ds9promenade:angrywarrior69:ds9promenade:Deep Space Nine 2x5, “Cardassians”Keiko does not have time
ds9promenade:angrywarrior69:ds9promenade:Deep Space Nine 2x5, “Cardassians”Keiko does not have time for your space-racism, Miles.Why is she with himThe cynical side of me would say that the answer is “because the show writers said so” But I think another answer is, Because Miles proves himself open to being corrected. He isn’t too proud or defensive (or bogged down by toxic masculinity) to listen when people call him out on bigoted bullshit: he listens. Keiko is with him not because he messes up so bad sometimes, but because when he does mess up, he stops, and thinks, and behaves better in the future. I also appreciate the comments from @firespirited and @onsomekindofstartrek on how the ethnicities of the actors of Keiko and Miles influence this scene, so be sure to check those out in the notes y’all! Someone had to be the “bad guy” exhibiting the bigoted view for this important scene to take place, and I appreciate that Miles’ actor was willing to play that role. Together, these two skilled actors create a compelling scene that demonstrates to viewers 1) that alluding to the “bad breeding” of any group is very wrong indeed in any context, and 2) that one effective method for calling out bigotry in loved ones is simply to express disgust and disappointment in them, because if they truly respect you they’ll get the message and fix their attitude. It’s also worth noting that Miles was the only DS9 series regular with a major role in the Federation-Cardassian war (Major Kira was on the front lines of the occupation, which is a different kettle of fish).He’s only seen Cardassians as ‘soldiers, who do a lot of war crimes’. Kira had seen Cardassians as ‘lots of soldiers who do a lot of war crimes, occasionally their families who benefit from those war crimes, orphans who get abandoned by the Cardassians and then taken in by the Bajoran populace’ and the Bajorans as a general whole show a lot of forgiveness, especially in accepting that it’s not the fault of the orphaned children that soldiers of their originating state are dicks.Keiko, on the other hand, only sees Rugel as a little boy.Miles has never seen a Cardassian be a child before, nor has he seen a Cardassian be gentle before. His bigotry would be analogous to a WWII veteran about a decade after the war, who spits that they hate German or Japanese people, because they’ve only experienced hatred and warfare coming from them.It doesn’t take long at all for Miles to shake up his world view and treat Rugel with the dignity he deserves, but he definitely needs Keiko to tell him off for it because it’s not a resolution he’ll come to on his own - and he probably wouldn’t come to this conclusion if given orders be a CO to do so; he certainly doesn’t change his mind and help the Jem’hadar defectors on Julian’s orders as his superior officer, and they’re friends outside of work. It needs to be Keiko telling him where he can stick it. -- source link