Canadian actor William Shatner, 92, best known for his role playing Captain James T. Kirk in the 1960s television series Star Trek, slammed a proposal by the European Union to ban the series’ iconic show-opening phrase, “To boldly go where no man has gone before,” in the name of gender equality and sensitivity.
The original Star Trek spoken word intro: “Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in the 1960s TV series Star Trek, promo photo via Paramount.
As first reported by The U.S. Sun, the European Union agency European Institute for Gender Equality published a “Toolkit on Gender-sensitive Communication” that seeks to mandate gender-neutral or gender-equal language over traditional normal language.
On page 56 of the 65 page document, under the heading, “Examples of situations where women may be subject to invisibility or omission and alternatives to use,” the gender equality agency singles out the Star Trek phrase with a red X: “X To boldly go where no man has gone before.” Mandate: “Remove the gendered noun, Use no-one.” New-speak with a green checkmark: “√ To boldly go where no-one has gone before.”
Shatner responded on X Twitter: “Presentism at work yet again. Why start at Trek? Isn’t it better to start at the beginning and redo foundation material such as the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of Shakespeare before worrying about a silly TV show opening that reflects social commentary of the time? If people are offended by 6 seconds of dialogue recorded in 1966 without a modicum of understanding of the social issues at the time there’s bigger issues that they need to deal with first – like educating themselves.”
Presentism at work yet again. Why start at Trek? Isn’t it better to start at the beginning and redo foundation material such as the Magna Carta, religious writings, works of Shakespeare before worrying about a silly TV show opening that reflects social commentary of the… pic.twitter.com/P0okn5rYca
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 29, 2024
Star Trek season one intro:
A Trekkie responded to Shatner with an apt clip of First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), “Diplomats and bureaucrats may function differently, but they achieve exactly the same results.”
You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to use that clip.
— Keith Dorschner (@keith_dorschner) January 29, 2024
The post William Shatner Slams European Union Gender Equality Proposal to Ban Star Trek’s Iconic, “To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
