content notice: spoilers for the episode, queerphobia, sexism, conversion therapy
my dad, my brother and i watched “the outcast” today and wow, what an episode. i had heard of this episode before so i already knew some things but i of course tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible. i did not at all expect this old episode to suddenly go over so many previously unmentioned gender-related topics and to be so incredibly good and relatable. i loved it, it’s by far my favourite episode now and one i will remember forever. of course it also has a lot of things that are wrong with it like the usual sexism that’s supposed to be long gone and old stereotypes, but well, it is old but still great for its time, and this episode even for the present. what bothered me the most was the devastating negative ending, <orville spoiler> just like a similar depressing ending in an orville episode </orville spoiler>.
but it was also so good! (or maybe i’m just ignoring the usual bad to get some of the rare good). it was about androgynous agender humanoids! they talked about pronouns in a positive and realistic way! both groups shared their different experiences and perspectives and were accepting and eager to learn! soren said how she had always somehow known she was female but didn’t understand until later! and her great speech at her trial! i loved it and i devoured every word soren said in the episode. and i loved how understanding and genuinely nice and involved riker was.
also, according to wikipedia and the star trek wiki, this episode was supposed to be about homosexuality, it said nothing about (trans)gender stuff (and yes, i read what jonathan frakes said). and it definitely also was about sexual orientations and that was great, but that felt like a minor side thing that was merely one of many results from the gender norm issues, and as always in these old star trek episodes it was still all about our current normative stereotypes, and when it came to people of any species who are not agender it only talked about heterosexuality. it almost feels like the entire gender stuff was accidental. it feels like they tried to carefully make hints at homosexuality that wouldn’t be too outrageous to the general public and in doing so they came up with the novel fictional idea of being agender and transgender, without actually knowing that these things do exist among the real human species. but because the struggles of minorities are similar, they still created a for its time phenomenal portrayal of the issues trans people face and how they feel. while not at all portraying anything homosexual. it’s like they tried and failed to make the tiniest hint at homosexuality in an elaborate allegory where they reversed the roles of heterosexuality and homosexuality, and in this elaborate allegory they accidentally made a grand and revolutionary and very clear and obvious portrayal of agender, non-binary and transgender people. if i had seen this episode as a child, i’m sure it would have had a big impact on me and been on my memory ever since. like the fairly oddparents episode where timmy gets turned into a girl and where they say girls should do more “boy things” and boys should do more “girl things”. except that the star trek episode explicitly mentioned that you can know that you are a different gender than the one you were assigned, and that there’s nothing wrong with that. both of which i’ve never heard as a child.
what an incredible episode of star trek! my favourite part was when soren opened up to riker and said the sad and relatable thing that she had always somehow known her true gender but couldn’t understand it until much later, and the trial speech, both of which i shall quote here:
“Occasionally, among my people, a few are born who are -- different. […] Some are born with strong inclinations toward maleness... and some have urges to be female. I am one of the latter. […] On our world these feelings are forbidden. Those who are discovered are shamed and ridiculed. Only by undergoing psychotectic therapy and having all elements of gender eliminated can they become accepted into society again. Those of us who have these urges... live secret, guarded lives. We seek each other out... always hiding, always terrified of being discovered... […] I’ve known I was different all my life. But I didn’t understand how or why until I was older.”
“I am female. I was born that way. I have had those feelings... those longings... all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped. I do not need to be cured. What I need -- and what all of those who are like me need -- is your understanding and your compassion. We have not injured you in any way. And yet we are scorned and attacked. And all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk... and laugh. We complain about work... and we wonder about growing old. We talk about our families and we worry about the future. And we cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All of the loving things that you do with each other -- that is what we do. And for that we are called misfits, and deviants and criminals. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other?”
(during this speech i again thought it was all about being trans, as she starts with "i am female". and only the last sentence is suddenly about dictating how people love each other instead of dictating their gender)
also, i hereby canonically rewrite the ending: picard giving riker and worf the opportunity to do a prime-directive-violating rescue attempt worked, they found soren before the conversion therapy, she was granted asylum aboard the enterprise and is now in a happy and equal relationship with riker (in addition to troi who is completely fine with it as she made clear in the actual episode) :blobhaj_heart_rainbow: :akko_cry: :blobcat_uwu:
also also, it’s almost funny how riker immediately starts gendering soren correctly and how it’s shown as no big deal at all and completely natural and right, even when he called soren “she” during the trial which must have been outrageous for everyone else and an extremely big deal, but because the roles were reversed in the allegory and the actress looked and sounded more stereotypically feminine than masculine it was no big deal at all for the average viewer (and probably riker)