Patrick Stewart has died. His character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, represented a set of values: intelligence should be curious, and power should be restrained by reason. This article examines how the science fiction franchises Star Trek and Star Wars have depicted alien groups, and how many of those depictions draw on familiar human stereotypes.

The author has followed both franchises for much of his life. He stopped watching Star Trek after the reboot films and three episodes of Discovery, and has not watched later installments. He enjoyed the Star Wars prequels and the animated Clone Wars, but has not watched the Disney-era productions, with the exception of Andor and Maul.

Alien Designs and Familiar Features

Many alien species in both franchises rely on recognizable human traits. Accents, facial features, and cultural associations often signal a character's nature to the audience. One group has appeared across both franchises and across science fiction more broadly: Jewish stereotypes, as the author argues.

The Ferengi

The Ferengi of Star Trek are organized around greed, which is codified in the Rules of Acquisition. They have large ears and an obsession with profit. They are portrayed as seeing the world in transactional terms and as swindling at every opportunity.

The author cites Rule of Acquisition 239, "Never be afraid to mislabel a product," as an example of this characterization.

The author notes that the original intent was to satirize American capitalism. He questions why the satire required a recognizably ethnic appearance. He argues that the Ferengi combine several traits that match established anti-Semitic stereotypes:

• the greedy trader
• the grasping outsider
• the alien whose relationship with money makes him suspect
• the outsider of the Federation, tolerated but not accepted

The author states that this does not mean the Ferengi were intended to represent Jews. He argues that a criticism presented as universal, aimed at capitalism, was expressed through imagery with a specific history.

Watto

In Star Wars, the Toydarian Watto shares several traits with the Ferengi. He has a hooked nose and wears a small hat. He has a fixation on money and a willingness to exploit others. Many viewers identified his accent as Yiddish.

In Attack of the Clones, Watto wears a small hat that the author describes as similar to a kippah. The author also states that Watto's face closely resembles German propaganda posters from the 1930s. He notes that Watto has been compared to Harvey Weinstein. Watto has become widely known as the "space Jew."

Lucasfilm denied that the character was intended as a Jewish caricature. Andy Seacombe, who voiced Watto, described the voice as Italian.

The author accepts these statements as relevant facts. He argues that they do not remove the resemblance. A creator can state what he intended to create, but cannot fully control what the finished product resembles, particularly when the imagery has circulated for centuries.

Stereotypes and Accuracy

The author states that not every fictional miser or banker is anti-Semitic. He cites the Harry Potter films as an example. He argues that the more significant question is what a stereotype is, and whether stereotypes are necessarily false.

Social psychologists, particularly Lee Jussim and colleagues, have described stereotype accuracy as one of the largest and most replicable findings in social psychology.

The author adds the following caveats:

• Not every stereotype is accurate.
• Research on national character stereotypes may show some accuracy, but these findings describe group averages.
• Even accurate group averages reveal very little about any individual.

Other Alien Groups in Both Franchises

The author identifies a pattern in how science fiction draws on real peoples and histories:

The Underlying Pattern

The author argues that humans create alien civilizations and populate them with human assumptions. Writers assign accents, clothing, and behaviors, and then expect audiences to identify who is greedy, dangerous, primitive, or untrustworthy.

The author argues that the human tendency to categorize and recognize patterns extends into these fictional settings.

Conclusion

The author links this analysis to Picard's values. He argues that one of Picard's central virtues was the willingness to meet the unfamiliar by questioning existing beliefs. He states that people often use the unfamiliar to reinforce what they already believe.

The author concludes that some of the oldest ideas in human civilization remain difficult to abandon. In his view, these ideas persist in the 24th century and in a galaxy far, far away.