Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was not a perfect show but its treatment of imperialism, war crimes, and genocide was light-years ahead of some of the stuff coming out today (looking at you, Star Wars).
In DS9:
Bajor, a world struggling to recover from decades of genocidal colonial policies, is front and center
Bajoran characters, most prominently Kira, are allowed to grapple with their own trauma and their stories don’t revolve around making their oppressors, the Cardassians, feel better
Kira’s history of violent resistance against the occupation is not sugarcoated, nor does the show shy away from the fact that she hurt innocent people in the process. But neither does the story condemn her for using violence to resist genocide
Not only was Kira a terrorist, but a religiously driven one as well. Belief in the Prophets held Bajor together during the occupation, and is a major subject of exploration in the show
Despite all that Bajor suffered, Bajorans are not relics of the past or a destroyed, defeated people–their culture is vital and alive, they are rebuilding against incredible odds, and are working toward Federation membership
Bajorans themselves are not some misty spiritual cardboard cutouts, either. They are complex, they lash out, they are spiritual, they are lovers, killers, reactionaries, weirdos, mystics, the full range of experiences and personalities
And then there’s Kai Winn, who is an entire book in herself. She is such a well-drawn female villain, a complicated portrayal of self-serving ambition, self-deception, and self-entitlement
Because Bajorans are given their own stories, it actually works when some Cardassians–generally minor and one-off characters–are shown to be dissenters, or themselves traumatized from the occupation
We actually see Dukat, the leader of the occupation, trying to play the misunderstood hero/redemption card only to get slapped down by the narrative time and again
Dukat isn’t a one-note villain either; he is often charming and sometimes inspiring, as when he has a stint as a resistance fighter himself against the Klingons occupying Cardassian territory
Ultimately, though, the story reveals Dukat to be a liar, a virulent racist, an abuser, and at heart an imperialist megalomaniac who almost destroyed the Alpha Quadrant with his lust for power
David Brin was right and Star Trek is better
You are right to center Bajor in this but let me talk about Cardassians too:
- the show makes an effort to explore Cardassian culture without ever trying to excuse their imperialism and the brutality of the Bajoran occupation
- Cardassian civilians who just want to do their thing outside of the military or secret agencies are shown
- the complex questions of accountability of small cogs in the machine of the administration of totalitarian regimes are explored without easy black/white answers
- they are shown as victims of imperialism as well without diminishing their own responsibility
- the reasons (lack of resources, cultural pride, militarist society) that drove Cardassians to occupy other planets including Bajor are explored openly without excusing their actions
- the selection of characters complicit in Cardassian imperialism range from true believing patriots to small minded bigot to ambitious asshole to nihilistic egotist, just like real world dictatorships
I wonder if ds9 could have happened AT ALL in a post 9/11 world tbh
