“If we can honor the systems we are a part of by continually questioning them and updating the terms of our agreements with them—we can maybe find a way to keep the amber of the times we find ourselves in now from hardening around us”
This is a metaphor that Nana Visitor uses a few times in this masterwork. It encapsulates the mission statement of ‘Open a Channel: A Woman’s Trek’. We must all examine ourselves to move away from a culture of ‘that’s just the way it is’ to a place of equality where it’s unthinkable to tell someone they have to be ‘f**kable’ (not my word) to even be considered for a part.
The book is perfectly structured as it looks at the characters and the remarkable women who bring them to life starting in the 60s with Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry right up to today with Christina Chong and Jess Bush to name a few.
The 60s - The pioneering Uhura and Chapel are both explored here alongside the guest actresses of TOS. Compared to what else was on air at the time Trek was light years (no pun intended) ahead of its compatriots but was still mired in the culture of the decade. They were rarely the focus of the episode and when they were it was almost always to show us how the men were impacted. That said it’s impossible to understate the effect they had simply by being onscreen
TNG - Things had progressed in the 90s but not by much. TNG started with 3 female series regulars, 2 of whom were put in caregiving roles and the third they had so much trouble writing for that Denise Crosby felt compelled to leave the show. However, Troi and Crusher came up again and again in Nana’s conversations with fans about who inspired them.
DS9 - Having played Kira for 7 years Nana is naturally best placed to talk about this. Onscreen, Kira and Dax were a gift, 2 complex, multi-faceted women. Kira a powerful leader and Dax of course having an indelible and lasting impact on LGBTQIA+ viewers. Offscreen was a different story. Nana’s fears over the addition of Michael Dorn to the show (which she only found out about when a fan asked her about it at a convention), the circumstances of Terry Farrell’s departure and the horrific treatment of Keiko and by extension Rosalind Chao in certain corners of the fandom. All of this was tied to their gender in some way or other. The book also highlights other areas which have thankfully moved on greatly. It’s upsetting to learn that Alexander Siddig was told he had to return to work literally within hours of his and Nana’s son Django’s birth, with her coming back to work soon after. (Sidenote: this was during the filming of ‘Let He Who is Without Sin…’, adding to the already plentiful reasons to dislike that episode)
VOY - The series that did more for women than the rest of the Berman era combined. Kate Mulgrew is a force of nature and the power of her being not only the first female Captain but also doing it on her own with no admirals to answer to radiates from the screen and the pages of this book. However, by the mere fact of being the first woman at the helm she was scrutinised over every detail and decision. Roxann Dawson came from an under-represented group as a Latinx woman which had its own challenges. Jeri Ryan had to deal with being characterised as ‘Borg Barbie’. The relationship between Seven and Janeway is groundbreaking in showing a woman acting as a mentor for another woman but we see how a lack of communication led to the offscreen situation which the book quite correctly doesn’t dive into in detail out of respect for those involved. Finally, I want to praise how the book handles Jennifer Lien’s place in the story. If she one day decides to discuss those years, it should be on her terms but one must acknowledge that there were many difficult factors at play
ENT - Nana has singled out Brannon Braga for praise appreciating his candidness about what went wrong here. Quite frankly the powers that be (predominantly men, go figure) thought they’d won the fight with Voyager. Echoing Nichelle Nichols, Linda Park as Hoshi did not have a lot to do but was impactful just by being there as an Asian woman on the bridge. Jolene Blalock didn’t fare much better and tellingly, neither actress agreed to be interviewed for the project (this is an assumption, they may simply not have had time or not have received the request). It’s such a missed opportunity as we could have easily been shown another mentorship between two women. We’d have to wait for Discovery and the Burnham / Georgiou pairing for that.
Modern Trek - We’ve come so far but still have a long way to go. In the 60s and probably even the 90s we would not have had a woman of colour, namely Sonequa Martin-Green (trademark the nicest woman in the world), leading a Star Trek series. The challenges that face women of colour in particular are still prevalent. We also see the difficulties faced by Mary Wiseman and Mary Chieffo. Wiseman has been treated disgracefully by ‘fans’ who believe if you are a certain body type you have no business being on a starship, but to her enormous credit she bravely stayed for every little girl and woman as well as every neurodivergent person who feel seen watching her onscreen. Chieffo has fought the same battles along with every other woman who gets put in a box by small-minded people. Tawny Newsome from Lower Decks discusses her life long love of Trek and her own struggles in the industry. Rounding out this section are Christina Chong and Jess Bush from Strange New Worlds. It gives hope that things are moving in the right direction as La’an and this version of Chapel show us how characters like Tasha Yar and TOS Chapel should and could have been written
The fans - A highlight of the book is the stories of who are a minute fraction of the many women who have felt seen as a result of Star Trek and who have followed their own paths using it as their example. The army chaplain who loves Beverly Crusher, the engineers who admire B’Elanna Torres, the politician and leaders who ask themselves ‘What would Janeway do?’ This is the real-world impact Trek has.
Finally, I feel it’s important to say that this book is in no way ‘man-hating’. It spoke to me and serves as a valuable reminder that we must be allies. We must recognise and acknowledge that as men we are inherently privileged and there are challenges we quite simply never have and never will face just do live our lives and do our jobs. We can and must support and raise up women. We can open doors for them and more importantly keep them open. Nana speaks candidly of men in Trek who have done just that.
What Nana has created here is a living breathing document that takes an in-depth, surprising and above all honest look at women in Hollywood and beyond. It should be required reading for not only Trek fans but anyone with an interest in making the world a brighter, more progressive and more inclusive place. There are many more stories to be told and I eagerly await news of the teased documentary. Open a channel, you’ll be better for it.
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