Retro Review: Rules of Acquisition
6 min readNegotiating a deal for the Grand Nagus, Quark seeks the advice of Pel, who complicates matters by making a pass at him.
Plot Summary: Grand Nagus Zek summons Quark in the middle of a game of Tongo being won by Dax and a Ferengi named Pel. Zek wants Quark to negotiate to expand Ferengi business into the Gamma Quadrant and plans a meeting with a race called the Dosi, though Sisko and Kira are both wary about letting the Ferengi use Deep Space Nine as a base of operations. Zek wants Quark to buy ten thousand vats of tulaberry wine from the Dosi as a first step in monopolizing trade, but the Dosi are reluctant and Pel warns Quark that Zek may have set him up for failure. Rom tries to fire Pel for interfering, but Quark, impressed, hires Pel as his assistant, not realizing that Pel is a female in disguise. Zek then demands one hundred thousand vats of wine, leaving Quark panicked. Dax watches Pel’s skilled defense of Quark and guesses that Pel is in love with Quark, which leads Pel to confess that she is a woman who disguised herself to escape from a life of servitude. Pel suggests traveling to the Gamma Quadrant to meet with the Dosi on their own territory, but while she is on a ship with Quark, a jealous Rom goes through her belongings and discovers her secret. The Dosi initially resist Quark’s overtures and he goes to bed, where Pel kisses him before one of the Dosi interrupts to explain that only the Dominion can provide a hundred thousands vats of wine in the Gamma Quadrant. Realizing that that information will be more valuable to Zek than the wine, Quark goes back to the station, where he is promised a large percentage of Zek’s profits for making contact. When Rom reveals the truth about Pel’s identity, Quark offers to help her escape, but Pel is not content with leaving the station and the status quo: she confronts Zek, who realizes that he is just as guilty of taking business advice from a female as Quark. Zek agrees not to punish Pel as long as Quark gives up his stake in the Gamma Quadrant profits. Pel asks Quark to come travel with her, but he refuses to leave his bar, claiming that he couldn’t be happy with an independent Ferengi wife.
Analysis: “The Rules of Acquisition” is good fun taken at a superficial level, so I’m loath to try to analyze it, yet analyze it I must. I’m sure I’ve mentioned – repeatedly – that I am not a fan of anything about Ferengi culture, from the plaudits for cruel behavior to the thinly-veiled Jewish stereotypes…even putting aside the fact that, as Kira says, they’re greedy and misogynistic. It’s fun to see the writers mocking their own creation with this Yentl-in-space episode, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough; even knowing that Zek will eventually marry a woman who can out-negotiate him and that Rom will grow up doesn’t make them easy to like now. I’m also not comfortable with Dax, who reportedly had moments of similar skankiness as Curzon, being put in the position of defending the Ferengi and finding it rather adorable that Quark keeps trying to kiss her. It’s clear that Pel is smarter than Quark, much smarter than Nog, and just as manipulative as Zek without the advantages of power and diplomatic protection that come with his position (if anyone else had groped Kira’s bottom more than once, I’d expect him to lose his teeth). I don’t like the fact that abusive subjugation of women is used as fodder for comedy in Ferengi episodes – in this one, Rom repeatedly makes derogatory comments about females without any reminders that he was stung by a wife who had better lobes for profit than he did. Later on the battle of the sexes will lead to real economic consequences for the Ferengi, but the current lack of concern among Starfleet officers is troubling; members of a Federation that won’t allow android slaves surely must have something to say about slavery based on gender. I’d think that Kira in particular, the survivor of an Occupation involving forced labor camps, would have more to say about Ferengi behavior than mere disgust at having her bottom pinched.
