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exceeds that produced in formal scholarship, a point that has been made quite
rigorously in the work of Henry Jenkins (Jenkins 1992 , 2006a , b ).
11.3.1
Star Trek: The Replicator
In 1987 Gene Roddenberry launched the fi rst television sequel to Star Trek , his
legendary science fi ction series. Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) updated the
look and feel of the sci-fi classic and introduced a number of new fi ctional technolo-
gies including the holodeck and the matter replicator. In the world of TNG, matter
replication is an extension of the teleportation technology introduced in the original
series. Described in some detail in a fan wiki, 5 the replicator is capable of
materializing (and dematerializing) matter according to a set of preprogrammed
“templates” stored in its memory. Replicators are also programmed with safeguards
to prevent them from producing anything poisonous and are capable of fi ltering out
contaminants and “cleaning up the dishes” by dematerializing them back into their
“pattern buffers.”
Star Trek sets out to depict a utopian future: a post-greed, post-disease,
post-poverty society where most confl ict arises from encounters with the unknown
universe, rather than from human factors. Humans are depicted as having overcome
many of their fl aws and failings in order to pursue more noble lives of scientifi c
exploration. Perhaps because humans have overcome the need or desire to acquire
wealth and material goods, the world depicted by the show is often quite sterile and
minimalistic: life aboard a starship is shown to be almost ascetic in nature. For
much of the show, the replicator is relegated to the background, an enabling technol-
ogy that provides for most of life's necessities including food, water, and clothing.
Although replication can conceivably create any material object, it is most often
seen serving drinks (Fig. 11.3 ). Jean Luc Picard, the captain of the starship
Enterprise , is frequently shown ordering “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot,” from the replicator, 6
although it is worth noting that the fi rst instance of this order—in Season 2 Episode
11: Contagion— is met with a malfunction: the replicator provides him with a potted
plant in a teacup. Indeed, when replication technology does surface from the back-
ground, it is often because there is some sort of problem with it, as in the case of the
fi rst episode of Season 3: Evolution . When a science experiment involving medical
nanotechnology goes awry, a number of malfunctions affl ict the starship Enterprise,
including a faulty replicator.
In a fan-made reedit of scenes from this episode 7 , the ship's doctor gets in a
verbal sparring match with a malfunctioning replicator “food slot,” resulting in a
5 http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Replicator
6 “Star Trek—Picard “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot” Clips”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2IJdfxWtPM
7 “Crusher oses battle with replicator”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=
YgR_ySkR1fo
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