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Star Trek literally quoted Marx in the 1990s, but some commentators are only just cottoning on to the fact that it's kinda woke. Following the release of the latest series, Strange New Worlds, Fox News decided to run an opinion piece titled "Star Trek writers take Starship Enterprise where it's never gone before—woke politics".
Unfortunately for Fox, this was spotted by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a writer from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - which according to the piece, wasn't woke. Wolfe's response is short and sweet, letting it be known what older Trek writers think of this new wave of criticism: "You’re a moron".
Emphasising his point, Wolfe also responded with a GIF from the legendary DS9 episode, Bar Association. "Workers of the world unite", says Rom, as he unionizes the crew of Quark's Bar. "You have nothing to lose but your chains". Wolfe also shares that while he's a social democrat, he just had to "quote Marx to eff with the bootlickers."
In case Fox News needed a reminder, Star Trek fans have also pitched in, sharing other moments from the series that could be interpreted as political. This includes O'Brien's support of unions, and even an episode back from its original 1960s run that tackled racism. Fans also highlight the 1968 kiss between Kirk and Uhura, which the actors had to fight for due to attempts to censor it.
For his part, Fox News' David Marcus does concede that Star Trek has always "delved into cultural and societal issues", and "reflect[ed] American and global foreign policy." He says that it's different this time, however, because now they're making it partisan by referencing the 2020 Capitol Riots, and bringing on Democrat Stacey Abrams for a guest role. I have no idea how this is any more political than the Bell Riots, explorations of homophobia, depictions of genocide, and showing freedom fighters in a positive light. I guess Marcus just isn't happy that he might be the one getting called out this time.