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Gene Roddenberry ’s original vision forStar Trekcontinues to specify the enfranchisement almost 60 years after the premiere ofThe Original Series . 30 year after Gene Roddenberry ’s decease , newStar TrekTV showsare often criticized for straying from his original vision . However , what these critic often forget is that Gene Roddenberry ’s vox populi about what constituted " proper"Star Trekcould turn on a dime bag . So , rather than ask whether modernStar Trekshows live up to Gene ’s sight , we should really askwhichversion of Gene ’s vision that the innovative era is hypothesise to be following .
bet through the writers ' bibles for bothStar Trek : The Original SeriesandStar Trek : The Next Generation , it ’s clear that Gene Roddenberry ’s visual sensation for the future drastically changed in the intervening decades betweenTOSandTNG.Gene Roddenberry ’s rules forTNGcould be so restrictive for the show ’s writers that they were dubbed " Roddenberry ’s Box" . TNG ’s supposed " no battle " rule even come out to contradict his originalStar Trek Ispitch document from the sixties . Despite these contradictions , Gene Roddenberry ’s optimistic vision for the future of humanity shines through in both display , and continues to defineStar Trekto this Clarence Day .
Gene Roddenberry had strong view about what constituted good and bad Star Trek , and he was n’t shy about publicly expressing these views .
Gene Roddenberry’s Original 1960s Vision For Star Trek
“Star Trek offers an almost infinite number of exciting science fiction stories…”
In 1964 , Gene Roddenberry put together a pitch document for a brand - unexampled science fiction serial publication entitledStar Trek . Roddenberry had grown foil with the increase censoring of internet goggle box , which made it unmanageable to discuss the societal and political tumult that defined America in the sixties . The Fifty - Year Mission : The First 25 Years : The stark , Uncensored , unauthorised Oral History of Star Trekby Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman cite Roddenberry , as he excuse howStar Trekwas devised as a fomite for that variety of comment :
Reading Gene Roddenberry ’s 1964 pitch papers reflects this intention , as he is keen to emphasize " Parallel Worlds " asStar Trek ’s alone selling point . PitchingStar Trekas a way to appeal to a wider audience than dye - in - the - woollen science fabrication fan , Roddenberry believe that placeable place setting would attract to the average witness , while keeping the costs down for the studio apartment . What it also allowed Roddenberry to do was input on red-hot theme like the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War , as this quote subtly infers :
" … our stories get by with industrial plant and brute life , plus people , quite standardised to that on Earth . Social phylogeny will also have interesting points of similarity with ours . There will be difference , of form , ranging from the subtle to the boldly dramatic , out of which come in much of our colour and excitement . "
InStar Trekas Gene Roddenberry saw it , Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner)and the crew of the USS Enterprise would visit worlds that were receive problems either allegorically or literally related to the real - world concerns of 1960s America . Through the optimistic portrayal of Kirk and his multicultural , ethnically diverse gang , spectator at home could be revolutionize to strive for a good future tense . That overall substance , presenting a utopian persuasion of humanity , will always defineStar Trek , even if the nuances of it have shift slenderly over the year in line with the changing TV landscape .
7 years before creating Star Trek , Gene Roddenberry wanted to create a TV show about Sam Houston . Here is his slant from the Roddenberry Archives .
Gene Roddenberry’s Vision Changed For Star Trek: The Next Generation
The 1987 writer and directors guide forStar Trek : The Next Generationspecifically outlines " What Has Not Changed"and " What Has change " when it comes toStar Trek : The Original Series . TheTNGguide is keen to emphasize the importance of the crowd , ascribe the succeeder ofTOSto its ensemble cast led by William Shatner . The 1987 writers and directors ' guide also emphasizes that , likeStar Trek : The Original Seriesbefore it , TNGwill recite entertaining and believable sci - fi stories that comment on the issues facing contemporary America .
