DS9 - The Circle

I don't know if the mods will appreciate this or not ... because it might be construed as a political / controversial topic ... but I'll risk it.

If it needs to be taken down, I accept that and won't protest it.

This isn't your typical funny, tongue in cheek or fun post ... it's just a commentary that I didn't really know where else to post because it's Star Trek related.

I'm posting this as a commentary on what I am seeing on Star Trek Deep Space Nine, a show I'm currently enjoying. I've just starting season two and I'm almost shocked at the parallels the shows writers were recreating from our past history, the current era of the 90s they were living in and in our modern time period now.

I'm just starting to get introduced to the storyline of the Bajorans and their internal conflicts of wanting to create a Bajoran Only society and becoming intolerant to other species. I know many Trek fans already know this story but its new to me and I am fully enjoying the writing that was produced to highlight this mentality. I highly suggest others who haven't watched DS9 to watch it as well ... plus I am looking forward to more from this show as I am really enjoying it.

It was surprising to me to hear them use the title of the group as 'The Circle' for their extremist political group ... a direct parallel to the KKK, an acronym for the Ku Klux Klan, a name which is believed to be taken from the Greek word 'kyklos', which translates as the word 'circle'. And it was also striking to me to see the symbol they used for their group, a stylized circle, with what almost looks like an 'OK' sign, which over the past decade has become to often be seen as a white supremacist hand gesture.

I'm sure the writers were making the connection to the KKK at the time and I'm sure that many people noticed it when the show first aired ... but it's the symbol that was spray painted as the group's logo that almost looks like that 'OK hand sign' that really surprised me.

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A solid observation on your part. One that I had not made the connection to at the time I initially watched the series. The first 3 episodes of season 2 are generally viewed as the "Circle trilogy," so I'm curious to know what parallels are to be drawn from the set as a whole (from yourself and others). As with every Trek series, the writers make various references to real life situations. Since it's been a while for me, I'll have to revisit.
- The other story element that struck me was the symbology of the Circle spray painting their logo onto Sisko's apartment doorway. It's striking when you compare the Bajoran Circle to the historical KKK and combine it with the fact that the DS9 storyline involves a black man and his son dealing with a far right extremist nationalist group.
  It's like a 24th century cross burning on someone's doorstep on a distant space station. Cross burnings on someone's front lawn was a way to intimidate opponents and make them stop any counter protest or opposition movement. Spray painting your logo onto an opponents front door attempts to do the same thing.
  I'm very certain that the symbolism in the production wasn't lost on Avery Brooks.
  
  Another good pull, though, that one was much more on the nose for me when it came up in the "PC" era if the 90s.
  Please forgive my pedantic remark. I am not fond of that part of myself, but could not help making the reference.
- I just finished watching Season 2 Episode 3 ..... the three episodes together felt like an entire movie length feature, great writing and great story.
  I like how honest and a lot of true to life scenarios they put into the production. There is no fluff, heroism and super hero antics ... a bit of fighting and laser shooting but nothing overly dramatic. The most important part of the three episodes to me was the parallel they made to our own history and the political extremist movements we dealt with a hundred years ago, 30 years ago and today - extremist elements that want to take over government in undemocratic ways to follow a flawed logic of racial purity, government control and authoritarian power.
  It amazed me that the parallels of this episode trilogy are still relevant today ... especially right now with the movements of extremist forces in the US as well as extremists forces in many other countries around the world (including Canada where I'm from) that draw off of populist ideas of nationalism and purity of race, religion or identity. It was especially surprising to see that symbol that almost looked like an OK hand sign ... an eerie coincidence to the hand gesture that has become popular as a far right racist gesture in modern times.
There's a reason we're always talking about the Bell Riots. You have a lot to look forward to. I think, of all the Treks, DS9 is the most grounded and relatable to real life. Unfortunately lol
- I grew up watching TNG in the 90s because it was available on cable .. but never really had the chance to watch it all when I was teen. I finally watched all of it in the early 2000s when I bought myself the entire series. As soon as I finished it, I went over to Voyager and watched all that because I had also watched a handful of episodes when they came out but not really. I also saw DS9 but I always had a hard time watching any one episode .... there was so much backstory to everything that you had to follow a season or two to fully appreciate any one episode. The funny part is that DS9 is about the same number of seasons and episodes as TNG and VOY but for some reason DS9 feels more like a political / social drama than the other Trek shows ... not to mention DS9 is more linear and interconnected rather than episodic like TNG and VOY.
  I've heard so much about the show and I've always wanted to see it, that about a month ago, I started watching it from the start. I just finished the first 3 episodes of season 2 and like you say ... the show is very grounded and relatable to the world that it eerily feels like it is still relevant to what is happening in the world now.
  It's exciting to watch it now because I get the chance to share it with people like yourself who actually understand and appreciate what I am watching. I think it's the best way to watch any kind of Trek ... it neat to watch it by yourself ... it's very special and much more fulfilling to watch it and share it with other like minded people.
Neat
OK hand sign is just boasting that their family tree is a circle..
But seriously I wanted to digest DS9 forever and what finally worked for me was putting on the DS9 channel on Pluto TV everyday while I worked in the background. I got bits and pieces of the overall story and started to pay attention more and more with each pass. Kinda like a rotoscope.
This show would've been boring (for me) to sit down and binge watch, but this background rotoscope method slowly pulled me into the story and characters, and now I'm a big fan.
I used the same technique on classic Doctor Who. The first three Doctors are really great in their own ways, and it's fun to see the shooting style and stories change with the time period. I even gained some appreciation for Doctors 5-7.
Interesting observation. I initially assumed it was coincidental. Mainly because names like “The Circle” are actually a fairly common thing for cults or extremist groups. Just like “The Family.” It’s something I think a writer could have come up with independently without even being aware of that history. However, you do have a couple of points that indicate it could have been inspired by that specifically. Seems like the name may be more than coincidental!
Now make this in meme format

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