Vision of ‘Star Trek’

I read with a sense of pleasant surprise Ruth Rosen’s column about the vision of “Star Trek” (Column Left, Oct. 30). She very correctly points out that we preached non-interference in the affairs of other civilizations while simultaneously practicing gunboat diplomacy. We “stood for democracy” but backed our own ideals “with weapons of mass destruction.” We did preach racial equality, while doing stories about prejudice within our own ranks. And it is entirely fitting that gays and lesbians “will appear unobtrusively aboard the Enterprise--neither objects of pity nor melodramatic attention.”

My satisfaction with Rosen’s perceptions stem from the fact that while recognizing the dichotomies, there is a strength revealed in “Star Trek’s” ability to confront and work with the flaws within our own house.

And yes, as Rosen points out, “hostilities with the irrational Klingons seemed as interminable as America’s global struggle with communism.” This specifically is the issue raised in what will be the final motion picture of the series, “Star Trek VI, the Undiscovered Country,” which opens in December.

LEONARD NIMOY

Beverly Hills