B’Elanna Torres was exactly what she needed to be on Star Trek: Voyager, and if somebody’s telling you she was too Klingon, I disagree.

The question came in from a viewer for the Files. Recently they came across someone who thought B’Elanna Torres was too Klingon and should have been used to show Latin culture, simply because Roxann Dawson, the actress who portrayed her, was Latina. What are my thoughts on this?

That’s such an interesting question, and it lands on me from two directions. First off, Mr. Know-It-All is Puerto Rican. And I was a Klingon in my persona for Starfleet International, the fan club, which I’m no longer part of. I was a commissioned chief engineer, and later on a commander, of a ship that was in good standing up until probably a few years back.

Star Trek Runs on Allegory

I feel like the point of Star Trek is to take real life and then create allegorical mythology. These are stories that teach us something through the characters and their various interactions. Klingons were a stand-in for Cold War Russia. Romulans were based on communist China. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Half Klingon, Half Human, and Everyone’s Mixed With Something

I think B’Elanna comes in as a half-breed, if you will. Half Klingon, half human, with her human side being Latina. She was a great allegory.

There are very few 100% hardcore anything. There’s almost nobody left of the original Indians that made up the Puerto Ricans. There’s no Aztecs anymore. What you have are Mexicans, and you have Puerto Ricans, and you have Hondurans and Argentinians and Spaniards and the whole bit. Everyone’s mixed with something else. We all are very much that combination. And if you ask any one of them, some of our women are hotheaded, some of our men are, or whatever else, and you have all these things and combinations.

The Ruling

I believe she was exactly what she needed to be. Within the concept of an allegory, she was that Latina presence aboard Voyager and within the Star Trek universe.

Obviously today we want our characters diverse, and absolutely, absolutely. But I definitely feel like her being that allowed the series to tell unique stories from a perspective she could come from. I think that was a great place, and a very important place nonetheless.

So there you go. Now you know.

Was B’Elanna too Klingon for you, or was she exactly what Voyager needed? The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.