Theme 2: Perception vs. Identity (Nature vs Nurture)
Our perception of others shapes their identity for good or ill.
Shortly before Ripper rips apart Landry, Burnham tries to talk her out of seeing the Tardigrade as a hostile force that can be converted into a weapon: “You judge the creature by its appearance, and one single incident from its past. Nothing in its biology suggests it would attack, except in self-defense. Commander, this creature is an unknown alien. It can only be what it is, not what you want it to be.”
This question of how we see other people, and the consequences of that perspective on ourselves as well as the individual, is one that recurs throughout the season. The message takes the xenophobia theme of the season (see Theme 1) and applies it to a person-to-person context. It is relatively easy to not be racist against a whole group, but it can be harder to keep from projecting your preconceived notions and prejudices onto an individual in your space.
The writers pushed this theme one step further by showing how our perception of an individual can actually begin to shape their identity. Burnham is suggesting that the greater danger facing Ripper is not that it would be killed, but that it would become the killing machine Landry and Lorca wanted it to be, that its will would be broken and its nature permanently warped.
Later in the season, Tilly makes this point explicit when trying to convince Burnham to forgive Tyler:
When we were in the Terran universe I was reminded how much a person is shaped by their environment. And the only way to stop ourselves from becoming them is to understand the darkness within us and fight it. … [Tyler/Voq’s] crimes are reprehensible but Tyler is not the person who did that, at least not anymore. Tyler is something other, someone new. What we do now, the way that we treat him, that is who he will become.
In other words, if we treat someone like a monster or a freak, they will soon begin to see themselves that way, and their behavior will change accordingly. Tilly is the one character on DSC who seems to be instinctually predisposed to this view of people. She is instrumental in freeing Ripper, and in rallying her crewmates to welcome Tyler back into the family. She also makes a similar speech to Saru about Stamets when it was believed Stamets killed Culber under the influence of the spores. Burnham has a harder time practicing this level of empathy when it comes to Tyler. When she rejects him, she says it is because when she looks into his eyes she sees Voq. She judges him based on “one single incident from his past,” albeit understandably since in that moment Voq tried to kill her. It is only after she observes him on Kronos interacting normally with other Klingons, and after he decides to stay with L’Rell, that she can tell Tyler she sees him for who he actually is.
Tyler’s reason for staying on Kronos is also an expression of this theme. He knows that Starfleet would treat him as a science experiment, a medical marvel or a freakshow. Despite Tilly’s best efforts, the one Starfleet officer he cares about has not only dumped him but denied the validity of his core identity. When he is in the Orion settlement, laughing and playing games with other Klingons, being accepted by them for who he is–a Human who can speak Klingon like “a dog who can waterski”–he begins to see himself as they see him. Because Tyler is clearly Human and knows things only Klingons would know (thanks to Voq’s memories) the other Klingons treat Tyler as the Klingon-Human hybrid that he is beginning to accept himself to be. Their acceptance helps him become himself. Tyler’s character arc was a mystery (some might argue a confusing mess) until the last episode of the season, when his identity finally became clear and compelling. Hopefully this character arc will be developed in Season 2.
The perception theme is explored from a different angle in the relationship between Sarek and Burnham. She wants him to see her as his daughter, and he withholds that at first. In Lethe they have this exchange:
Burnham: “Help me understand what you did. It could make us grow closer, not further apart. That’s what families do.”
Sarek: “Technically, we are not related.”
Burnham: “You can do better. But I won’t push you. We’ll have this conversation one day. Father.”
This is the first time that their relationship is described in such tight, familial terms. Sarek had described Burnham as “my ward,” and the fan community debated if she was legally adopted, fostered, or some other arrangement. There was a sense of cold, professional distance between them up to that point, one that Sarek was trying to maintain in that moment. By the end of the season, Sarek has a change of heart. He tells Burnham, “You are only human, as is your mother.” He means Amanda, and by extension if Amanda is his mother then he is Burnham’s father. This line was written as a counterpoint to the scene from Lethe, and it packs a punch. When I first heard the line I was disoriented because I assumed Sarek meant Burnham’s biological mother, who was killed. But then I realized if that is who he meant, he would have said “as were your parents.” By just mentioning Amanda, he is is acknowledging that both he and Amanda are Burnham’s parents. He does not say the word father, which she leveled almost as an accusation at the end of Lethe, but by pointedly not saying it he lays a heavy inference on the word. Logically, there is no way he believes Amanda is Burnham’s mother without also believing he is Burnham’s father.
Burnham longed to be viewed as Sarek’s daughter. As an orphan, it caused her pain that she was not a daughter to anyone. She was able to convince Sarek to look in her eyes and see not a ward but family, and thus some of that pain was taken away.
There are other examples of the power of perception, and how it can get you into trouble.
- Burnham perceived the Klingon ship at the Binary Stars as an imminent threat, based in part on her childhood trauma and her projection of the Vulcan experience onto the current situation. T’Kuvma went to the Binary Stars, and shot up that Starfleet satellite, precisely because he was counting on Starfleet officers to perceive him the way Burnham did and start the war that he wanted. Captain Georgiou, on the other hand, chose on principle to give the Klingons the benefit of the doubt. To do so meant a localized risk to her crew, but provided the best chance of avoiding a wider war.
- L’Rell and Cornwall were enemies but they succeeded in seeing one another as individuals. Cornwall tells her, “I do not subscribe to your ideals, but I feel as though you and I understand one another.” And L’Rell reciprocates, “T’Kuvma said Humans have no courage, on this he was wrong.” By not allowing their strong feelings about the war to keep them from engaging with one another as people, their relationship paved the way to ending the war.
- Burnham fails to clearly see Emperor Georgiou through of the memories of her former captain; only after she starts masquerading of Captain Georgiou does she admit that she sees her for the evil person she really is. We will see if Georgiou loses those evil ways after living in the Federation, and being perceived as the good-hearted captain. Or will Section 31 foster her Terran dark worldview? This is another story arc that may develop in Season 2.
- The symbolism of the Terran eye sensitivity, which literally keeps them in the dark and in a perpetual state of staring out through the darkness. Is that the reason the Terran species branched off on such a different historical path than their Human counterparts?
In all these examples, DCS is telling us that nurture matters so much more than nature in shaping a person’s identity. And that we all have the power to nurture others in a positive way by letting go of our preconceived notions about them and seeing them with generosity of spirit.