3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A piece of history, straight out of the 60s, April 15, 2007
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 52: Patterns of Force [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I am always amazed by people that try to criticize things that are 50 years old by today's standards. So many people don't realize how much more we know now about the Nazis and the Holocaust than we did in the 1960s. The postwar years were characterized by this kind of memory. This episode, like all of the series, reflects its period.
Star Trek, as most fans know, is itself a reproduction of the war between the Soviets and the Americans, an intricate piece of which was the progression and aftermath of World War II. The Nazis were understood then, much as they are now and not incorrectly, as the world's ultimate evil. But they also fit into the broader category of totalitarianism, which was the number one enemy of the ultimate good - the USA.
One of the criticisms of this episode is that it misrepresents the efficiency of the Nazis. It was not until much later, when Raul Hilberg and others were able to gain popular exposure and the real weakness of the Gestapo came to light, that the general populace realized the full extent of the inefficiency of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich. From the outside and for decades afterward, it seemed to be economically, socially, and politically the most terrifyingly efficient state in history. It still remains the most efficient genocidal operation in human history. So for Roddenberry to represent it this way is incredibly accurate, as far as he knew at the time.
As for the episode itself being ridiculous, it is anything but. The Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews and others by the Nazis remained, in America, a part of Jewish memory and culture. The broader American public was unreceptive to discussion of the Holocaust for several decades after the end of the war; they were more concerned about the Cold War. Efforts like this among the Jewish community are relatively common, and speaks to the willingness of Shatner, Nimoy, and especially Roddenberry to use their own popularity and that of the show to disseminate information and discussion of the subject. I am also struck by the fact that the writers were willing to talk about the distinctly Jewish nature of most of the victims of Nazism during a period before victim identity politics was the norm. The use of the name "Zeon" for the persecuted race, only one letter off from Zion, and the name "Isak" for the main Zeon, the traditional pronunciation of the Hebrew name Isaac, all provide subtle references to specifically Jewish suffering under the real Nazis, which is hard to come by in the 1960s. The fact that this episode is as campy as every other Star Trek episode really could not be helped.
The Nazi movement on this planet was created by John Gill, who wanted to create an efficient and economically progressive state to improve the society but avoid the racial policies and terror tactics of the actual historical Nazis. Nazism was not entirely based on racism, and some people have claimed. In fact Hitler was intentionally sparing in his discussion of race hatred until later in the regime. People supported the Nazis for the same reasons that Americans supported FDR - economic recovery from the Great Depression. They didn't necessarily object to race hatred, surely many of them supported it, but it was not the "only" thing that Nazism was based on. It is, however, what sets it apart from regular fascism. In a population with an obvious "other," this system lends itself well to pre-existing racism, which Gill failed to realize. In this aspect the episode is incredibly accurate.
Overall this episode reflects and adds to a special and distinct period in the progression of Holocaust memory in America. For more on the development of American Holocaust memory, I highly recommend
The Holocaust in American Life and
Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America (Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies).
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Zeons and the Patterns of Force, April 23, 2002
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 52: Patterns of Force [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Kirk and Spock are captured on this planet of Nazis. It was pretty much standard 60's TV villians. The enemy is again...you guessed it another crazy federation captain who thought he could make the perfect society. This was also done with the episode "Bread and Circuses" where they were on the Gladiator planet.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most entertaining and suspenseful episode by far!, July 11, 2001
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 52: Patterns of Force [VHS] (VHS Tape)
In "Patterns of Force," Kirk and Spock go searching for a former Star Fleet professor named Gill, but they find that he has created a culture patterned after Nazi Germany....or has he?
From reading about the episode, I was expecting "Patterns of Force" to be just an average episode, but man I was wrong big time. Now I've seen all but six episodes, including "The Cage," of Star Trek - The Original Series, and I can honestly say that in my opinion, "Patterns of Force" is one of the best overall episodes.
"Patterns of Force" is VERY suspenseful and entertaining, parts of it such as Captain Kirk telling Spock to hide his ears are humourous, and everybody does a great job of acting. If you like Star Trek at all, do yourself a favor and get "Patterns of Force." You might find yourself in a pattern of watching it more than you expected to.
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