Summary
Gene Roddenberry’s original vision forStar Trekcontinues to define the franchise almost 60 years after the premiere ofThe Original Series. 30 years after Gene Roddenberry’s death, newStar TrekTV showsare often criticized for straying from his original vision. However, what these critics often forget is that Gene Roddenberry’s opinions about what constituted “proper"Star Trekcould turn on a dime. So, rather than ask whether modernStar Trekshows live up to Gene’s vision, we should really askwhichversion of Gene’s vision that the modern era is supposed to be following.
Looking through the writers' bibles for bothStar Trek: The Original SeriesandStar Trek: The Next Generation, it’s clear that Gene Roddenberry’s vision 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 conflict” rule even appeared to contradict his originalStar Trek Ispitch document from the 1960s.Despite these contradictions, Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic vision for the future of humanity shines through in both shows, and continues to defineStar Trekto this day.
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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-new science fiction series entitledStar Trek. Roddenberry had grown frustrated with the increasing censorship of network television, which made it difficult to discuss the social and political turmoil that defined America in the 1960s.The Fifty-Year Mission: The First 25 Years: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trekby Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman quotes Roddenberry, as he explains howStar Trekwas devised as a vehicle for that kind of commentary:
“It seemed to me that perhaps if I wanted to talk about sex, religion, politics, make some comments against Vietnam, and so on, that if I had similar situations involving these subjects happening on other planets to little green people, indeed it might get by, and it did. It apparently went right over the censors’ heads, but all the fourteen-year-olds in our audience knew exactly what we were talking about.”
Reading Gene Roddenberry’s 1964 pitch document reflects this intention, as he is keen to emphasize “Parallel Worlds” asStar Trek’s unique selling point. PitchingStar Trekas a means to appeal to a wider audience than dyed-in-the-wool science fiction fans, Roddenberry believed that recognizable settings would appeal to the average viewer, while keeping the costs down for the studio. What it also allowed Roddenberry to do was comment on hot topics like the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, as this quote subtly infers:
“…our stories deal with plant and animal life, plus people, quite similar to that on Earth. Social evolution will also have interesting points of similarity with ours. There will be differences, of course, ranging from the subtle to the boldly dramatic, out of which comes much of our color 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 experiencing 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 crew, viewers at home could be inspired to strive for a better future. That overall message, presenting a utopian view of humanity, will always defineStar Trek, even if the nuances of it have shifted slightly over the years in line with the changing TV landscape.
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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 Changed” when it comes toStar Trek: The Original Series. TheTNGguide is keen to emphasize the importance of the crew, ascribing the success ofTOSto its ensemble cast led by William Shatner. The 1987 writers and directors' guide also emphasizes that, likeStar Trek: The Original Seriesbefore it,TNGwill tell entertaining and believable sci-fi stories that comment on the issues facing contemporary America.
“…we invite writers to consider premises involving challenges facing humanity today (the 1980s and 1990s) particularly those which interest the writer personally.”
The writers and directors' guide toStar Trek: The Next Generationalso highlights the differences made to theTNGversion of the starship Enterprise. The 1967 writers and directors' guide forTOSdescribed Kirk’s Enterprise and Starfleet in general as being “only semi-military in practice – omitting features which are heavily authoritarian.” A century later, these militaristic aspects are relaxed even further, as the USS Enterprise-D has families aboard as well as a ship’s counselor, Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) who is of “vital importance” to the “the success of a starship’s mission”.
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An increased focus on psychology is where the oft-repeated Roddenberry rule about interpersonal conflict comes into play. According toStar Trek: TNGluminaries like Rick Berman and Ronald D. Moore, Gene Roddenberry did not want any conflict between the lead characters, which often left the writers creatively hamstrung.This rule isn’t explicitly referenced in theTNGwriters and directors' guide. However, there’s a reference to the crew of the USS Enterprise-D being:
“…intelligent, witty, thoughtful, compassionate, caring human beings - but they have human faults and weaknesses too - although not as many or as severe as in our time. They have been selected for this mission because of their ability to transcend their human failings.”
This ability to transcend “human failings” is presumablywhy Gene Roddenberry hated Picard’s family storylineinStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 4, for example. However, rather than suggesting Roddenberry wanted no conflict, the writers' guide instead implies that there should be no conflict for conflict’s sake. Scripts that would not be considered forTNGinclude “melodrama” and “stories that involve our characters doing something stupid or dangerous” like betraying their crew “because they have fallen in love with a beautiful pirate princess”.
TheTNGwriters and directors' guide also strictly forbids stories about “warfare with Klingons or Romulans” and the use of “the original Star Trek characters”, despite season 1 featuring all three of these elements.
Fundamentally, Gene Roddenberry envisioned a future free of poverty, injustice, and hunger, freeing humanity to explore something greater than themselves, while teaching viewers something along the way. Despite Gene Roddenberry’s squeamishness about conflict, and his vision of a 24th century that prides itself on improving personal wellbeing, the originalStar Trekideals from 1964 are at the very core ofThe Next Generation. 20 years later,Star Trekwas still about the best of humanity presenting potential solutions to the difficulties that face the show’s contemporary audiences. But doesStar Trekstill follow that blueprint 27 years afterTNGfirst aired?
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Does Star Trek Still Honor Gene Roddenberry’s Vision Today?
It wasStar Trek: Deep Space Ninethat was first accused of dishonoring Gene Roddenberry’s original vision. Nobody will ever know ifGene Roddenberry would hateDS9had he lived to see it, but the controversy was patient zero for the arguments that define modernStar Trekdiscourse.Star Trek: Picardwas controversial because it depicted a corrupt and self-interested Federation, but Admiral Picard rejects this, because he, and we, believe Starfleet can do much 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 end the war, not win it.
Years earlier,Star Trek: Discoverywas accused of betraying Roddenberry’s vision because it was too violent, but beneath the gore, there was still a story about humanity striving 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 end the war, not win it. Television has changed, and so, obviously,Star Trekhas to change with the times, but it’s proved time and again that it doesn’t have to sacrifice Roddenberry’s vision to do so.
Despite their surface level violence, bad language, or irreverent humor, every single modernStar Trekshow retains the core ideals of optimism of Roddenberry’s original vision to tell stories about the world today. Almost 60 years on, in increasingly polarized times, Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a future that’s free of poverty, hunger, and racism is still a shining beacon of hope. And in their own ways, each of the modernStar Trekshows continues to keep that flame alive.