I’d love to be able to laugh “Rules of Acquisition” off, but in some ways it’s the most important of the second season, because this is where we first hear of the Dominion. I’ve read that the writers had no definite plans for the Dominion when they tossed out the idea that business in the Gamma Quadrant was controlled by this ill-defined entity; the suggestion here is that they rule by controlling business, not with armies of Jem’Hadar controlled by genetically manipulated clones who in turn serve the interests of shape-shifting aliens that send untrained infants out to see what the rest of the universe is like. I remember groaning a bit when I first saw the episode, thinking that in the future trips through the wormhole might involve more Ferengi-like behavior, though in retrospect I’d rather meet a Ferengi than a Jem’Hadar coming through the wormhole. The plot with the tulaberries sounds insane all along, so it’s a huge relief when it turns out to be exactly that ridiculous: of course Zek doesn’t think he can take over business in a quadrant with a monopoly on wine that’s apparently being produced there in the first place! It’s odd to me what Quark will and won’t confront Zek about, since there are several moments when it seems like he’d earn more respect from Zek telling him what a stupid idea this all is and/or demanding to know what’s really going on than simply going along with Zek’s increasingly ludicrous demands. Zek keeps implying that he can take the bar from Quark, but I don’t see how, nor do I see Sisko allowing it; the Prime Directive may stop him from letting the Ferengi oppress their women at home, but I can’t imagine he’d let Zek have Pel arrested for wearing clothes and playing Tongo, either.
What I like best about the episode is not that it shows a woman’s successful rebellion – like Yentl, Pel nearly wrecks everything she’s achieved in the name of love for someone not worthy of her, and her accomplishments are dependent on her never returning home again. But Yentl made both the man she loved and the woman she married rethink how they thought about gender and recognize that they’d loved someone deemed sexually improper, and while Pel may be citing Rules of Acquisition instead of Talmudic scholarship, she shakes up the heterosexism that still seems rampant in the 24th century. Even the Dosi here are unfazed walking in on an apparent intimate moment between two men. The scene in which Dax observes that Pel loves Quark before Dax knows that Pel is female is more subtle and effective than any of The Next Generation‘s timid ventures into same-sex love, like Beverly Crusher’s rejection of a Trill lover in a female body and Riker’s politically charged relationship with a female-looking androgyne. The positive side of Dax’s ability to relate to Curzon’s womanizing is that no form of attraction repels her, even if it’s not her thing personally. Dax can love Quark and still see all his flaws as a potential mate, which ultimately proves to be true of Pel as well. I’m so relieved that she goes off on her own instead of trying to reform a Ferengi who harasses Dabo girls and suggests that, like Zek, he thinks Kira’s looks are her most valuable feature. I love the female Dosi calling Quark “this insignificance” and Kira, though unamused, feeling so superior that she can’t be bothered to give Quark or Zek what they deserve, though I wouldn’t complain if we’d gotten to see her stick those fifty thousand kilos of fertilizer Zek had been compelled to give to Bajor right up his…
About The Author
“the heterosexism that still seems rampant in the 24th century.”
Wow… just wow…
Imagine that, the natural order of the universe still exists three centuries hence? Madness… I guess it truly is science fiction…
What a ridiculous person you are.
You do realise she said heterosexism not heterosexuality?
Given it’s an internet comments section I genuinely don’t know if you have confused the words or are another dictatatorial God botherer that thinks any acceptance of any freedoms they don’t agree with is wrong.
How are the Ferengi Jewish stereotypes?? I see nothing Jewish about their society at ALL. ?????
Wow… just wow…
Imagine that, an anonymous Internet user who acts smarmy, arrogant and rude from behind the safety of his computer screen, in order to compensate for his real-life impotence and social ineptitude? Madness… I guess it truly is an Internet message board…
What a ridiculous person you are.
It’s a Starfleet officer’s job to not be concerned what members of other cultures do with their time…
I hate reiterating them, but if you Google “Nazi Jewish stereotypes” I don’t think you will have any trouble finding parallels.
I realize what she wrote perfectly well. And were she not a proponent of multiple forms of sexism, I might have agreed. But she’s clearly sexist against men, and she’s clearly a proponent of homosexism, as it were… And that’s not okay.
