From: thogek@cco.caltech.edu (Thomas G. Kiefer)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Stupid Ferengi? (was: Re: "Rascals" Really Really Sucked!!!)
Date: 9 Nov 1992 19:42:33 GMT
Organization: Nope, just me.
NNTP-Posting-Host: coil.caltech.edu

Some minor "Rascals" spoilers lie below...


In article <Bx980L.J85@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> myempire@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Matt J. Martin) writes:
>  I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of the ST writers simply creating
>a sentient species that can be viewed as consistently inferior.  Sure they
>may be trying to make a point about immaturity of humanity, but they 
>betray their own prediliction toward racism in the process.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of reasoning that makes writers everywhere
PC-happy.  (That's "Politically Correct", if anyone wasn't sure. :)  Isn't
is POSSIBLE that there is a humanoid (aren't they all humanoid?) race out
there with a LOWER (on average?) intellignce level than humans?  Why not?
And what would happen if this race became aware of all the spacefaring
races out there, wanted to become one of them NOW (impatient, not wanting
to appear stupid or inferior, and not wanting to wait to develop and/or
figure it out themselves), and happened to stumble across, inherit, or
chance to buy or steal the technology required to do it?  Then, once out
there, they MIGHT greedily vy for as much power and position as they can
get among the races, possibly over-trying to compensate for their innately
inferior intelligence.

Another thought: what if humans, barely out of the ape-stages and starting
to look and act like what we might consider humans, stumbled across such a
technology and suddenly found themselves able to race among the stars and
other races.  MIGHTn't at least SOME of these humans be ever-greedy, power-
seeking, and necessarily less intelligent than their new neighbors,
something like how we see the Ferengi?

So what's wrong with addressing/illustrating this?

And if we may not create any inferior races, why may we create superior
races?  (Q, for example, or those weird curious beings from "When Silence
Has Lease".  Or, in some ways, the Borg...)  Does PC require that humanity
be at the bottom?


>  I'd like to see an intellegent, socialist Ferengi activist who tries to
>reform the Ferengi society.  

He'd have to be an evolutionary (or however you like to explain it) 
breakthrough, if we are to consider him "intelligent", perhaps something
like a super-Wesley to us.  (Uh-oh, now I said it...)  But sure, why not?


>  It has been demonstrated before that the Ferengi do, in fact, have the
>technology to give Picard a run for his money.  The first instance was the
>episode where they first meet the Ferengi.  The Ferengi Captain manages to
>convince Picard that he is reliving the attack on the Stargazer.

HAVING the technology and UNDERSTANDING the technology are NOT equivalent.
They could have stolen (or bought on something like a black market) the
Klingon ships in "Rascals" or the mind-altering device in "The Battle"
(the second Ferengi episode), and managed to use them without having any
idea what to do with them if they happened to break down.  It is not stated
anywhere (that I know of) whether most of this technology was developed,
bought, or stolen by the Ferengi, but looking at them, I'd guess either of
the latter two to be much more likely than the first.  (Anybody know about
this?)

>  Another instance is the episode where Riker and Picard are engaging in
>war games and the Ferengi manage to cripple to Enterprise in a matter of
>seconds.  Clearly they have the technology.

As for the Ferengi interruption of Picard and Riker's excercise in "Peak
Performance",...  As I remember, Worf was messing with the Enterprise's
sensors from Riker's ship, making them "sense" illusory images of
approaching/attacking ships to distract Picard and the Enterprise bridge
crew from Riker and his ship.  Picard then decided (since no one else was
known to be around) to ignore any further images that showed up on the
Enterprise scanners (sloppy, IMO, but oh well).  So, when the Ferengi
showed up, Picard figured it was another of Worf's illusions, and ignored
it.  Thus, when the Ferengi fired, the Enterprise had it's shields down,
and wasn't even paying attention, and they ate it.  Doesn't take any
superlative technology to hit 'em when they're not even looking at you.

>  To me it seems inconsistent that the Feregi could have a very sophisticated
>and reliable technological development (all their ships look the same) and
>still be so revoltingly stupid.

But they are greedy, and somewhat resourceful (cunning?).  If they can't
make the stuff, they can find out where to get it.  Maybe they got
(inherited?) a bunch of ships from one race/organization/garage-sale,
and so most of their ships look similar.

>                                 And the writers seem not to care for
>differentiating social stupidity from technical stupidity.  Not only are the
>greedy and obnoxious, but they can't even realize it when Rikers bullshits
>them about the computer.

If someone gave a half-convincing-sounding but bullshit explanation of
quantum mechanics to the average American today, do you think many of
them would know the difference?  (I've done it before, so I know some
of 'em don't.)  Now, how 'bout if that American knows *nothing* about
quantum mechanics, but is nevertheless determined NOT to appear stupid
or inferior in any way...

>                          Their Captian was couldn't figure out the fishtank
>for God's sake!!

As someone else already pointed out: to us, the fishtank is pretty.  To
the Ferengi, it appears to have no profit to it (and they do seem obsessed
with advancement and profit), so it must have some non-obvious secret to
it (which he couldn't find, because it doesn't).


>                  I'm not at all impressed with the writers of ST when they
>dabble in this kind of social irresponsibility.  They have completely 
>disregarded everything that makes ST unique in the world of commercial 
>entertainment.  For shame!!

From my point of view, what they're *ignoring* (this case, anyway--not
always) is PC-cries like this, which have taken much from the variety
and realism from TV and movies today.  That, unfortunately, does
sometimes make them unique.


All, IMO, of course.
-- 
======================================================
====> Thomas Kiefer <===> thogek@cco.caltech.edu <====
======================================================