I Can’t Believe This Is What Right Wing Weirdos Are Mad About ‘Starfleet Academy’

Starfleet Academylike any new entry in the Star Trek The canon—especially those that were hated upon release and eventually became fandom favorites—represents its fair share of controversy when it comes to its approach to the series as a whole. Some of these are in your form as follows Star Trek: Discoverya series that has faced its fair share of controversies over the years. Part of this is the intention of the show itself, which at times seems to revel in its adult perspective, allowing it the chance to bite its toe at the franchise’s authority, almost baiting the detractors into a fight.

But part of it is because people are so stupid, and sometimes, when those stupid people just have the ear of the Trump administration and right-wing grifts are more culturally profitable than ever, even the smallest and most surprising flashpoints can be the latest volley in the culture war.

It has been that way ever since Starfleet AcademyThe first two episodes aired late last week, where, in addition to all the noise of pros and cons discussed about its debut, one complaint rose above all because it was staged by none other than White House adviser and noted ghostwriter Stephen Miller. A story that Miller seems to take seriously? There is gosh-darned glasses this time Star Trek the exhibition.

The outrage started when Miller took to Twitter to quote a clip of this series on an account with the name “End Wokeness” (which he probably did), showing a scene from the first game of the captain of Holly Hunter, Nahla Ake, wearing thick glasses as he talks to his first officer, Lura Thok), and another employee of Holly Hunter, His Lieutenant. Rourke (Tricia Black).

At first Miller didn’t know exactly what upset him so much about the scene—perhaps the dialogue, which probably showed many women talking to each other, who can say—but he described it as sad, urging that Paramount, now owned by Ally Trump David Ellison, “saved” the franchise by letting go of all creative control to William Shatner.

😳 😱
I’m on the same page as you @StephenM!
That they didn’t cure Hyperopia by the 32nd Century is a disservice to the authors!😤

Again @paramountplus it needs to increase the budget because I’m sure a big fat organization like Starfleet is far…

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 19, 2026

Shatner’s social media account (it has long been disputed who runs the actor’s account) responded to Miller and seemed to reveal that Miller’s supposed grief was Hunter’s choice of eyewear. “The fact that they didn’t cure Hyperopia in the 32nd century is a gross oversight on the part of the writers,” Shatner’s part reads. “And Paramount needs to increase the budget because I’m sure a well-oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant future can afford more than one pair of glasses for at least these hyperopic bridge crews.”

It seems that Miller didn’t notice that Shatner’s post was obviously dripping with sarcasm, as he repeated it again and then directly responded with another quote from a tweet explaining Kirk’s death in. Generations as the fall of all Star Trek. But he didn’t dispute Shatner’s suggestion that the so-called “resurrection” being shown was related to the presence of glasses in 32nd-century society.

Obviously, to anyone who watched and interacted with him Star Trek at any point in the last 60 years, part of the reason for Shatner’s sarcasm is that Kirk himself is one of many characters who have been portrayed in many places. Star Trek equipment such as wearing glasses. Although various treatments for poor vision exist Star TrekThe future of technology, glasses were still worn in the 23rd century—i Business the transportation specialist is seen wearing it in the first episode of the original show “The Cage” (and it was also seen when the pilot footage was repurposed for the two-parter “The Menagerie”), as were several other cast members Business workers in between Animated series.

Kirk himself wears reading glasses Wrath of Khanrevealing that he was allergic to Retinax V, a common medicine used to correct vision. Recently, before Starfleet Academy presenting himself to Captain Ake, Jean-Luc Picard was wearing reading glasses Picard‘s third season, too Adoption he gave us David Cronenberg’s Kovich, who wore glasses as a fashion statement rather than out of necessity, which might be the case with Ake (although we see him wearing them to study again). Other eyewear has appeared throughout the franchise, from mirrors to, of course, Geordi LaForge’s visor The Next Generation.

But none of this is the real point of right-wing grift, just as it’s never been the point whenever one of these arguments rises above the surface of pop culture’s venom. We’ve seen this cycle in countless movies and TV shows that have taken offense to their detractors claiming to be “revived”, a fake shock designed to create a cycle of anger and social media chatter among their acolytes. The point is not lack of awareness or knowledge, or that their minds will be changed if they get a fandom wikia page shoved in their ignorant faces. It is still posted, the generation of that hate and attention, before they move on to any possible next conflict, like the vultures that they are.

Stephen Miller probably doesn’t care about anyone who wears glasses Star Trek. He seems to have moved on, checking out his Twitter account—where he’s busy nodding to another A star franchise, invoking The Mandalorian‘s “this is the way” slogan over the Tennessee Republicans’ plan to prosecute immigrants. Maybe he’ll come back to complain about something else Starfleet Academy does in the future. But it won’t be a show that’s the point; it will be because it’s just something he and his ilk in right-wing circles can try to turn to for another round of backlash conducted between the slings and arrows of the culture war.

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