits who created the first Rubber People in their own image and led them to a sacred land to live for all eternity. Janeway says that he obviously doesn't put a lot of faith in this story, to which Chakotay asks how much faith she puts in Adam and Eve? This would be a valid point if Janeway had ever even once shown signs of being either a Christian or a Jew. She could never subscribe to one of those beliefs because of her own sort of monotheism: she knows there's a God, and it's her. The problem is that Chakotay does ascribe to the spiritual beliefs of the tribe of the prophylactic, so this oh so clever reversal is nothing of the kind.

Janeway says that there's a warp signature leading away from here that they could use to follow whoever was there. They show up over a green planet and detect no life signs, but there's something that's cloaking them. They send out continuous hails (I never understood that; it always seemed like the interstellar equivalent of repeatedly tapping someone rapidly on the shoulder saying "How ya doin', how ya doin', how ya doin'... Can you hear me now? Good!" Anyway, Torres detects large deposits of the mineral they need, apparently without the Vaseline this time. Janeway sends Chakotay down with instructions not to disturb the locals if they don't want them there, but to try and make contact if possible. However, that may be impossible; it turns out that every time they try to use the transporters, an electrical storm occurs in that spot to prevent them beaming down.

They take a shuttle in and a storm forms around the shuttle during its descent, which they speculate may be caused by their own shuttle. Heh, that's the beauty of scientific ignorance, in that you can undermine your own point without knowing it. Storms possess colossal amounts of energy; you only have to look at the effects even for us in the twenty-first century to see this borne out. It's one of the ways nature still kicks our ass; when it's between the weather and us, it's us that has to get out of the way. So what makes this scene so ironic is that there's the constant need to say that man needs to respect nature, and here we see zero respect for the power nature has at its disposal.

Anyway, back to the flashback, where the Chakotay family discuss the storm they're sitting in in the Amazon rain forest. Papa Chakotay finally says that since the day he was born he knew Young Chakotay was chosen to be a contrary. Chakotay says that he chooses his own path; and Papa Chakotay laments that without spirits to guide him Chakotay will likely lose his way. I've seen this scene plenty of times in other works... this is the first time when we're supposed to be on the side of the traditionalistic religious zealot. I guess only white people should question the past and be individuals in Hollywood's view of the world. Anyway, we cut back to the present, and during the descent Chakotay sees flashes of a face in the clouds.

Now's probably the time to get into plot B of this episode. Earlier Ens. Wildman showed up complaining about pain in her lower back that went down her legs. The Doctor explained that it was because of the position of the baby, and that if it didn't get better they should do something about it, but otherwise there's no reason not to continue doing her job. Kes is bothered by his lack of sympathy, saying that because he's a program he doesn't understand how disease and pain affects people. That's what prompts this scene; the Doctor has given himself a simulated flu to show everyone how they should suck it up when they're sick. I'm sure you can guess what kind of komedy will result from this.

Back on the planet, Chakotay has found a flower that also appears in the rain forest on Earth. The next thing ya know, there's a hawk cirling overhead. Oh God. What's worse is that this prompts another flashback, in which Papa Chakotay is asking his son what the hawk is saying to him. "He says you are home!" the big doofus announces. Chakotay replies by announcing that he's leaving the tribe. He says that Captain Sulu would sponsor him at Starfleet Academy. Papa Chakotay says that his son never fully embraced the ways of the tribe and was always curious about other cultures, and that was why he permitted Chakotay to read about them. But actually leaving the tribe is going too far, by the Sacred Sky Spirits! Chakotay says that their tribe lives in the past, to which his father retorts that that past is a part of him. Chakotay asks why their tribe can't accept living in the present like other tribes, prompting Papa Chakotay to storm off. "It's not the place of a fifteen year old boy to question the choices of his tribe," he says with scorn. Again, this is the only time we ever see that the isolationist zealot is in the right, that all good Indian boys shouldn't ask questions and just blindly follow their elders. As if this scene couldn't get any more offensive, he tells Chakotay that because of that past that he can never become a part of life outside the tribe, and that if he rejects the ways of his people he'll be trapped between worlds. Scenes like this make me wonder how all the other reviews can be so positive. How can anyone watch this scene where a father tells his son that his genes prevent him from ever being a part of anyone else's culture and not see this as racist?

