Can Pop Culture Make Us Better Human Beings?

From Star Trek to Friends, morality was a subtle part of everything on TV.

Growing up, TV time was rare and usually a fight for the remote ensued between my mother and I. My mom wanted to watch her soaps on our local channels whereas I wanted to watch Captain Planet, Centurions and Star Trek. My mom sometimes watched Star Trek which got me excited that I could talk to her about the crazy things that happened in some episodes and we had something mutual to love.

Over a period of arguments, we came to an agreement, I could watch till 7:30 and then the remote was hers. Then I could again watch after 10 for maximum 1 hour and I had to go to sleep after that.

As a routine formed, I was involved in the shows I watched, especially Star Trek, Star Trek Next Generation and Star Trek Voyager. I was still in my teens and my grasp of English wasn't all that great. There were no subtitles to speak of back in those days so it became a matter of desperately wanting to understand what was being said on screen.

This was also the time my mom and aunt were reading novels, primarily Sidney Sheldon stuff. I often showed curiosity and they were willing to pick the kid-friendly books for me and pay for a reading subscription of sorts that small booksellers offered. So I got into reading books, mainly to see why my mom and aunt were so into them.

Looking back, I am very grateful to a lot of things in my childhood in this context. I read a lot of fiction to this day, almost 50-60 books a year in mixed formats of eBooks, graphic novels and audio books. I still watch a lot of TV and science fiction is still a favorite. I hold my mom and aunt responsible for opening these avenues for me as a kid. I will forever cherish these moments and I do my best to nurture these habits in people I meet, especially younger folks.

Coming back to Star Trek, a recurring theme in the show was an adherence to the rules, especially the Prime Directive. For those who don't know what it is, it basically boils down to a policy of "non-interference". Any action that could alter the path of natural development of an alien civilization is prohibited. My young and stupid brain was nowhere near intelligent to understand the meaning of this, but I feel it still influenced me. The Federation, which was so powerful, kept itself out of the business of those weaker or different to itself; why was that important?

Morality was a concept I was not yet familiar with but Star Trek had planted its seeds in my mind. There were villains in the show who would violate the laws, wreak havoc and just do their own thing; but the good guys were always there to stop them. This presentation of who the good guys were and why they were the good guys is a guiding principle of almost every piece of culture, be it books, shows, games or movies. Which side do I resonate with while consuming this culture? Sometimes the villains are not that black and white and some of the good guys are not good all the time.

One of my favorite Star Trek episodes is from Deep Space Nine; In The Pale Moonlight. It offers a unique look into a good guy and how far he is willing to go for the greater good. It shows how he struggles with his choices and what the impact of success or failure will be. It really makes you question the world around you and what it takes to bring change. Star Trek usually is never this ambiguous and Captain Benjamin Sisko is always a good guy, except in this case where he is suddenly both good and bad. Makes you wonder, who else does this in real life.

We often say that what happens in fiction does not mean people will do it in the real world. This is extremely true, but the counter to that is that while we may not drive like a maniac after playing Need for Speed or try to build meth in our homes after watching Breaking Bad; the lessons from those stories resonates with our personalities. As humans, we want to make choices that makes us look good to others; part of our evolutionary drive to be a included in the tribe. As going alone means death.

In a lot of dialogue driven games, example Mass Effect, there are choices you can make that are clearly called out as good, neutral and bad. More often than not, players tend to pick the 'good' choices because it tends to conform with the game's story where you are the hero. Could you imagine a hero who is an asshole to everyone they meet? Or can you imagine a villain that is the nicest person ever? Our brains struggle to comprehend with these dilemmas and we end up choosing the good side. In subtle ways, pop culture tells us what is good and what is bad.

Looking at myself today, I feel a lot of these books, games, shows and movies I have watched in my teens have really shaped me. I can recognize the actions of governments and corporations for what they are and can choose to stand behind what I believe is right.

You may ask yourself this as well; am I doing what I believe is right? Everyone has a different red line in the sand and recently, the actions or inaction of people responsible for our well-being has led to this red line being crossed for a lot of people. The courts of social media are ablaze with discussions, was the action of a lone individual fed up with a certain corporation morally right even if it was against the law.

If people agree with a certain moral action, the law becomes secondary. Laws are not always just and actions often have consequences that go unseen. I know what my moral stand is; Benjamin Sisko may have been an influence for me, but he only enabled me to think in more ways than just black and white.