If she wants to take a libertarian stance, that’s fine. But she isn’t. She’s taking an active stance against men and against men/women relationships as have existed and as must exist for the continuation of our species. Were she suggesting that people should mind their own business, okay. But her entire review is a call to action, not for people to express individual and personal liberties. She doesn’t believe in personal freedoms and personal expression, she clearly believes that the traditional forms of things that were forced on everyone should be replaced by new forms of things that are forced on everyone. I’m not okay with that. She fundamentally doesn’t understand what the Prime Directive means, obviously… and she doesn’t understand the real world application either.
That women were mistreated or disenfranchised or anything else for hundreds or thousands of years doesn’t mean the answer is the punishment of men or the erradication of classic relationships. Every comment she writes seems to ooze a distaste for anything male and anything traditional. I don’t dislike the idea of equality, nor do I endorse sexism or discrimination because of sex or sexual identity… That said, I don’t appreciate when someone feigns concern for women, but only at the expense of men. I find her devoid of just about anything worthwhile, and simultaneously believe that not responding is a tacit approval… So I respond…
Yes, I’m very anonymous… I’ve posted here as Mike DeLaney before, and I am posting as mvdelaney77 now… very, very shady on my part, right? I guess “Michelle” and “Landru’s cousin, Dandru” are so much more transparent, right? lol You could at least come up with something that makes sense.
For someone that alleged throughout her entire run of TOS reviews to not really like Kirk and co., she sure wants the DS9 crew to act like them… I guess it’s not totalitarian when you’re imposing your own views on others, right?
Wait… So, because a negative stereo-type exists for a group, you can never represent that quality in any other group? Huh? So, you can never present any story about greed because it might offend jewish people even though they don’t accept it as true? If they don’t accept it as a stereo-type of themselves, why would the portrayal of an alien race bother them? If it doesn’t apply, then it doesn’t apply. A misconception used to be that jews had horns. Does that mean horned characters should never be portrayed because some jews might think they were the subtle target? Ridiculous. Greed exists. I’m sure some jews are greedy. I’m sure some aren’t. I’m also relatively confident that the Ferengi weren’t Jewish, nor, certainly, Kosher… The stereo-type of the Irish is that they’re depressed drunks. Hell, even the Chief in this series could be seen as a stereo-type. I don’t hear a great lamentation over that… mostly because, who cares… and that’s an actual Irishman, not a fictional alien.
Yes, Star Trek is about acceptance. Some of you folks need to learn that acceptance isn’t just about others accepting you, however.
I always thought the Ferengi were not mocking jews, but extreme capitalism. I thought they represented the JP Morgans, John D Rockefellers, etc.
If I thought Miles O’Brien were being portrayed as a drunk, trust me, I’d mention it. This isn’t about one quality attributed to Jews, it’s about many in one species (I’m not the first to make the observation; if you Google “Ferengi Jewish stereotypes” you’ll find plenty of links for that, too). Why are you so hostile? Doesn’t sound like you accept anyone’s beliefs but your own…
Jews and Ferengi
Read “Religions Of Star Trek” By Ross Kraemer, William Cassidy, Susan L. Schwartz pg.180-182 (2001)
He says they are a probably parody of traditional Judiasm. He also says (pg.180) that the “…285 Rules of Acquisition evoke Judaism’e 613 Commandments.”, and that, “Ferengi prohibition against women engaging in business is reminiscent of traditional exclusion of women from Judaism’s most culturally valued activity – the study of the Torah.”(aka. The Rules of Acquistion.) [I’m surprised at Michele’s pro-feminist agenda tot being highlighted here, but it might explain her; “..I’m loath to try to analyze it, yet analyze it I must.” It is also interesting that four of the DS9 Ferengi are Quark, Nog, Rom and Zek, are all Jewish actors. I.e. Armin Shimerman, Aron Eisenberg, Max Grodénchik and Wallace Shawn.
Also there is a big difference between mocking Jews and parodying Jews.
