Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s R-rated Ferengi running joke always made me laugh, although I also get why otherStar Trekfans disliked it. Originally conceived as the main villains ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, the Ferengi initially underwhelmed, coming off as more comical than threatening. However,Star Trek: Deep Space Nineleaned into thecomedic aspects of the greedy, profit-driven Ferengi,who were epitomized by the diversity of Quark (Armin Shimerman) and his family, Rom (Max Grodenchik) and Nog (Armin Shimerman).
The Ferengi were conceived as a reflection of the"greed is good"1980s, and films likeWall Street,where making money was the highest goal of all. The capitalist Ferengi are a counterpoint to the socialist Utopia of the United Federation of Planets, where theacquisition of wealthis not the driving ambition of society. Smarmy, uncouth, and lascivious, the Ferengi were everything an enlightened 24th-century Starfleet Officer was not, and that especially goes for their sexist treatment of women. Before Rom became Grand Nagus, Ferengi culture dictated women stay at home, naked, and were unable to pursue profit. But Ferengi women - or any woman - hadone way to control a Ferengi man: oo-mox.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Oo-Mox Scenes Always Make Me Laugh
I can’t believe DS9 kept getting away with oo-mox
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninewas a TV-PG-rated show, and I’m always amused by how much they got away with the Ferengi receiving oo-mox. The ears of a Ferengi are erogenous zones, and Ferengi males are constantly coercing females to stroke their lobes. Ferengi receiving oo-mox was a running gag that happened startlingly often. Whether voluntarily or being tricked - like Nog fooling a human nurse in 1940s Rowell, New Mexico to stroke his lobes -women giving Ferengi oo-mox was a sex act performed in plain sight for laughsonStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, and I thought it was funny each time.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had the biggest cast of characters of any Trek show, meaning that Captain Sisko had numerous allies in the Dominion War.
Ferengi are driven by their lobes, and they usually mean for profit. But more often than not, a Ferengi is driven by his desire for oo-mox. For a Ferengi, it was erotic act, but for just about everyone else - especially the audience - oo-mox is absurd. Regardless of how excited it made a Ferengi,oo-mox was regularly played for laughs, and it was an overt weakness of Ferengithat was commonly exploited. Meanwhile, in theStar Trek Deep Space Nineseason 4episode “Bar Association,” Rom confessed he had"too much oo-mox by himself,“which is a jaw-dropping reference to masturbation onStar Trek.
Would Oo-Mox Would Have Been More Interesting In Star Trek Didn’t Show It?
Oo-mox isn’t for everyone
Of course, it’s understandable that someStar Trekfans cringe atStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s running joke of Ferengi receiving oo-mox.Perhaps oo-mox might have been better subtly referencedrather than overtly shown so often. It can be argued thatDS9went to the well of showing latex Ferengi ears massaged too much, and oo-mox may have been a more effective gag if it was something inferred but not seen, the same wayMorn was supposedly the most loquacious regularat Quark’s Bar, but audiences never heard him say a word.
9 Ways DS9’s Ferengi Changed Star Trek History
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the making of the Ferengi and Quark, Rom, Nog, and Ishka continue to make a huge impact on the Star Trek universe.
In the end, the Ferengi are meant to reflect our worst instincts and impulses, and I think it’s a credit to the excellent writing onStar Trek: Deep Space Nineand the performances of Armin Shimerman, Max Grodenchik, Aron Eisenberg, et al as their Ferengi characters that they are ultimately so loveable.Star Trek: Deep Space Ninewas the red-headed stepchild of Rick Berman’s era ofStar Trek, but this was also a boon, as they were left alone to do things no otherStar Trekhad before. As for oo-mox deniers, as theFerengi Rule of Acquisition#223 states:Beware the man who doesn’t take time for oo-mox.