Back in the present, Neelix says that he's found something, but before he can say what, the hawk attacks him and nearly takes his eye out. They beam him up to Voyager (you can beam up apparently without offending the Sky Spirits), but not before Chakotay has another flash of that strange face when the hawk approaches him. I can't help but wonder what the point of this attack was... are the aliens here using the hawk to try to scare them off, or is it one of those cases of the bird being super-intelligent and knowing those it must keep away. Either way, this whole thing just keeps getting more and more ridiculous. After that they find a structure similar to the ones the Rubber People had back in Central America... ooooOOOoooo.

After a little while, Chakotay tells Torres and Tuvok to disarm. Tuvok protests that regulations require they remain armed for safety sake until contact is established, but Chakotay overrules him. "The logical course isn't always the right one," Chakotay says, apparently thinking that random acts are preferable. Seriously though, this is a really bad call on Chakotay's part. Essentially, he has a theory that these aliens are in some way connected with his own people, and thus aren't going to be hostile, and he's decided to needlessly gamble the lives of those under his command to test it. If he thinks it's the only way to contact the aliens, then he should send his people back to the ship so that if he's wrong he's not risking their lives. But of course he's got flashbacks, so he must be in the right.

Ah, and they flashback, showing Papa Chakotay and company disarming themselves. "Their history... our history... is full of conquerors who brought slavery and disease and death." The irony of this remark (given the back stage material) is that the very Mayans that Chakotay was supposed to be a part of had slavery as a part of their everyday life and performed human sacrifice, often on children. This in no way mitigates the evils performed by conquistadors, but it dispels this insistence that before the sixteenth century the American continents were a utopian eden of tree-dwellers living in villages of less than a hundred people, when the truth was they were human beings, capable of great feats in science, mathematics, architecture, administration, and acting like sons of bitches to each other, just like every other human civilization on Earth. I'm reminded of a comment by Seventy-One Hour Ahmed in Terry Pratchett's Jingo, "Be generous, Sir Samuel. Truly treat all men equally. Allow Klatchians the right to be scheming bastards, hmm?" Hollywood once again takes a very diverse and complex culture and turn them into oversized children with stone age technology.

What follows, incidentally, is quite a bit of people speaking non-English without subtitles; still, I suppose I should be greatful that I don't have to actually know what kind of bullshit is being spouted; it couldn't possibly make it any better. Then again, maybe they're just saying, "I can't believe anyone's buying this bullshit. Did you see the producer for this show? What a dickhead." Anyway, the Rubber People show up and surround them. One of the people in Papa Chakotay's group makes a run for the weapons, but one of the locals throws a spear through the woods so that it comes exactly halfway between the man's outstretched hand and the pile of weapons, because you know they just have to be that good a shot that there's no way they could possibly be off by a foot and kill somebody. Anyway, Papa Chakotay talks with a man who is presumably in charge of this tribe and are recognized as cousins, fellow Rubber Men of the same packet, as it were. The rest of the tribe comes out, all dressed in the same light cloths that are still perfectly clean despite the fact they all live outdoors. Clearly their love of the land can conquer even the toughest stains.

Back in the present, the winds ominously pick up even though there's no storm activity. Chakotay finally orders everyone back to the shuttle, but a tree is blown over and falls on him. Tuvok and Torres are beamed out, and Chakotay keeps seeing the face again. Janeway tries to figure out what's going on; turns out their shuttle is missing too (I guess the sacred land is also a tow-away zone). Before she can go rescue him, the Doctor's plot B is resolved; his 29-hour flu is running after it should've been over and he begins panicing that he's going to die. Turns out Kes altered the program to run two hours longer to make it a more fair test. Yeah, well, thankfully that's over and we can get back to the real story: space warping hippies.

Chakotay comes too; his commbadge is gone and he wanders back to the village, trying to make contact with them. However, all it does is just prompt another flashback. The Rubber People decide to strip the visitors of their clothes and make them dress like them. Because they're ethnic, this is obviously a wise ritual and not a bunch of people acting like assholes. Young Chakotay resists, so they finally leave him alone. When that shit's done the wise leader declares of Papa Chakotay that he is one of them, because he's now dressed like them. That's right, conform! CONFORM! So Young Chakotay is feeling left out because as someone who wouldn't let himself be stripped and redressed by total strangers he must be a disrespectful young man.