(I’m not Jewish, but I’d find it unlikely to think DS9 would want to cause open offence. Considering the number of Jewish people traditionally associated with the film industry, I’d doubt anti-Jewish sentiment would be highly rampant. No doubt, Jewish people do also have sense of humour. Mel Brook’s work is a great example. I.e In ‘History of the World – Part 1’ ends with the voiceover of ‘Jews in Space”, in ships shaped like the Star of David! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZhtT-dUyo “We’re Jews out in space. We’re zooming along protecting the Hebrew race” Truly hilarious!)
Still Wishin’ and Prayin’…
As for “Even the Dosi here are unfazed walking in on an apparent intimate moment between two men.” Oh pleaze!!
Are we talking about just a general popular science-fiction series or the adult “Sex in the City” or “Californication” here?
Noted too… In the ‘Star Trek : Phase II’ latest release “The Child” (2012) also is sprinkled with sex. I.e. It was the first time, I’d think, that the word ‘orgasm’ was used in Star Trek. [Where, apparently, Deltains, when they have children, don’t writhe in absolute pain during their childbirth, but find it almost a pleasurable joyous sexual experience!]
Sure sex sells, but this is continuous imaginary subtext here is just plain ridiculous.
Sorry Michelle. You seems to be almost a bordering heterophobic! (It is no longer amusing)
(Do doubt, your favourite DS9 scene of all is Dax kissing another woman – stringed spittle and all?)
Thanks for making my point for me… O’Brien isn’t a drunk, and Quark isn’t a Jew. Just because Quark is greedy, it doesn’t make him Jewish. Just because Miles drinks, it doesn’t make him a drunken Irishman. Miles O’Brien is seen drinking, and even pining for real booze in both TNG and DS9. Following your logic, that’s iron clad evidence that they were portraying him as a drunken Irishman… but they weren’t… just like they weren’t portraying the Ferengi as Jews. As Seventhbeacon points out below, the real target of the Ferengi is us… American capitalists.
If you want to suggest other connections between jews and Ferengi, elaborate. I’m not interested in searching google. Is it that Ferengi have big noses? Because there are plenty of other aliens that have that in Trek that aren’t Jewish. If, as noted below, it’s a connection between the Rules of Acquisition and the jewish Commandments, well, that’s just stupid. Firstly, the Rules of Acquisition aren’t religious. Secondly, just because one thing is numbered, it doesn’t attach it to all other things that are numbered… Was there a jew involved in the Bill of Rights and the first 10 amendments? It’s a list with numbers, jews must be involved. The exclusion of women in the religious rights of Judaism? Well, by that notion, the Catholic Church are jews.
Star Trek was never intended for you delicate flowers out there to demand equality by diminishing the rest of humanity. Everyone is supposed to accept everyone else. It seems, however, that we’re undergoing a paradigm shift, wherein the taboo goes from the conservative incept to the radical incept… Now, instead of being brow beaten by the society into acceptance of traditional things, we’re being brow beaten into acceptance of non-traditional things… which is better? Neither.
That’s because you actually paid attention and don’t have an axe to grind.
Since when are the Ferengi a part of the Federation? I’ve always gotten the idea they were an independent planet , allies as such to the federation. There is no way they could practice what they do and get away with it if they were full members. A federation run station, manned by starfleet personnel, and laws? If they were fed members no way would they do the things they do during the course of the show.
The Rockefeller Foundation was and is one of the top-giving charities in the history of the world. No writer who knew anything about the man would try to represent him with characters who sneered at charity.
Roddenberry’s life makes it very clear he had nothing against a capitalist ethos, so perhaps you ought to rethink what you believe he was aiming for.
He’s hostile to dime-store analysis that suggests Star Trek writers hated Jews, MEG.
Where did MEG say that?
error
To be clear, Guest, giving to charities does not wash away the 1910 legislation (Federal Reserve Act), drafted by Rockefeller and other private bankers, which shifted the power of making money away from Congress and into private hands. If I save one man’s life but took the life of another man, does that wash the slate clean of my crimes?
