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Skin colour in Trek

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:04 am
by I Am Spartacus
Is it really that realistic in Star Trek to have a multiracial crew, comprised of 50% whites and a mishmash of other races? If anything, the trend in society today is that interracial relationships are ever more common, and in perhaps a few decades the differences in race and ethnicity shall become less and less common. In a few centuries, it's not inconceivable that every human being will possess the same skin colour (tan/fair) and the same hair colour (black). Blondes will no longer exist, for example.

Thusly shouldn't a scifi series/flick portray everyone as being the same racially? I know they can't, because there aren't sufficient members of the Screen Actors Guild who would possess the required skin colour.

Also, I wish to say in advance, before this has a chance to get out of hand, that this is not a racialist thread. I'm not lamenting the disappearance of white people or some crazy shit like that.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:42 am
by Monroe
I saw a report on yahoo that said within a hundred years blonds will be a thing of the past. Within 1000 years everyone will be a coffee color. And within 10,000 years the human species will split between a short ugly dumb race and a super intelligent beautiful tall race.

The closest I've ever seen a Sci-Fi get to this is in the Matrix. All the naturally born humans are, for the most part, a darker color to their skin.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:46 am
by celeritas
Monroe wrote:I saw a report on yahoo that said within a hundred years blonds will be a thing of the past. Within 1000 years everyone will be a coffee color. And within 10,000 years the human species will split between a short ugly dumb race and a super intelligent beautiful tall race.
i read in michael crichton's "next" that the extinct blond stories are fake (and, crichton claims, have possibly been in circulation since as early as 1906). reportedly, the articles claiming blonds will go extinct got their information from the WHO, and the WHO claim that they never did said story.

bbc news reports "blonds to die out in 200 years":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2284783.stm

washington post debunks with "extinction of blonds vastly overreported, media fail to check root of study":
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dy ... 8-2002Oct1

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:01 am
by Monroe
Ah good to hear cause I plan on living forever and I like blonds.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:02 am
by celeritas
i'm more an admirer of asian women myself.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:40 am
by Monroe
celeritas wrote:i'm more an admirer of asian women myself.
Same, but I do like blonds :P I need variety... maybe that's why my relationships don't work out.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:00 pm
by Teaos
Skin color is a matter of pigment in the skin. Skin naturally gets whitter with less sunlight and darker with more. When we do get to space it will adventualy turn all of us white.

But yes it is very un realistic to show multibal groups or races in a specie. In humans I could live with it but the fact there is Black vulcans and Xindi annoy me. Not because they are black but because it makes no sense. Just make them all one color black white or blue.

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:41 pm
by Monroe
Vulcans have a yellow ethnicity too don't they? Seems some Vulcans are yellower than others.

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:49 am
by Bryan Moore
Monroe wrote:Vulcans have a yellow ethnicity too don't they? Seems some Vulcans are yellower than others.
From which series? And aside from Tuvok's family, do we see any black Vulcans in any series?

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:32 am
by Monroe
Uh from all of them. Spock has a bit of a yellow tint to him, many of the vulcans in Enterprise do too. So I'm going to assume DS9 and VOY would as well. Its not like bright yellow but its a bit of yellow makeup.

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:53 pm
by Ensign Deadman
You know, when I was watching 'Enterprise', I always wondered why Travis Mayweather was never in a scene with Shran and Archer. I've secretly been hoping for a DITL caption comp picture with just Shran and Archer and I'd make the caption:

"Why is Mayweather never about when I'm on board, Pinkskin?"

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:58 am
by PicardManuever
Taurik, the Vulcan Ensign from the TNG episode "Lower Decks" has a very yellowish skin color.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:47 am
by Cyd
Vulcans probably should have greenish skin because of their blood. In Deep Space 9, Vulcans and Romulans did get makeup for that appearence, but it didn't coutinue into Enterprise.

http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Image:Sitak.jpg