“Star Trek: Discovery” by all accounts opened solidly with the broadcast of its premiere episode on Sunday night. However, some disquieting indications exist that political correctness may damage the show’s long-term success, which depends on people signing up for the CBS Access live stream service. The phenomenon goes beyond banning mention of God from the series and depicting the Klingons as Trump supporters. Specifically, cast members of the show are wading into contemporary politics and are lending their support to the take the knee campaign that has rocked professional football.

The cast of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ takes the knee

Hours after the show’s premiere, star Sonequa Martin-Green posted a photo on her Instagram of the cast kneeling in apparent solidarity with the protesting football players. The image, which went viral, touched off a social media firestorm. Many respondents expressed outrage over the gesture and announced their intention to no longer follow the show.

Jason Isaacs gets into a Twitter war with fans

Jason Isaacs, who plays Captain Gabriel Lorca, announced on Twitter that he supported the NFL protest and suggested that he would take a knee on the bridge of his starship if he could. The statement brought heated responses from some of the fans, who suggested that he was interjecting political correctness into the show and was insulting half of the fan base.

Isaacs doubled down on his stance by tweeting, “Presumably the unboring politically incorrect version would be crewed exclusively by straight white males? Oh, wait...that's the Whitehouse.” He also provided a curious and wide of the mark definition of liberal as being open to new ideas, willing to discard traditional values, and wishing to broaden knowledge.

Isaacs, who is best known for playing the villainous Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies, is a British citizen so, perhaps, could be forgiven for his ignorance of American political culture.

A curious marketing strategy

The purveyors of the new Trek seem to be following a curious social media marketing strategy by taking sides in modern political issues.

The approach is a sure way to alienate at least part of the audience and drive them away. Can a show that depends on people willing to pay subscription fees for a live streaming service survive on just leftwing viewers? “Star Trek: Discovery” may be about to find out.

In the meantime, it should be noted that William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Trek series, has studiously avoided public discussions of American politics, citing his Canadian citizenship. Of course, Shatner is from a different generation and does not need to get into political brawls to puff himself up.
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