As for Roddenberry, he had no part in creating the Ferengi society seen in DS9. He was already dead before the show started. So he wasn’t aiming for anything when it came to the depiction of Ferengi.
Yeah, they’re their own sovereign people. And this space station is an open port which is in fact Bajoran-controlled (and only Starfleet-operated). Diplomatically, the Federation’s hands are tied.
I largely agree with what you just said there… though to be fair, for the Ferengi, acquisition of wealth WAS their religion, what with “The Divine Treasury”, etc.
Especially since some of the main DS9 writers are Jewish (Ira Behr, for example), it’s definitely clear the Ferengi aren’t representing the Jewish people. They are more accurately a culture based off the exact opposite of what the Federation stands for. Some of us who like the craft of writing, call this a ‘foil’.
I think the problem I have is some people in society cry foul at the slightest things, jumping to accusations of racism and sexism far too readily. I was raised color-blind and not from a place of hating or dispariging differences, and yet so many people view things through the lens of race, creed, sexuality, whatever, making false divisions. You could call me any name in the book and I won’t flinch, but call me a racist or sexist or homophobe because I may disagree with you, or god forbid, have problems with what Obama’s doing, I will be in your face.
Good example from headlines: people calling George Zimmerman a racist because he shot Trayvon Martin? Do you know? I don’t. Perhaps they should shut up and let the courts decide just what he’s guilty of. The man was mixed himself, right? And even if he wasn’t, skin color didn’t necessarily enter into his unwise decision to follow a strange kid walking through the neighborhood. I blame the media for helping it go as far as it has.
Other example: If you are pro-life because you believe abortion is murder and killing a child, you are inevitably told you hate women. Bull$#!+. Wanting to protect the life of an innocent does not mean you think women ‘have no rights to their bodies’. It means you think they have no right to kill the body of the child that is growing in theirs.
In Michelle’s defense, the Ferengi are indeed terrible in their handling of women. To refute her position: that’s the point. Stories need conflict… that is Storytelling 101. And it can be treated comedically, because the idea of repressing women as they do is so ridiculous to our culture at large that the Ferengi are a parody of backwards thinking and attitudes. Do you think that a serious statement was being made because they aren’t allowed to wear clothes? The writers were lampooning these behaviors, because sometimes making a point through comedy reaches more people than by addressing it seriously.
It’s certainly one of my favorites… I find that the metaphorical use of taboo being blind to the gender of the two people kissing was well-played. On top of that, they were two beautiful women and brilliant scientists and the chemistry was electric.
I do understand Michelle’s desire to see a neutral depiction of sexual preference, and eventually we hope to get there… but it’s going to be a slow cultural change of acceptance as it was for every paradigm shift in US culture. What gets silly for me is her demand that Star Trek display this change when 1) it has already been one of the leading vehicles of change for what’s acceptable on TV and 2) ALL SHOWS then, and even most shows today, still don’t show that change in depiction, and for her to retroactively demand it of the show, beating her breast and lamenting the crimes of silent omission, strikes me as incredibly unrealistic and pointless. The show’s done. It’s been done since 1999.
It may be depicting the future, but it was made with the sensibilities of the time in which it was made. Even people like me who are okay and libertarian in attitude for everyone to lead the lives they want to lead and be the people they want to be… even people like me still find it incredibly uncomfortable to watch two men kiss or engage in any sexual acts on screen. Does that make me homophobic? No, it makes me heterosexual. Do I rail against shows or movies that choose to do this? No. I turn my head and try to enjoy the rest of the show. If someone wants to place blame on people like me who would *rather not watch that* – I’m not part of the problem, I don’t constantly look for the sexuality in every Gorram scene, deal with it and stfu.
I always thought the Ferengi were Americans.
I go back and forth between the Dominion being Jews or African Americans. The same with the Bajorans — could be Africans, could be Jews. I recently read someone suggesting the Bajorans are Palestinians — I guess that could work too.
With a couple exceptions (none of them from DS9), I don’t think any star trek species are stand-ins for human ethnicities. As with all things star trek, they’re caricatures of human archetypes and attributes, and are used to help tell stories about humanity.
