Together, they can discuss the stories, plots, themes and whatever they can read into the shows. Through it, they are able to understand each other and the way they think. The series is not merely there purely for entertainment. In the past, science fiction series" were mostly aimed at the children. The themes that it offered were mostly of a passing quality, often just promoting entertainment and light-hearted fun. "Now, Star Trek proposed to develop science fiction as a forum for contemporary themes for a grown-up audience." Indeed, the series has found itself the subject of a monthly discussion series moderated by Santa Rosa therapist Meg Pierce, MFCC. The world of Star Trek opened the global village where citizens could converse and discuss what it means to be human in a technological and multi-cultural world. .
Third, Star Trek did not shirk the issues that it found in society. Instead, it tackled them. It acted as a social commentary for its audience. It addressed civil rights and put a black woman in a leading role in a major series for the first time. It was in this series that the first televised interracial kiss happened between a white Capt. Kirk and African-American Lt. Uhura, to the shock of many people. As a result, many people could identify with the situations presented in the series. Though it was set among the stars and in a future that would ideally occur four hundred years from that time, the problems and questions of morals and ethics were still present in the show. In the worlds of Patrick Stewart, better known to audiences as Star Trek: The Next Generation's Capt. Picard, when asked if Star Trek could work purely as science fiction without the morality content, "No There was always an element of the parable sewn into every episode. The underlying themes and myths were often about 20th century society or larger philosophical or poetic themes. If you diluted that from Star Trek, you"d be left with a very ordinary series.
