Synopsis: The crew of the Enterprise is sent to obtain desperately needed zenite to end a plague on a Federation planet and confront a segregated society.
There is no doubt that “The Cloud Miners” can be seen as an interpretation of a segregated society, especially given that it was produced and first aired in 1969, in the midst of a civil rights movement in the United States. But there is also a depth psychological perspective from which to find meaning in this episode, that it illustrates the concept of a segregated psyche.
Stratos, the floating city above the surface of the planet Ardana, where art is the major occupation of its population, “a totally intellectual society” where “all forms of violence have been eliminated,” may seem paradisal in a monotheistic mindset, but it is not sustainable. The Troglytes on the other hand, live on the surface of the planet and do all the physical labor and are emotional. When they act with violent intent they are called “Disruptors” by the citizens of Stratos. Their base emotions are further enhanced by exposure to a gas given off by the zenite ore they mine. As Captain James T. Kirk has been a disruptive influence on other humanoid cultures he deemed not evolving in pattern of normal human development, it should be no surprise that he acts here to try to change the society. Especially when he needs the ore that the Troglytes have desperately.
Stratos can be seen here as a physical manifestation of the conscious ego, and the caves where the Troglyte’s dwell, not even having a name, can be seen as the unconscious elements of our psyche. When like the Troglyte’s, the unconscious is repressed, and kept completely separate from the ego, psychic disruptions occur, which Carl (C. G.) Jung called complexes. Complexes should not be feared, but valued, as they are the way that the unconscious makes the conscious ego aware of something in the psyche that needs attention paid to it.
At the end of the episode, it is a Trogyte, Vanna, who brokers peace between Kirk and the High Council of Stratos. Vanna was once the leader of the disrupters, but once their needs were acknowledged, positive change occurred on Ardana. The same can happen in the psyche.
Original post created 31 March 2021
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