Above. Unless you’re claiming they intentionally trafficked in Jewish stereotypes that arose from Nazi-era persecution because they had no anti-Jewish agenda whatsoever. That would be rather a foolish claim, wouldn’t it?
No. Gene Roddenberry created the Ferengi for TNG. Their treatment of females comes specifically from him. Of course he was aiming for something.
No. MEG did not say the writers hated Jews. She said it’s widely regarded they utilised some sterotypes.
She is offering analysis on Trek and is mentioning something in that context. She is an expery in the subject matter and you can counter her analysis – but do not twist her analysis.
I recall the Ferengi in TNG as being primarily aggressors or seeking revenge. Much of the cultural focus of the characters didn’t get developed until DS9… think of them as Ferengi 2.0. There’s documentation of this and interviews to that effect. Feel free to look it up on Memory Alpha, to avoid further putting your foot in your mouth.
And btw, their treatment of females was never an anti-Jewish thing. Seriously? That’s a widespread problem in the world.
Inference that the DS9 creators, many of whom are JEWISH, could have any anti-semitic agenda, is incredibly offensive, reactionary, and stupid. That they have gone on the record about their intentions for the Ferengi, and that the majority of SANE people do not read any anti-semtic tones into the work, says more about the people crying wolf.
‘Widely regarded’. HA! By who, armchair intellectuals? Maybe it’s only loudly regarded, and the majority of people are free to take the Ferengi as they were intended: a parody of our flawed, modern human civilization.
Please detail what ‘expert in the subject matter’ means. That’s she’s watched a ton of Star Trek? News flash: most of us have. And what expert ignores the documented claims of the DS9 creators to come to a conclusion very far from stated intent AND general audience reception?
I like what you have said. You would have made a good Klingon.
It makes perfect sense. Dandru is Landru’s cousin who is still seeking a good medicated shampoo.
Clearly you know fuck all. Piss off.
Just out of curiosity, should Congress be making money?
Clearly you know when you’ve been owned.
Your recall is flawed, as is your knowledge of Gene’s contributions to the bible regarding Ferengi. This was covered extensively in Star Trek: the Magazine, so perhaps you should review it to avoid further putting your foot in your mouth.
Ooh. Well done. *claps*.
Just because you don’t know the facts, does not mean they don’t exist.
The ferengi were already money-crazy before DS9 started…the Price is the episode that comes to mind that established them as greedy, which I think is a fourth season episode.
I think you’re confusing your facts with internet opinions
I’ve dug deeper (I never subscribed to that magazine), and will retract statements where I claimed he had little role in shaping the Ferengi culture. So yes, I was wrong in putting more credit in DS9’s hands than was due, and I apologize for that.
It appears DS9 was more responsible for making the softer, cuddlier take on the Ferengi.. making them more for comic relief than TNG did. In my defense, the creators from DS9 did sound to be taking more credit in their interviews than they actually did, though they still did change the tone drastically from the TNG eps.
I do still stand by my belief that there was no conscious effort to make the Ferengi resemble jews, and that those opinions claiming anti-semitic overtones originated from outside the cast and crew.
What’s funniest to me about this comment is that I was actually contacted by “Anthony” two days ago and told that I was posting too much and with too much hostility and was risking being banned…. Granted, I haven’t even posted the most in this discussion, but somehow, I guess, my comments were seen as bad and not contributory… But this guy, with his name and all, can continue to post here like this with nary a comment… No wonder this chick has been chosen to do these reviews. She’s just as clueless as the rest of the people running the joint, t’would seem.
But, before I post too much and actually enter into a *gasp* discussion, I’ll leave it there…
I’m hoping, of course, that you actually get your answer at some point… I’d be curious what makes Michelle an expert, too. It’s clearly not critical thinking, unbiased commentary, a Star Trek mentality, or anything else I can really put my finger on… and the fact that she can’t wrap her head around the basics of the Prime Directive….. well… I’m still looking for what expertise she has… except as a man-hater… I’ll grant that one… she’s well versed in hating men, no doubt.
