Fantastic Racism/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

** A continuing theme of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]'', as this [[Prequel]] series dealt with mankind's initial reactions to new life and new civilisations. Early season episodes include the Suliban being [[The War on Terror|treated like potential terrorists]] because of the actions of the Cabal, the Vulcans' patronising attitude towards humans (and the human response to it), and [[With Friends Like These...|Commander Shran]] -- an Andorian who despises Vulcans and Tellarians, and even refers to his friend Captain Archer as "pinkskin". He refers to all humans as "pinkskins" -- did he not notice the variety of [[Unfortunate Implications|human skin]]? In "The Breach" Dr Phlox has to persuade a patient to receive treatment from him as the Denobulans committed atrocities against his species in the past, while Trip's attempt to help a repressed minority in a tri-gendered species has a tragic end. Virtually the entire fourth season touched on this trope in one way or another. Xenophobia on Earth increases after the Xindi attack, radical group Terra Prime tries to make political capital over the [[Interspecies Romance|Trip/T'Pol relationship]] by [[Squick|squicking]] out humanity over the idea of Vulcan-human hybrids (even T'Pol's mother brings up "the shame" that such a mixed-race child would feel). And the whole [[Ubermensch]] thing naturally comes up with the genetically-superior Augments. And let's not even get into Vulcans shunning those who use their telepathic powers because they spread Vulcan AIDS...

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the homophobia version is used when the Doctor is uncomfortable around the time-travelling omnisexual Captain Jack Harkness, not because of his sexuality, but because he finds Jack's immortality to be "just wrong".

'''Jack:''' ''(smiles)'' Shame on you. }}

** The Doctor shows his dislike of true immortality in earlier serials as well. For example, in ''The Brain of Morbius'', he blasts the Sisterhood of Karn for using an elixir to extend their lives because they've completely stagnated, and says that [[The Nth Doctor|regeneration]] is preferable because it brings change. This attitude seems to be shared by other Time Lords, who use the same elixir as medicine, but not to prevent their final death.

* The [[Our Werewolves Are Different|half-wolves]] of ''[[The Tenth Kingdom]]''. Granted, wolves are predators and are traditionally viewed as evil and vicious ([[Cyclic Trope|at least sometimes]]). But the at-times [[Anvilicious]] words and actions of the Little Lamb Villagers (and Wendell) more than once left this editor feeling a bit ill. (Which was surely the intended effect--just an example where the writer did their work a bit too well.) Choice examples:

** From the rigged trial (itself hearkening back to the legal woes of many a black man in the South between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Era):

'''Judge:''' Very well put, on to the sentencing! }}

** After Virginia agrees to defend Wolf:

'''Wendell:''' That's the first intelligent thing you've said, Anthony. }}

** At the same time, Sally and the other shepherdesses' (all noticeably Caucasian and mostly blondes) lustful pursuit of (dark-haired) Wolf despite his fake surname and his bushy wolf tail suggests the supposed irresistible temptation of an exotic race... while the Peep boys' apparently violent defense of their sisters' purity, and Wendell's assumption in Kissing Town that Wolf would "have [Virginia] on her back before you can say Happy Ever After" resonate far too strongly with the sort of black-man-rapes-white-woman fears exemplified in ''[[Birth of a Nation]]'' to be coincidence. Again, this would be simply an [[Anvilicious]] way of addressing racism in a fantasy setting, the entire point of this trope--in this case, in order to make it relevant to any children in the audience. Basically, Simon Moore [[Shown Their Work|showed his work]], and the fact the treatment of wolves/half-wolves comes off as so disturbingly familiar is due to the blatant, but entirely necessary, use of this trope to make a point.

* Happens quite a bit in ''[[Farscape]]'', especially with the Peacekeepers - all of whom are Sebacean (with the exception of half-Sebacean, half-Scarran [[Big Bad|Scorpius]]), and who deem other species to be inferior. If a Peacekeeper is to spend prolonged time and contact with another species, they will be deemed "irreversibly contaminated" and rejected.

** Half-breeds are also the subject of considerable discrimination by the Peacekeepers, with at least one honor killing on record. Once again, Scorpius is the exception, having proven himself too valuable to execute. Of course, anti-hybrid sentiment is discouraged among Scorpius' troops and officers:

'''Braca:''' (''very'' quickly) No! Of course not sir. Not at all. }}

* On ''[[Dark Angel]]'', the transgenics become targets of [[Fantastic Racism]] as soon as their existence is made public. The Familiar breeding cult are posterchildren for this, looking at humans as inferiors and transgenics as scum.

* The old [[Disney Channel]] show ''[[Adventures in Wonderland]]'' had an episode centered around this, when the residents of Wonderland were nervous about a walrus moving into the neighborhood because they had heard a lot of bad stereotypes about walruses. But Alice herself meets the Walrus and finds out that he's actually a [[Pretty Cool Guy]].

* ''[[Being Human]]'' certainly plays up the "vampires think of werewolves as mere animals" angle; but there was also this quote invoking the trope directly (after introducing a [[Our Zombies Are Different|zombie]]):

'''Annie:''' It's like racist, but for dead people! }}

* With the notable exception of Samantha herself, the witches and warlocks of ''[[Bewitched]]'' hold mortals in contempt to one degree or another. Except for [[The Ditz|Serena, Aunt Clara and Esmerelda]] and [[Trickster Archetype|Uncle Arthur]].