Was Gene Roddenberry a conservative libertarian?!

[Deja Q]

I actually READ that on a website dissing Rick Berman's vision of Trek and it disturbed me.

Are there websites which say what Roddenberry really was and where he stood on issues? (I do know it was Gene Coon who came up with the multi-ethnic bridge crew, though Roddenberry knew that 1960s society would barely accept a female 2nd-in-command, which was why #1 wasn't the captain in the pilot "The Cage"...)

I think Roddenberry was a liberal and Rick Berman, for the most part, nicely expanded on his ideologies.

But I'm just a fan. What's the truth?

Oh, where can I get the Next Generation DVD sets for reasonable prices; $100 per set is too much?

Thx!

[trotsky]

1. Hmmm, let's see...

Roddenberry's idea of the future of humanity: no capitalism, hell no money, everyone's needs are fulfilled, women & men of all races serving together as peers...

Yeah, that's a conservative libertarian's dream. Uh huh. ;-)

[anti_shrub]

2. Not to mention

Kirk and Uhura having the first on screen interracial kiss. Doesn't strike me as coming from a conservative-impaired mind.

[Must_B_Free]

3. Kirk did it with Aliens

one shot he's kissing an alien babe and the next shot he's zipping up his pants...

[Deja Q]

7. LOL!

Actually, he was putting his boot back on, not zipping up his pants - which, for 1968 childrens' TV was as bad as showing XXX-rated gay porno.

[baldguy]

16. Velcro

No zippers in the 23rd century

[Deja Q]

4. Well

TOS, half the time, said they had outgrown money.

Unfortunately, the other half the time they did make references to money.

The Kirk movie era, namely Trek IV, did definitely imply that money was a thing of the past (though we all know Roddenberry was kept out of the loop for the movies, especially after he leaked Spock's death to the public during the making of Trek II).

For this aspect I'm not yet convinced.

But I agree with you fully on the other points.

[anti_shrub]

6. Next Generation made references

to the fact that money was no longer used, and Gene was still around during part of that show's run.

[PeakOil2008]

5. Rick Berman is an Idiot

Seven very bad seasons of 'Voyager' alone proves as much. 'Enterprise' doesn't help.

I don't know that Gene Roddenberry was a radical extremist. However, he was ahead of his time on many issues. He was definitely very liberal in his belief that mankind would eventually evolve beyond pettiness and barbarism to reach for the stars and worlds beyond. As far as the OST diversity issue, I think Roddenberry was very much the driving force behind getting Sulu and Uhura onto the show. Supposedly, he had threatened to pull the plug on Star Trek, period, if NBC wasn't going to approve the characters.

[Nomad559]

8. Roddenberry was an Atheist

http://www.visi.com/~markg/atheists.html

Gene Roddenberry, Creator of Star Trek (1921-1991).

"I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will--and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain."
"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

[Deja Q]

10. Cool!

Jesse Ventura might be more entertaining with the religion comments he made in "Playboy" (naturally, he's an entertainer and not a politician for the people), but Gene Roddenberry's got true soul.

Gene sounds like a true progressive, I know he did NOT want catchphrases like "tricorder" and "warp" to become copyright protected. Paramount "protected" them all the same and sued the assesoff of anybody who used them, even in a context not entirely relevant to Trek. (such as IBM when they released their computer operating system "OS/2 Warp" in 1993...) I hate to think that, should humankind break the light barrier, that Paramount gets all the royalties. x(

Pity Paramount is the antithesis of Roddenberry...

[AngryYoungMan]

9. Rodenberry was extremely liberal

Believe it. It's the reason he got kicked off the movie project after the first film, when Harve Bennett was brought in from TV to save the franchise. (He did, thanks to Nicholas Meyer.) But Rodenberry's intensely anti-military leanings are the reason the first movie is the way it is. (Not knocking it; just saying.) The beligerent approach to the unknown vs. Kirk who wins by UNDERSTANDING the alien etc. All Roddenberry. He was no "Libertarian"; that's ridiculous.

[JanMichael]

11. He was obviously a Socialist. as well a Secular Humanist.

Hell, I'm not the only one that sees that, everybody from the Religious Fanatics that hate him to the Far Left that Idolize him have varying degrees of Socialism attributed to his writings.

Here's just one of dozens of opinions from the web: http://iamnohero.com/columns/startrekhypocrisy.html

One more thing: I consider myself a Libertarian Socialist. I know it's tough to wrap one's brain around but I believe the Liberation of Individuals from Capitalism will be exactly that, a Liberation.

Smoke em' if you got em'.

[Terwilliger]

19. Lib Soc!!

WWCD?

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. I bought all my TNG DVD sets on ebay

averaged about $75 each.

[Kamika]

15. i downloaded them all

Dvd quality :D


getting ds9 now

[Nomad559]

20. The Borg Megacube

The Borg Megacube - The Complete Star Trek: Next Generation Seasons 1 - 7

http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=3574&mode=&order=0&thold=

[qb]

13. He was the 1991 recipient of the Humanist Arts Award

from the American Humanist Association. Here's a link to an interview in The Humanist: http://www.philosophysphere.com/humanist.html

[Kamika]

14. considering religion

He was pretty secular i think. Im quite sure he came from a jewish backround but he did have a buddhist wedding.

He also had an affair with nichelle nichols that played uhura.

[Lars39]

17. I remember reading or hearing something about him

that put me off him. It was something to do with the theme song to the original Star Trek. Seems as though the guy that wrote the song was getting royalties for it, then Roddenberry came along years later and wrote lyrics to the song(did you know there were words to the song?!!!) just so that he could horn in on the royalties that this guy was making. I'm fuzzy on the details, but it just seemed pretty callous and unnecessary, as if he wasn't making enough off the show itself, you know?! I'd rather give some kudos to Lucille Ball(Desilu Studios), without whose support we wouldn't have ANY Star Trek! Yea, Lucy!!!!! :)

[Zolok]

18. He was a nice mid 1960's sixties California liberal

nowhere as good a writer as has been suggested.

Very much a creature of his times IMHO...

[Maple]

21. And a writer who wanted big bucks

not a visionary.

It was sold as 'wagon train to the stars' and was a conglomeration of old sci-fi and comic books.

It was only ever meant to be TV adventurism and sex appeal.

It was all the other people (including the other writers) involved who provided context, vision and some organization to it.

[Aristus]

22. Roddenberry was a horrible writer.

All of the worst written episodes of TOS were his. He should have stuck to the post of visionary.

It's like American Independence: John Adams and Ben Franklin had the vision, but they left the writing to the far more talented Thomas Jefferson.