And cut back to the present, where we get to see naked Chakotay. This is funny shit... I could just imagine what some real aliens would actually think watching this. "No way we let these people land, they're obviously all out of their minds!" We cut to him standing there in the remains of the village in his birthday suit, loudly declaring, "You have nothing to fear from me." Again, what's supposed to be serious drama comes off as comedy. "Talk to me, let me see you." I think they're seeing enough for both of you Chakotay, thanks all the same. Eventually he finds some simple clothing, so he puts it on; this must be one of those really fancy restaurants with the strict dress code.

Back on Voyager they finally figure out that the aliens are the ones stopping them from approaching, so the only recourse is to land the ship. No Blue Alert is declared this time because... I don't know, maybe Janeway decided she hated it or something. Anyway, storms begin forming around Voyager, soon developing into a massive cyclone. As I said earlier, this requires incredible amounts of energies, and what's more is that this is going to have to occur over a very wide area, and all without any kind of satellite system of any kind or huge visible projectors. It'd probably be much easier just to make a big weapon and shoot at people, but of course, why be practical when you have access to pseudo-shaman magic. Oh, and this is just me, but, you'd think people who respected the land wouldn't create huge storms that are going to kick the land's ass.

Chakotay, meanwhile, has found a cave and gone inside to meet the aliens. He doesn't have his uniform or comm badge, so maybe that's where they keep the universal translator, because the aliens aren't making any sense. Actually, thanks to the flashback, we see they're speaking exactly the same as the Rubber People did... which is a joke. Languages evolve and change, look at English just a few centuries ago to see that in action. Ah, but they are Ones With Their Past, blah blah blah, oh let's just get on with it. The alien also has an identical tattoo to Chakotay. He puts a device into Chakotay's hand, and now they can understand each other. Oh boy, get comfortable, here's when the bullshit really starts a-flyin'. Forty-five thousand years ago the aliens visited Earth and found a group of nomads with no language or culture, no technology beyond fire and stone weapons. The aliens felt that they had a respect for the land and other living creatures, so the aliens altered them genetically so that they would become one with the Earth and be able to protect it. They then spread out across the continents of North and South America, developing because this gift gave them creativity and a spirit of adventure. But then those with weapons (because stone weapons really don't count) came and the people were subjugated, and the aliens assumed they'd all been lossed.

So, here's Star Trek's message: We have a great respect for the cultures of the Native Americans, and we do this by saying that they were backwards, language-less cave men until they were touched by white men from outer space. You're welcome.

The aliens say that all they've done to Voyager has been because they were afraid of being annihilated, even though the messages had been ones of peace. You see, they were taught that that was how human conquerors always spoke, and offers no apologies, thus we learn the important lesson of diversity: kill anything you don't understand.

However, having spoken with Chakotay, they use their spear and magic helmet technology to stop the storm. Voyager returns to orbit and we move into the epilogue. Chakotay and the alien gab a bit about the usual stereotypical bullshit I'm not going to bother adding; Lord knows after the big reveal nothing can really compound the absurdity anyway. I will comment on when Tuvok, Torres, and Kes arrive, uncertain of his fate. They have weapons drawn, and Chakotay responds with obvious disgust, telling them to put them away. Right, because it's not as if the aliens tried to destroy Voyager or anything. The scene is also played out with a bit of the expected smug superiority, as if Chakotay is so much better than they are. It's amusing because you've got a Vulcan, an Ocampa, and a half-Klingon, a nice diverse group that is obviously not as enlightened as he is. It's this kind of insufferable arrogance that push this down from a bad rating to the dreaded number one slot; that in an episode with perhaps the most racist position in Star Trek history that they'll act as if Chakotay is so much more tolerant than them.

Oh, and just when you think it couldn't get any more absurd, the hawk returns, cawing for Chakotay, and he says that he finally hears it. Oh God... and then the closing Voyager chords include the New Age flute music.

Michael Piller, you who gave us The Best Of Both Worlds, shame on you.

Rating: 1

Stupid Neelix Moment: I'm actually giving Neelix a pass on this one, as nothing he did could really hold a candle to the contents of this episode.

* In actuality, the Rubber People are a tribe called the Olmecs, who are nothing like the society presented here, so you can rest assured my mockery is reserved for the Trekified bastardization presented rather than the one with a complex society and unique contributions to art and mathematics.

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