Starfleet Academy, as with any new entry to the Star Trek canon—especially those that were hated upon release only to eventually become diehard favorites of the fandom—courts its fair share of controversy when it comes to its approach to the broader series. Some of this is in its nature as a successor to Star Trek: Discovery, a series that weathered its own fair share of controversies over the years. Some of this is the intention of the show itself, which occasionally seems to delight in its young adult perspective, allowing it the chance to bite its proverbial thumb at the franchise’s authority, almost enticing detractors into an argument.

But some of it is because people are very stupid, and sometimes, when those stupid people just happen to have the ear of the Trump administration and right-wing grifts are more culturally lucrative than ever, even the most minor and surprising of flashpoints can become the latest volley in the culture war.

Such has been the case since Starfleet Academy‘s first two episodes aired late last week, when, above all the noise of the pros and cons discussed about its premiere, one complaint rose above all thanks to it being platformed by none other than White House advisor and noted ghoul Stephen Miller. The issue Miller seemingly took umbrage to? There’s some gosh-darned glasses in this Star Trek show.

The foofaraw began when Miller took to Twitter to quote-tweet a clip of the series from an account named “End Wokeness” (likely thing for him to do), which featured a scene from the premiere of Holly Hunter’s captain, Nahla Ake, wearing a pair of thickly rimmed spectacles as she talks to her first officer, Lura Thok (Gina Yashere), and another member of the academy’s senior staff, Lieutenant Rourke (Tricia Black).

Miller was initially vague about just what had annoyed him particularly about the scene—perhaps the dialogue, perhaps that it featured multiple women talking among themselves, who can say—but he described it as tragic, imploring that Paramount, now owned by Trump ally David Ellison, should “save” the franchise by relinquishing all creative control to William Shatner.

😳 😱
I am so on the same page with you @StephenM!
The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers!😤

Also @paramountplus needs to up the budget because I’m sure that a well oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant… https://t.co/96MtYUGGWf

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) January 19, 2026

Shatner’s social media account (it’s long been debated over who exactly runs the account for the actor) replied to Miller in turn and seemingly revealed Miller’s supposed tragedy was Hunter’s choice of eyewear. “The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers,” Shatner’s post read in part. “Also Paramount needs to up the budget because I’m sure that a well oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant future could afford more than one pair of glasses for at least this hyperopic bridge crew.”

It seems Miller ignored that Shatner’s post was clearly dripping with sarcasm, as he both reposted it and then directly responded with another quote tweet lambasting Kirk’s death in Generations as the downfall of all Star Trek. But he didn’t dispute Shatner’s insinuation that the so-called “wokeness” on display was to do with the existence of glasses in 32nd-century society.

Obviously, to anyone who’s actually watched and engaged with Star Trek at any point in the last 60 years, part of the reason for Shatner’s sarcasm is that Kirk himself is just one of multiple characters that have been depicted across reams of Star Trek material as wearing glasses. Although various treatments for impaired vision exist in Star Trek‘s technological future, glasses were still worn in the 23rd century—an Enterprise transporter technician is seen wearing them in the original show’s pilot episode “The Cage” (and seen again when the pilot’s footage was repurposed for the two-parter “The Menagerie”), as are several other members of the Enterprise crew in The Animated Series. 

Kirk himself famously wears reading glasses in The Wrath of Khan, citing that he was personally allergic to Retinax V, a commonplace medical drug used to correct vision. More recently, prior to Starfleet Academy giving them to Captain Ake, Jean-Luc Picard wore reading glasses in Picard‘s third season, and Discovery gave us David Cronenberg’s Kovich, who wore glasses as a fashion statement rather than out of necessity, which could also be the case for Ake (although we do see her wearing them to read too). Other eyewear has also been seen throughout the franchise, from sunglasses to, of course, Geordi LaForge’s visor in The Next Generation.

But none of this is the actual point of the right-wing grift, just like it’s never the point whenever one of these particular controversies bubbles up to the surface of pop culture toxicity. We’ve seen this cycle across countless films and TV shows that have gained the ire of being declared “woke” by their detractors, a feigned shock designed to generate a cycle of outrage and social media chatter among their acolytes. The point isn’t a 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’s in the posting, the generation of that hate and attention, before they move on to whatever the next controversy can be, like the vultures they are.

Stephen Miller probably doesn’t actually care about someone wearing glasses in Star Trek. He appears to have moved on, looking at his Twitter—where he’s now busy seemingly nodding towards another Star franchise, invoking The Mandalorian‘s “this is the way” slogan over a plan by Tennessee Republicans to persecute immigrants. Maybe he’ll come back to whine about something else Starfleet Academy does in the future. But it won’t be the show that’s the point; it’ll be because it’s just something he and his ilk in right-wing circles can try to turn into another round of artificial backlash among the slings and arrows of the culture war.

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