" … we invite writers to consider premiss involving challenges facing human beings today ( the 1980s and 1990s ) particularly those which worry the author personally . "
The writers and directors ' guidebook toStar Trek : The Next Generationalso highlights the differences made to theTNGversion of the starship Enterprise . The 1967 author and directors ' scout forTOSdescribed Kirk ’s Enterprise and Starfleet in general as being " only semi - military in practice – pretermit features which are heavily tyrannic . " A century after , these militaristic expression are loosen even further , as the USS Enterprise - D has families aboard as well as a ship ’s counsellor , Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) who is of " life-sustaining grandness " to the " the achiever of a starship ’s missionary station " .
Patrick Stewart confirms an onetime Star Trek : The Next Generation hearsay about a bizarre idea Gene Roddenberry had for Counselor Troi in his new memoir .
An increased focus on psychology is where the oftentimes - repeated Roddenberry rule about interpersonal conflict comes into fun . consort toStar Trek : TNGluminaries like Rick Berman and Ronald D. Moore , Gene Roddenberry did not want any conflict between the lead character , which often exit the writers creatively hamstrung . This rule is n’t explicitly referenced in theTNGwriters and directors ' usher . However , there ’s a reference to the gang of the USS Enterprise - D being :
" … intelligent , witty , thoughtful , compassionate , handle human beings - but they have human fault and failing too - although not as many or as dangerous as in our time . They have been selected for this deputation because of their ability to go past their human failings . "
This power to transcend " human flunk " is presumablywhy Gene Roddenberry hat Picard ’s family storylineinStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 4 , for model . However , rather than paint a picture Roddenberry wanted no struggle , the writers ' guide instead implies that there should be no conflict for conflict ’s sake . Scripts that would not be debate forTNGinclude " melodrama " and " stories that involve our characters doing something stupid or dangerous " like lead astray their work party " because they have fall in love with a beautiful pirate princess " .
TheTNGwriters and director ' usher also strictly forbid stories about " war with Klingons or Romulans " and the utilization of " the original Star Trek characters " , despite season 1 featuring all three of these elements .
Fundamentally , Gene Roddenberry visualize a future free of poorness , injustice , and thirst , freeing human beings to research something expectant than themselves , while teaching TV audience something along the way . Despite Gene Roddenberry ’s squeamishness about conflict , and his vision of a twenty-fourth century that prides itself on amend personal wellbeing , the originalStar Trekideals from 1964 are at the very nitty-gritty ofThe Next Generation . 20 years later , Star Trekwas still about the effective of humanity presenting possible solutions to the difficulties that present the show ’s contemporary hearing . But doesStar Trekstill pursue that blueprint 27 class afterTNGfirst aired ?
William Shatner clear up a argument he made in 2022 that Gene Roddenberry would n’t approve of the current Star Trek on Paramount+ shows .
Does Star Trek Still Honor Gene Roddenberry’s Vision Today?
It wasStar Trek : Deep Space Ninethat was first incriminate of dishonoring Gene Roddenberry ’s original vision . Nobody will ever sleep with ifGene Roddenberry would hateDS9had he live to see it , but the disceptation was patient zero for the arguments that define modernStar Trekdiscourse . Star Trek : Picardwas controversial because it render a corrupt and self - interested Federation , but Admiral Picard freeze off this , because he , and we , consider Starfleet can do much best .
Discoveryseason 1 ’s Klingon War is never present as anything other than brutal and unneeded , and crucially , Commander Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin - Green ) is fighting to end the warfare , not win it .
Years earlier , Star Trek : Discoverywas accused of betraying Roddenberry ’s sight because it was too trigger-happy , but beneath the gore , there was still a level about humans strive for something better . Discoveryseason 1 ’s Klingon War is never presented as anything other than brutal and unnecessary , and crucially , Commander Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin - Green ) is fighting to finish the warfare , not win it . telecasting has changed , and so , manifestly , Star Trekhas to change with the times , but it ’s try out time and again that it does n’t have to sacrifice Roddenberry ’s sight to do so .
Despite their surface level furiousness , forged language , or saucy humor , every single modernStar Trekshow retains the core ideals of optimism of Roddenberry ’s original vision to order stories about the world today . Almost 60 year on , in more and more polarized times , Gene Roddenberry ’s vision of a futurity that ’s gratuitous of impoverishment , hungriness , and racism is still a shinny beacon of Leslie Townes Hope . And in their own elbow room , each of the modernStar Trekshows proceed to keep that flame alive .
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