You probably got that a little backwards. I think she just said two things:
1. The Ferengi episodes tend to get eye-rolling parodies that are hard to stand. Some people think that, some people like them.
2. The heterosexism is more that they’ve really only had homosexuals in Star Trek in the mirror universe, or with Dax’s old lover from when she was a man. It’s odd that you never see a single gay character anywhere. *That’s* heterosexism. She didn’t say she wanted everyone to be gay. And more than that, given that they’ve avoided gay characters so much, it’s almost odd that the Dosi just shrugged off what looked like intimate interplay between two men.
I think you rather blew this out of proprotion through misinterpretation. ‘s okay. I’ve done that before, too.
Yes. The Federal Reserve is an independent agency that congress outsourced this constitional power to. It is not a governmental agency, but one run by private banks, and works in complete secrecy unaudited and unchecked by Congress.
That’s never good to hear. I have not been contacted, but if mods feel they need to censor dissenting opinion, then maybe they shouldn’t be running a “Star Trek” themed website.
Crude language like hostile_17 displayed, though, not very constructive…
“The Ferengi episodes tend to get eye-rolling parodies that are hard to stand. Some people think that, some people like them.”
My favourite was the DS9 episode “Little Green Men”.
I thought that one was universally loved?
“And more than that, given that they’ve avoided gay characters so much, it’s almost odd that the Dosi just shrugged off what looked like intimate interplay between two men.”
I think Michelle tends to see the subtext more than most, but I think most of it is not really there or not intended.
(I have watched that bit between the two characters a few times… and I still don’t see the subtext at all.)
Also DS9 I think it is unlike those kids animated movies, where the humour is simple for the kids, but it has a number of jokes that ARE aimed at an adult audience. If this weren’t true, DS9 would have a higher advisory classification for television. Most of it is just simple parental guidance; though my DVDs of the whole series. Season 1 and 2, for example, states; “Adult Themes, Low Level Violence, and Sexual References.”
Again. Is this rating subtext or just straight out deliberately “messing with the viewers minds’?
So, either though I must disagree on many thinks with Michelle, at least it have made me think more about the things I might have missed grand arc that makes up all of DS9 seven seasons! (Some comments have also made me think a little differently about the storyline – and that is a good thing too. Hence, at least I’m grateful for these reviews here.)
I respect your point of view here. Thanks.
Note: Just wish some of the commenters were a little more respectful of each other and not take it all so seriously! A couple of them have made some good observations in the past – so why now spoil it for everyone else?
Honestly guys, please think about what you write!! };{
Would you like you kids reading this? Frankly, I wouldn’t.
(I think all both sides here have interesting comments, but please don’t take it so personally! Passion is one thing. Sharing your thoughts on a review of a TV show you like should be the main aim.)
Wow, just wow. The same old reading between non-existent lines of an online review by people who are apparently forced at gunpoint to read. If I had a nickle for every one of those complaints, I’d be a shoe-in for the Divine Treasury. But if I had a nickle for every person, for every person who actually was forced at gunpoint to read these reviews, I’d be headed for the Vault of Eternal Destitution.
Personally, I was not a big fan of use the Ferengi only for comic relief. If you don’t agree with the analysis, fine. Apparently that’s not enough around here. Some have to resort to childish personal attacks on the author and out-of-left-field misinterpretations of the author’s past reviews.
Exactly how does simply giving an analysis of a Star Trek episode from a feminist perspective equate to this: “But her entire review is a call to action…” (where? how?) “not for people to express individual and personal liberties. She doesn’t believe in personal freedoms and personal expression, she clearly believes that the traditional forms of things that were forced on everyone should be replaced by new forms of things that are forced on everyone.” (Or is just easy to assume that of people whose views you don’t agree with?) Not trying to start a big philosophical debate, just trying to make sense of where this hostility is originating.
Here here!