To Boldly Go: Marketing the Myth of Star Trek

Today's media, cinema and TV screens are host to new manifestations of myth, their modes of storytelling radically transformed from those of ancient Greece. They present us with narratives of contemporary customs and belief systems: our modern-day myths. Djoymi Baker's insightful study argues that the tools of transmedia merchandising and promotional material shape viewers' experiences of the hit television series Star Trek, to reinforce the mythology of the gargantuan franchise. Media marketing utilises the show's method of recycling the narratives of classical heritage, yet it also looks forward to the future. In this way, it reminds consumers of the Star Trek story's ongoing centrality within popular culture, whether in the form of the original 1960s series, the later additions such as Voyager and Discovery or J. J. Abrams' `reboot' films. Chapters examine how oral and literary traditions have influenced the series structure and its commercial image, how the cosmological role of humanity and the Earth are explored in title sequences across various Star Trek media platforms, and the multi-faceted way in which Internet, video game and event spin-offs create rituals to consolidate the space opera's fan base. In her afterword to this new edition, Baker extends her analysis to the recently released Star Trek: Short Treks (2018-), Star Trek: Picard (2020-), Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-), and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-). In doing so, she underscores the continuing significance of myth in this unprecedented era of expansion for the entire Star Trek enterprise.

G.A. Foster, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, CHOICE

“This is lively, engaging academic writing at its very best … Summing Up: Highly recommended.”

About the Author

Djoymi Baker is Lecturer in Cinema Studies at RMIT University, Australia.With a background in the television industry, she writes on myth in popular culture, film and television genres, the ethics of non-human representation, and children's screen cultures. She is the co-author of The Encyclopedia of Epic Films (2014).

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