YMMV / Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 03 E 11 Past Tense Part I

• Values Resonance:
  • Julian saying that the mentally ill can live very fulfilling lives resonates well with the fact that we're starting to have more awareness of mental health issues.
  • The episode is a cautionary tale of issues like homelessness and easy fixes like rounding them up into their own community. While presumably safer for everyone involved in reality the homeless had little more opportunity to improve their situation than they did on the streets, which created government ran slums, and the wealthy were oblivious to the issue because they were taken out of sight and out of mind. Unlike many other Star Trek social commentary episodes, via Time Travel this one was set 20 Minutes in the Future of when it aired and lacked any sort of sci-fi / alien culture analogy, presenting the situation as realistically as it could. The universal relevance was reflected in that while filming the episode Los Angeles had proposed a nearly identical "sanctuary city" act.
  • It has been noted that the person who received help when they were in trouble (and was instantly believed) was the hot white woman as opposed to the two ethnic minority men (who weren't). This opens all sorts of debates on racism, sexism and beauty privilege that has only become louder in the years since. But it is also worth noting that among the Sanctuary residents there are plenty of white men and women, just as there are judgemental ethnic minorities at Brynner's party. So the message can also be read as one of classism and elitism. Indeed, it is subtle but Brynner didn't run to Dax's rescue, he doubled-back. The implication being that he was just as likely to walk past all three of them as everyone else was until some combination of the above variables came into play.

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