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Star Trek: The Mark of Gideon (1969)
An interesting commentary on 1960s (and 2000s) culture
While "The Mark of Gideon" was not the greatest Star Trek episode, if you look beyond the poorly written plot you'll find something more interesting.
Recall the U.S. cultural and political climate in 1969 when this episode aired. (I'm dating myself here.) The feminist or "women's liberation" movement was in full swing, as was the sexual revolution. Abortion was illegal in most states. The Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion was four years in the future. Then, as now, a fierce debate raged between those who held that a woman had the right to control her own body and those who held that all life is sacred.
At one point in the episode, Hodin, the Gideon ambassador, and Kirk confront each other about solving Gideon's overpopulation problem. Kirk offers Hodin the Federation's assistance with contraceptive medicines and education about how to avoid having children. Hodin counters that the Gideonites love and revere life so much that even to prevent new life from starting would be unthinkable. Of course, deliberate murder or warfare is equally out of the question.
Thus, "The Mark of Gideon" is -- as many Star Trek episodes were -- a thinly disguised commentary on 1960s culture and politics; the sexual debates in this case, with Kirk pro-choice and Hodin pro-life. The episode points out the logical end result of an extreme pro-life position -- massive overpopulation. The episode also displays the irony in the life-loving Gideonites resorting to introducing a fatal disease into the population in order to solve their overpopulation problem.
Forty years later, the same pro-life/pro-choice debate still rages. We continue to make great strides in conquering disease. Perhaps someday we, like germ-free Gideon, will have a planet where no one dies of sickness; where human longevity is greatly increased. Will our entire planet end up with wall-to-wall people, like Gideon? What will we do about it? Star Trek is as relevant today as it was then.