Series: Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 2, Episode 21
Original Air Date: February 16, 1968
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| via Wikipedia |
"Patterns of Force" was banned on German television for nearly 30 years due to the imagery and the expressed claim that the Nazis were the most efficient government ever devised. That was actually a commonly held historical view in 1960s USA. That assertion has since been debunked in academic circles, citing the large, incompetent, ill-defined bureaucracies that governed the regime.
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| via Wikipedia |
Television guest appearances kept him busy through the '50s and '60s. His most prominent big screen role was as the defense attorney in 1949's Intruder in the Dust. That performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Brian died of heart disease and cancer in 1993. He'd been married to Lorna Gray, his second wife, since 1949.
I didn't know that was a common '60s belief. Which would make "Patterns of Force" an explanation as to how stupid that belief was. As if it were necessary...!
ReplyDeleteApparently so. They didn't believe that the Nazis were morally good so much as effective. You know, how people talk about Mussolini getting the trains to run on time. And yeah, it's really stupid.
DeleteThis episode sounds familiar and thank you for refreshing my memory.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Medeia.
Delete'citing the large, incompetent, ill-defined bureaucracies that governed'
ReplyDeleteUm. Sounds familiar.
I don't think anyone's ever accused the American government of being efficient. It's still better than most of the alternatives but expedience is not its strong suit.
DeleteI think that was the broader thinking in the '60s and I remember hearing this in terms of the Soviet Union, too: totalitarian regimes are inherently more efficient than democratic ones because the decision-making process is faster. But the individual liberties of a less-restrictive system bring advantages that far outweigh the loss of efficiency. All the Poli Sci types of the era were still saying "our way" was better, just not without disadvantages. This story takes the idea to the extreme.
Like the idea that everything mechanical they did was superior.
ReplyDeleteDangling modifier... not exactly sure which assertion you're attaching this to but... I'll go with the assertion that Nazi government was more efficient and the fact that their mechanical superiority has also been debunked.
DeleteI think the philosophy here follows along the same lines as my response to Suze above. Both Japan and Germany (and for that matter, Russia/USSR) were able to catch up with the rest of the industrialized world by building very quickly, including beefing up their military capacity. But long term, building fast didn't necessarily mean building well and all three powers bled the national coffers bone dry in order to make it happen.
The German and Japanese economies since the War make for an interesting study: slower, more thoughtful, building from the ground up, responsive to the needs of the consumer. One could argue the Allies did both a huge favor by limiting what resources they could devote to the military.
Yeah, that, basically.
ReplyDeleteI read this series a while back by Turtledove which is an alternate history of WWII (where aliens invade), and the books go on and on about how well built everything German is. It got annoying.
I can see how it would be annoying.
DeleteIn the '60s I considered this episode a cautionary tale, one that succeeded in defining kakistocracy --government by a nation's worst elements-- but never shook the feeling the actors just made the thing up as they went along.
ReplyDeleteKakistocracy is a new word for me. Thank you, sir!
DeleteConsidering the news, world events and social upheaval of this same time period, you have to smile when you consider that THIS episode (of all things) was banned. Keep the Berlin Wall...put tape on Spock and Kirk.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Officer Von Squidheim.
Cherdo
www.cherdoontheflipside.com
Well... It was the East Germans who built the wall. Neither side was too keen to have its citizenry remember the Nazis with fondness.
DeleteWhen I watched episodes of Star Trek when I was growing up I didn't quite realize how the writers were helping to spotlight things about society/cultures. Now as an adult I am often intrigued to see the way the plots were designed to make you think and to show when as humans we were being stupid. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for refreshing my memory on this episode- it isn't one I remember seeing.
~Jess
Oh, I had no clue of this back when I first encountered the show in the '70s. But my main questions during my current explorations pertain to the long lasting appeal of the franchises, far beyond the more successful TV shows of its era. I think the philosophical underpinnings have a lot to do with it.
DeleteI remember this one watching this one but don't remember too much. And sure didn't get the deeper meaning.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
I'd certainly never seen it before, but then that's true for most of these.
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