TornadoCreator: The cast is about as regressive SJW rainbow as they could get it.
Caesar.: I have seen this argument several times, here and in other sites, but I don't understand it. Is it because the two leads in the pilot were non-white women? (Please correct me if this is not your case.) I didn't realized that until a couple days after watching it, while talking with another person. For me, there were just two interesting characters (my subjective opinion). I mean, not a single character made a remark about their race or gender, or anything that could be remotely attributed to a hidden agenda. Star Trek is set in a bright future where those distinctions don't matter anymore (at least in theory - I would love to see an episode where we see Federation citizens who disagree with the Federation ideals. Their society shouldn't be as monolythic as shown during the previous shows).
It's because of how ham-fisted they make it. Previous Trek had controversial casting for it's time. TNG had a bald man as the lead at a time when the establishment felt that would turn people away. Voyager managed to be one of the best feminist shows of it's time (before third wave feminism ruined what feminism is and turned it into pathetic snowflake man-hate the movement). Janeway was a well written complex female character. She was strong, intelligent, and powerful; but she was also arrogant, distant, prideful, and so much more... she had flaws, she was a character.
The characters in this, due to poor writing, feel like Mary Sues. The very first thing we see is the two female leads acting like smart alecks, repeatedly praising each other and saying why they're awesome, as well as info-dumping their history for the audience in a conversation no two people would actually have. The Starfleet logo in footprints was just cringe-worthy, and stupid; as anyone who could see that, could have seen them anyway.
The reason this is regressive bullshit is TV isn't made in a vacuum. The characters themselves aren't necessarily terrible, but knowing the political landscape of California and the US media, when you see an Asian woman, a Black woman, and a submissive and cowardly alien as the only male influence; it sends a message. When the only example of masculinity in the show are the Klingon who have been redesigned to look like cartoon villains; the message in further reinforced. When you then announce over social media that the only white male main cast member is also going to be Treks first gay character; the message may as well be in Neon fucking lights! This isn't about characters it's about virtue signalling. It's the directors desperately crow-barring as many minorities in the show as possible and it doesn't feel natural, it feels forced, it feels glaringly obvious, and it makes the show look fake and tacky...
...the worst part is, it doesn't need to be like this.
Dark Matter is one of the best sci-fi shows of recent times, and the fuckers cancelled it despite it's popularity. It's cast is multi-ethnic, and it includes multiple gay characters too. The main lead as well as more than half of the established cast are women, including ship captains, corporate CEOs, and well trained combatants. This show has one of the most diverse casts but because it's well written and feels natural; it's accepted by the audience. It doesn't feel like being black, or being gay, was written next to a characters name under, "character concept". That's why Star Trek: Discovery feels like regressive SJW fodder; because they care more about appeasing the idiots who scream about being oppressed rather than actually writing good TV.
Caesar.: Just like I never thought TNG was racist/sexist because the two leads were white men.
Because their race and gender weren't a character point. They were incidental and unimportant.